Frontal affinity chromatography with MS detection of EphB2 tyrosine kinase receptor. 1. Comparison with conventional ELISA.

FAC-MS offers a convenient method for measuring the relative binding strengths of ligands in a mixture and enables a rapid ranking and identification of ligands in the mixture as potential hits against immobilized targets. Using immobilized EphB2 receptor tyrosine kinase as the target and known kinase inhibitors, the results of FAC-MS screening (% shift) have been shown to correlate with the binding constant, K(d), and with IC(50) results from the more traditional ELISA assay. Therefore, since FAC-MS can accommodate a wide variety of target proteins, its applications could play a broad role in drug discovery not only at the hit discovery stage but also during the subsequent more rigorous screening at the hit-to-lead and lead optimization stages.