LAESI® technology used in antibacterial research

MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Oct. 19, 2016 -- Protea Biosciences Group, Inc. (OTCQB:PRGB) (“Protea”) announced today the use of the Company’s proprietary LAESI technology to provide rapid profiling of a bacteria’s resistance to antibiotics.

The results were recently published in the International Edition of the Journal Angewandte Chemie, by Dr. H. Li, and Prof. Akos Vertes, Department of Chemistry, The George Washington University. The publication’s title is “Molecular Imaging of Growth, Metabolism, and Antibiotic Inhibition in Bacterial Colonies by Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (LAESI).”

“We are pleased to see the unique capabilities of LAESI technology applied to antibiotic research,” stated Steve Turner, Protea’s CEO. He added, “In this study, LAESI was shown to help reveal molecular information that has the potential to significantly contribute to new antibiotic research and development.”

Professor Vertes commented, “With the emergence of multidrug resistant microbial strains and bacterial pathogens, the need for rapid and accurate testing of antibiotic susceptibility is increasing. Understanding microbial metabolism and its inhibition by antibiotics is important for developing new treatments of bacterial infections. These results indicate the potential of LAESI-MSI to study antibiotic diffusion patterns in tissues qualitatively and quantitatively, and to explore complex bacterial interactions.”   

Characterizing existing and emerging microbial strains and their interactions with antimicrobial agents currently relies on time-consuming methods with limited ability to provide molecular information. Assessing the metabolic adaptation of microbial colonies requires the capability to perform non-targeted molecular imaging in a native environment. LAESI technology enabled the direct analysis and imaging of numerous metabolites and lipids in both two and three dimensions.

LAESI technology was invented in the laboratory of Professor Akos Vertes and exclusively licensed to Protea. LAESI is new bioanalytical technology that directly detects and maps molecules in diverse biological samples without the need to apply chemicals or introduce tags or tracers. LAESI enables both 2D and 3D molecular imaging, and results are available in seconds to minutes.         

About Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.:  Protea Biosciences Group, Inc. (OTCQB:PRGB) is a molecular information company providing innovative bioanalytical solutions to the pharmaceutical and life science industries. "Molecular information" refers to the generation and bioinformatic processing of very large data sets, obtained by applying the Company's technology to identify and characterize the proteins, metabolites, lipids and other biologically-active molecules which are the byproducts of all living cells and life forms. The company provides proprietary molecular information services to its clients in the pharmaceutical and life science industries.

Forward-Looking Statements; This press release may contain statements relating to future results or events, which are forward-looking statements.  Words such as "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "could", "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar import may identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only the Company's belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control.  It is possible that the Company's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements.  Further, information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's business and financial and other results, are contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov.  All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which we hereafter become aware.

For more Information:  
Protea Biosciences Group, Inc., 1311 Pineview Dr., Morgantown, WV 26505 USA
Phone:  304.292.2226      Fax:  304.292.7101

https://proteabio.com/investors 

[email protected]

Protea and LAESI are registered trademarks of Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.