AMSBIO offer a wide range of Heparan Sufate antibodies, enzymes, standards and ready-to-use Heparanase activity assays for researchers seeking to better understand COVID-19 and thereby to combat the pandemic.

Heparan Sulfate (HS) is increasingly recognised as a key factor in infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the cause of the current COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. Using HS antibodies from AMSBIO, researchers have demonstrated that Heparanase enzyme contributes to the pathogenesis of COVID-19, with both Heparanase activity and HS levels being elevated in plasma of Covid-19 patients. In addition, recent published data has shown that Heparanase activity is further elevated in ICU patients on ventilators compared to less serious cases.

In particular, JM403 Heparan Sulfate antibody supplied by AMSBIO has been used in two novel assays developed and applied by Prof. Dr. Johan van der Vlag and colleagues at the Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands. They developed a JM403-based plasma heparanase activity assay, and a JM403-based HS competition ELISA to measure plasma HS levels**.

Prof. Dr. Johan van der Vlag said “The JM403 antibody from AMSBIO is a unique and powerful tool that is helping us develop new assays to measure plasma heparanase and HS levels in patients with COVID-19. A particular advantage of JM403 is that it is not reacting with heparins, which would have been a disturbing factor in our analyses, and which now allowed us to evaluate the effect of treating COVID-19 patients with low molecular weight heparins.”

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About AMS Biotechnology (AMSBIO)

Founded in 1987, AMS Biotechnology (AMSBIO) is recognized today as a leading transatlantic company contributing to the acceleration of discovery through the provision of cutting-edge life science technology, products and services for research and development in the medical, nutrition, cosmetics and energy industries. AMSBIO has in-depth expertise in extracellular matrices to provide elegant solutions for studying cell motility, migration, invasion and proliferation. This expertise in cell culture and the ECM allows AMSBIO to partner with clients in tailoring cell systems to enhance organoid and spheroid screening outcomes using a variety of 3D culture systems, including organ-on-a-chip microfluidics. For drug discovery research, AMSBIO offers assays, recombinant proteins and cell lines. Drawing upon a huge and comprehensive biorepository, AMSBIO is widely recognised as a leading provider of high-quality tissue specimens (including custom procurement) from both human and animal tissues. The company provides unique clinical grade products for stem cell and cell therapy applications these include high quality solutions for viral delivery (lentivirus, adenovirus and adeno-associated virus) in addition to GMP cryopreservation technology.

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** Buijsers, B., Yanginlar, C., de Nooijer, A., Grondman, I., Maciej-Hulme, M. L., Jonkman, I. & van der Vlag, J. (2020). Increased plasma heparanase activity in COVID-19 patients. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 2572.