The M65 EpiRat™ ELISA Research-use Only (RUO) is based on the M5 and M6 antibodies, which bind to the biomarker Keratin-18 (K18). K18 is an intermediate filament protein in epithelial cells. The concentration of K18 reflects the amount of overall cell death, both apoptosis and necrosis, in K18 positive cells. Levels of K18 are commonly elevated when the liver endures damage, through disease or toxicological effects.

Application Fields

Toxicology

The M65 EpiRat™ ELISA can be used in toxicological studies. Rodent species are commonly used in traditional toxicology testing guidelines to predict human health toxicity outcomes. Rodents have significant conventional knowledge, historical availability, and ease of care and breeding, making them ideal test subjects for the assessment of possible adverse health effects and sensitivities from chemical exposures. As rodent species are commonly used globally in traditional toxicology testing guidelines to predict human health toxicity outcomes, the M65 EpiRat™ will help by quantifying the amount of cell death in hepatocytes to assess liver toxicity. This in turn saves Pharmaceutical companies a lot of money where they can discontinue projects where the tested compound has too high toxicological effect on the liver.

Research

The M65 EpiRat™ ELISA detects total amount of K18, which quantifies the total amount of cell death in epithelial cells. This allows for the use of the assay in different research fields such as in hepatology and oncology. In pre clinical studies, the M65 EpiRat™ ELISA can be used to analyse the effect of drugs on treatment effect and disease progression for example for new compounds in Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver (NAFL) and Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).

M65 EpiRat™ ELISA’s unique characteristics

• Rat specific measurement of total cell death in K18 positive cells
• Quantification of K18 in rat serum and plasma samples
• Convenient ready to use format and can be split up for use at several occasions
• Sandwich ELISA in a 96 well plate in a convenient ready-to-use format

Materials included:

•M6 coated microstrips
•M65 conjugate
•M65 standard A-E
•Wash tablet
•TMB substrate