Therapeutic Area
Inflammation and Hypersensitivity in vitro assays
We provide pre-clinical CRO services to test therapeutics that limit and control chronic or acute inflammation caused by various agents such as microbes, allergens, environmental and mechanical insults.
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Discover what sets your drug apart with insights from our immunology experts
In many cases inflammation is not driven by autoimmunity, but by: innate immune activation (inflammasomes), pathogen and allergen exposure, tissue injury and remodeling, environmental or metabolic stress. We provide multicellular models that recapitulate disease such as Atopic Dermatitis, Asthma, Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Example assays: Mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR) → Th2 (IL-4/13 axis) → B cell IgE antibody production → Inflammasome- NLRP3/IL-1β assays → M1, M2a-d polarisation → Neutrophil ROS, immune complex NETosis
Key Assays
Example of key assays designed to test small molecules, biologics, cellular therapies, vaccines and nutraceuticals
Epithelial cell
Inflammation Assays
- Cytokine release
- EMT, keratinocyte cytokine release,
- Epithelial interface-barrier integrity, tight junction, TEER. epithelial and immune cell co-culture
- Intestinal barrier models – CaCo-2/HT29
Macrophage
Inflammation Assays
- M1/M2a-d polarisation and function
- Cytokine Release Assay (CRA)-predictive toxicity
Neutrophil
Inflammation Assays
- Respiratory Burst (ROS, Phagoburst)
- NETs
- Phagocytosis/trogocytosis
CD4 T cell
- Polarisation assays: Th1,Th2,Th17, iTreg
- Isolation and effector function of Th1, Th2, Th17, nTregs from PBMC
- nTreg/iTreg suppression assays
- Th1, Th2, Th17 cytokine signatures – B cell related isotype switched antibodies
Inflammation FAQ
Can you test both acute and chronic inflammatory responses?
Yes, we offer in vitro inflammation assays to test both acute (neutrophil activation, monocyte cytokine release) and chronic inflammation (macrophage, fibroblast and epithelial interactions).
Do you offer assays to assess inflammasome activation?
Yes, we offer NLRP3 inflammasome assays to study chronic inflammatory diseases such as such as arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammasome activation is driven using a variety of TLR and DAMPs signals; IL-1b and IL-18 is controlled using NLRP3 inhibitors.
Can you evaluate whether a drug candidate will drive cytokine release syndrome?
Yes, we offer cytokine release assays (CRA) to evaluate the potential risk of novel biologics or cellular therapies to drive cytokine release syndrome. These assays are performed using both healthy and disease-derived immune cells to assess safety in early drug development and to support IND-submissions.
Do you offer Predictive Immunotoxicology services?
Yes. Our predictive immunotoxicology services help identify immune-related liabilities early, including cytokine release, on-target/off-tumour effects, unwanted FcR-mediated activation, and T-cell fratricide or AICD. Assays include whole-blood and PBMC CRA, ADCP, ADCC and CDC, complemented by advanced NAMs such as our ex vivo Secondary Lymphoid Organ model, which can assess efficacy and potential immune safety risks within the same human-relevant system.
What Our Partners say about Nexus
The team at Nexus are fantastic! Great adaptability at working with highly bespoke requests and difficult experiments to keep the project on track and deliver within aggressive timelines. A highly flexible, friendly and efficient team to work with!
We have been delighted with our interactions with Nexus BioQuest. I first reached out to them after a recommendation from a former colleague. I appreciated their ability to suggest immunoassay options to address the question of interest (as a neurobiologist, the immune system definitely works in mysterious ways!). This was further bolstered by exemplary attention to detail when putting together a work package proposal which was then efficiently executed. The skill set, responsiveness, knowledge base, effort, effectiveness, transparent and regular communication were all outstanding and I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Nexus BioQuest as a partner of choice.
Our work with Nexus BioQuest initially started with developing a novel T cell assay and grew from there into a much larger screening project. Working with Nexus has been a fantastic experience, marked by their deep expertise in immunology and friendly staff. At the onset of the project, Nexus really took the time to understanding of our project needs, setting us up for success throughout. Nexus distinguishes themselves by their enthusiasm, knowledge, and commitment to excellence, with contributed significantly to the development of a tailored assay that exceeded our expectations.
I would like to thank the team at Nexus BioQuest for providing an excellent and professional service supporting our R&D development activities. The Nexus team were great to work with from contract signature to delivery of final reporting. I would certainly recommend their contract services to companies seeking immunology expertise and agile research solutions.
Our experience of working with Nexus was excellent, we felt they held the expertise required for the task at hand, working well together as a high performing team and presenting well researched solutions to assay development and the problems encountered. We wanted a fresh outlook for assay development for our project and the team were able to rapidly research the literature and come up with proposals. The team were flexible and dynamic in their approach providing honest feedback and critique to methods and results. We would certainly work with Nexus again and would not hesitate to recommend them as a CRO for immunological assay development.
Working with Nexus BioQuest has been an absolutely wonderful experience. As a smaller biotechnology company that relies heavily on CRO support to execute our lab-based activities, we could not have found a better biological team to partner with. We needed a team to generate our biological package for a new pipeline candidate and we were fortunate to find Nexus and have them deliver a wonderful data package that will help the Bluejay team move our program forward. Working with this group felt like having an internal Bluejay R&D team from ease of execution, to great scientific discussions and troubleshooting, and having the feeling that the Nexus team was truly invested in the success of our program. I cannot recommend the Nexus team enough and will greatly look forward to collaborating with them again on our next programs and projects!
Drug Discovery Tool
Find the right immune assay for your therapeutic area, modality and target using our interactive Drug Discovery Tool.