Screening compounds early in the drug discovery process is essential for the identification of compounds capable of inducing mutations. The Ames test, which is conducted using Salmonella typhimurium, is a widely used bacterial assay for the identification of compounds that can produce gene mutations, and it shows a high predictive value with rodent carcinogenicity tests.
Eurofins Discovery offers a miniaturized screening version of the Ames test that requires a very small amount of compound (typically 5 mg). Our Ames fluctuation assay is high-throughput, being performed in 384-well plates and uses four Salmonella strains, TA98, TA100, TA1535 and TA1537 (Table 1), to detect multiple mutations including frameshift mutations and base-pair substitutions as well as to identify certain mutagenic compounds which are not detected by specific bacterial strains.
Eurofins Discovery offers a miniaturized screening version of the Ames test that requires a very small amount of compound (typically 5 mg). Our Ames fluctuation assay is high-throughput, being performed in 384-well plates and uses four Salmonella strains, TA98, TA100, TA1535 and TA1537 (Table 1), to detect multiple mutations including frameshift mutations and base-pair substitutions as well as to identify certain mutagenic compounds which are not detected by specific bacterial strains.
Eurofins Discovery provides metabolic activation as a component of the assay by using rat liver S9 fraction to determine if major metabolites generated are potential mutagens. To prevent false negatives due to bacteriocidal or bacteriostatic effects, we also perform a bacterial cytotoxicity assay in parallel with the Ames fluctuation assay. Our Ames fluctuation assay can be ordered individually or as a selection of key services provided in our drug candidate assessment packages to provide cost savings.
