Linkage Biosciences announced the launch of the first commercially available real-time PCR KIR genotyping test at the 39th annual meeting of the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI).
Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) are a family of cell surface receptors found on human Natural Killer (NK) cells with known associations to autoimmunity, viral progression, tumor immunity, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Understanding the role of these receptors could have significant clinical implications in the future. Linkage's new LinkSeq KIR genotyping test dramatically simplifies laboratory workflows compared to previous KIR typing methods while providing clear and accurate results.
The HLA Laboratory at the City of Hope National Medical Center collaborated on early validation studies with Linkage and the resulting work was selected for presentation at ASHI's annual meeting. The laboratory concluded that Linkage's method was easy to perform and train personnel, and data analysis was simple and quick.
Linkage's homogeneous test can be run and analyzed on standard real-time PCR instrumentation without needing further analytical techniques required by other tests. Linkage's test identifies all the major KIR genes including specific variants in 2DL1, 3DL1, and others.
Linkage Biosciences CEO Zachary Antovich noted the LinkSeq system provides a tremendous advance for molecular KIR typing.
"We are excited by this latest product launch and look forward to continuing our efforts to enable and accelerate critical immunology research in transplantation and infectious disease," Antovich added.