Eikon Therapeutics Showcases Oblique Line Scan Tech in Nature Method
Eikon Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company that integrates advanced engineering with cutting-edge molecular and cell biology to accelerate drug discovery and development, has announced a new publication in Nature Methods detailing its Oblique Line Scan (OLS) technology. This innovative technology can be combined with Eikon’s Single Molecule Tracking (SMT) platform, a high-throughput system enabling the rapid interrogation of new drug targets and revealing the cellular-level impacts of therapeutic candidates developed by Eikon.
The OLS technology is designed to address several key challenges in imaging-based drug discovery. Traditional single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) methods provide crucial insights into protein behavior in their native environments but suffer from low throughput, uneven illumination, and significant technical biases. OLS overcomes these limitations by offering nanoscale spatial resolution and sub-millisecond temporal resolution across a large field of view, significantly enhancing the statistical power of molecular measurements.
“The OLS technology addresses these shortcomings. By enhancing the field of view, optical performance, exposure time, and illumination uniformity, OLS significantly boosts the statistical power of our measurements. This enables us to characterize rapidly moving proteins, even when present in small sub-populations, with very high confidence,” said Russ Berman, Chief Technology Officer of Eikon Therapeutics.
Eikon’s SMT platform, when combined with OLS technology, allows for the characterization of protein motion at rates of up to 14 square micrometers per second in living cells. The platform also enables in-solution SMT (isSMT), providing precise measurements of kinetic parameters associated with ligand-protein and protein-protein interactions in cell-free assays. These capabilities position OLS as a pivotal tool in understanding complex biological mechanisms and accelerating drug discovery efforts.
“Eikon’s SMT platform generates high-dimensional data, allowing us to quantify the motile characteristics of individual proteins with remarkable precision across large populations,” said Roger Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and Board Chair of Eikon Therapeutics. “OLS is an important technical innovation that is paving the way for breakthroughs in basic biology, drug discovery, and systems biology. These systems enable us to acquire nearly a petabyte of data every day, making Eikon one of the largest data producers globally. This unprecedented throughput opens new frontiers in our understanding of cell biology and drug discovery.”
Eikon’s automated SMT platform is capable of tracking hundreds of thousands of proteins across multiple cells in less than a second, generating high-dimensional data that describes protein motion and state. Proprietary algorithms embedded in Eikon’s software allow for deeper analysis, revealing localization, diffusion rates, angular movement, processivity, and rate constants related to drug-target interactions. Additionally, the SMT platform can obtain instantaneous protein concentration measurements with high accuracy across all sub-cellular compartments, making it a powerful tool for genome-wide genetic screens and drug discovery initiatives across oncology, immunology, and neuroscience.
The ability to produce vast amounts of high-quality imaging data is critical for modern drug discovery. With its high-throughput capabilities, OLS allows researchers to analyze protein dynamics on an unprecedented scale, leading to faster and more accurate drug candidate assessments. This technology enables scientists to gain high-confidence insights into how drug molecules interact with their targets, thereby improving the efficiency and success rate of drug development programs.
“OLS is more than just a technical innovation—it is a transformative tool that bridges the gap between advanced protein visualization and practical drug discovery applications,” said Dan Anderson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Eikon Therapeutics. “Because of its unmatched precision and scalability, this technology enables us to deepen our understanding of fundamental biology while accelerating high-throughput drug screening. OLS can be a useful tool for the rapid interrogation of structure-activity relationships among putative drug candidates, thus propelling our pipeline forward. The ability to generate high-confidence insights quickly is essential for advancing therapeutic discovery.”
Beyond its impact on Eikon’s internal research and development, the company is extending its technology to the broader scientific community. Through the Technology Access Program, academic and industry researchers can leverage state-of-the-art imaging capabilities to study their model systems using OLS and SMT technologies. This program fosters collaboration and accelerates discoveries that may lead to novel therapeutic advancements.
research efforts have been widely recognized, with studies showcasing its technologies published in esteemed journals such as Nature Communications, The Journal of Organic Chemistry, and eLife Sciences. These publications have provided insights into the mechanisms of action of Werner Syndrome helicase (WRN) inhibitors and the study of nuclear hormone receptors. Researchers and industry professionals interested in accessing these publications can visit www.eikontx.com/news for more details.
As pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies increasingly rely on sophisticated imaging and molecular tracking techniques, OLS stands out as a critical advancement in the field. By enabling highly precise and high-throughput analysis of protein behavior, Eikon’s SMT platform combined with OLS has the potential to transform the way scientists approach drug discovery, from early-stage target identification to clinical development.
The groundbreaking work being conducted at Eikon Therapeutics reflects a larger industry trend of integrating advanced engineering solutions with molecular and cell biology to drive innovation in drug development. With OLS, Eikon is not only pushing the boundaries of what is possible in molecular imaging but also setting a new standard for how drug discovery can be performed with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
For more information about Eikon’s cutting-edge research and technological advancements, visit www.EikonTx.com/eikon-systems.
