Cancer immunotherapy aims at the stimulation of the body’s immune system to fight cancer. The T-cell immune response against cancer cells is dampened by the activity of the enzymes indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1) and tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) and these enzymes are therefore promising drug targets. The biochemical and cellular activity of IDO1 and TDO can be assessed with NTRC’s NFK GreenScreen™ assay kits. The NFK GreenScreen™ fluorescent assay technology has been successfully applied to screen compounds on the bench and in HTS campaigns by a large number of pharmaceutical companies worldwide.
NTRC has now extended its NFK GreenScreen™ portfolio with biochemical assays for mouse IDO1 and TDO. “Mouse and human IDO1 and TDO have restricted sequence identities and we have observed clear differences in the ability of drug candidates to inhibit mouse or human enzymes” says Dr. Suzanne van Gerwen, Sales Manager NTRC Services. She adds “The assays provide an essential test before moving into syngeneic mouse models.”
NFK GreenScreen™ for mouse IDO1 and TDO uses NFK Green™ as readout. The assays are based on recombinant enzymes and allow robust determination of inhibitor IC50s and are suitable for experiments in 384-well format. NTRC is the only company worldwide to provide assay kits for these important enzymes. “NFK GreenScreen™ for mouse IDO1 and TDO provide a priori information on the likelihood of success of in-vivo studies in mice” says Dr. Guido Zaman, Managing Director and Head of Biology. NFK GreenScreen™ is a commercial product that can be ordered at the website of NTRC.

NTRC is a privately-owned biotech company based at the Pivot Park, in Oss, The Netherlands. NTRC (Netherlands Translational Research Center B.V.) translates novel ideas in disease biology into small molecule drug candidates, using its proprietary technology platforms Oncolines™, SynergyFinder™, and ResidenceTimer™. These technologies can be applied in an integrated drug discovery service, or ordered separately