Suwon, South Korea, Feb. 12, 2010
The fight against the liver disease hepatitis C has been something of an impasse for years, with more than 150 million people currently infected, and traditional antiviral treatments causing nasty side effects and often falling short of a cure. Park Systems’ XE-Bio helped researchers at Stanford University discover a vulnerable step in the virus’ reproduction process that in lab testing could be effectively targeted with an obsolete antihistamine. XE-Bio successfully imaged and analyzed two of the compounds that most potently inhibit vesicle aggregation revealed their mechanism of action on 4BAH2 function. These results provide new insight into the molecular mechanism of HCV replication platform assembly, and demonstrate the utility of a novel small-molecule anti-HCV strategy.
“Discovering a potential new path for Hepatitis C treatment is great news to the XE-Bio users of our high-performance technologies and to the wider bio-imaging community, offering enhanced potential to interrogate nanoscale environments with accuracy, sensitivity and functionality.” said Dr. Young-Kook (Ryan) Yoo, Park Systems' director of global sales and marketing. Using ionic current in aqueous solution, the ICM head of XE-Bio offers high definition topographic imaging of soft materials in live cells. Park Systems has established itself as an innovator and technology leader of the atomic force microscope and the company continues to expand its AFM product offerings by licensing and supporting its technology with partners, to bring cutting-edge AFM solutions to market.
About XE-Bio
XE-Bio is a powerful 3-in-1 nanoscience research tool that uniquely combines industry’s only True Non-Contact AFM with Ion Conductance Microscopy (ICM) and inverted optical microscope on the same platform. The modular design of the XE-Bio allows easy exchange between non-contact AFM and ICM. Designed for non-invasive in-liquid imaging, the combined imaging capability of AFM, ICM, and inverted optical microscopy makes the XE-Bio ideal for imaging biological samples, such as living cells, in dynamic conditions. Moreover, ICM can be adapted to enable a host of powerful applications in nanoscale electrophysiology. Further information on the XE-Bio, please click here.
About Park Systems
Park Systems serves its customers by providing a complete range of AFM solutions including AFM systems, options and software, along with global service and support. Park Systems is the technology leader of nanoscale measurements and systems for both research and industry. The product line of Park Systems reflects its focused strength to help customers achieve the metrology performance that meets the needs and requirements of present and future applications. Since improvements in nanometrology are key to enabling tomorrow's research, analysis, processing and product manufacturing, the innovative technology and market leadership of Park Systems in the field of nanmetrology will remain as the core competence and market driving force of its future business. Park Systems' manufacturing and engineering facilities are located in Suwon, South Korea. Global sales and service offices are located throughout the U.S., Japan, and Singapore. For more information, visit www.parkAFM.com.