美国Advanced Targeting Systems (ATS)   www.atsbio.com
Advanced Targeting Systems(ATS)是位于加州圣地亚哥的一家生物技术公司，主要生产用于科研和药物开发的靶试剂（targeting reagents）。ATS关于疼痛和药物转运的研究及临床治疗的两个产品已获专利保护。ATS公司主要进行神经系统研究产品的开发和销售。目前公司可提供用于神经系统功能机制及相关疾病研究的靶毒素，抗体。

ATS公司产品的基础技术并不局限于神经领域，同样可应用于当今的医药研究。ATS正在与全世界的著名科学家加强战略合作，不断开发和扩大产品线。

历史：
ATS公司于1994年8月成立，发起人Douglas Lappi，Ph.D和Ronald Wiley，M.D.，Ph.D.在实验室开发出先进的分子神经外科学的研究技术。

分子神经外科学对目前世界神经学最广泛使用技术做了改进：借助特异性细胞毒素，通过外科学手段和效果观察，从而损伤某一区域。这一尖端技术使所有神经学家获得方便，公司首批产品192-Saporin也进入了世界上最好的神经学实验室。

现状：
ATS倡导使用靶毒素，提供特异损伤性试剂，“二抗免疫毒素”，以神经内分泌抗体。1997年，公司开发出SP-SAP，这一试剂能作用于特定的疼觉传导神经元，从而阻断慢性疼痛，对正常的疼觉敏感并不受影响。这一试剂在神经学界引起了轰动效应，同其第二代试剂一起获得专利保护，并用于慢性疼痛的治疗。

前景：
ATS的靶技术有广阔的应用前景，作用于神经元表面抗原的单抗处于开发的初期，随着时间的推移，公司会推出更好的靶试剂，将为分子神经外科学，心血管生理学和药理学等学科提供杀灭细胞的先进工具。

目前产品包括：
·靶毒素，二抗生物素
·抗体：神经元抗体，神经递质抗体，其他抗体
·蛋白质和荧光偶联物
·免疫毒素对照

靶技术概述
·根据细胞类型选择特异抗体，可用生长因子，多肽，配体或细胞因子。
·Saporin是潜在的细胞毒素，作为细胞的致死因子可安全用于实验室。
·ATS将它们整合成强效的靶试剂。
·靶试剂注入细胞(in vivo or in vitro)。
·Saporin偶联物与细胞表面靶受体结合。
·无靶受体的细胞不受影响。
·Saporin偶联物进入细内并与抗体脱离。
·Saporin使核糖体失活，目标细胞死亡

192-Saporin概述：

192-Saporin作为免疫毒素，在静脉注射后几乎可使LNGFR (p75NTR)阳性细胞全部消失，因而成为研究者强大的损伤工具，比化学试剂、操作或电解损伤更特异、更有效。杀灭特定类型细胞

192-Saporin直接对只在前脑胆碱能神经原高水平表达的细胞表面抗原作用，p75NTR在邻近的非胆碱能神经并不表达。192-Saporin特异作用于：
·前脑胆碱能神经原
·Medial septum
·Diagonal band of Broca
·Nucleus basalis of Meynert
·小脑的浦肯野细胞

功能研究的有效工具
192-Saporin可永久而选择性地清除前脑胆碱能神经原，因此可产生下列用途的重要动物模型：
·行为 (前脑胆碱能神经原)
·神经退化（Alzheimer's 病等）
·系统缺失的可塑性
·替代治疗
·药效和药物依赖性研究

Advanced Targeting Systems (ATS) is a San Diego-based biotechnology company dedicated to providing quality targeting reagents for scientific research and pharmaceutical development. ATS has applied for patent protection on two of its products for research and therapeutic applications in pain and drug delivery.

For the past ten years, ATS has primarily focused on the development and sale of products for the Neuroscience research community. The Company's current product line includes targeted toxins, antibodies and custom services designed to assist neuroscientists in the study of nervous system function, brain-related diseases and disorders.

The technology that provides the foundation for the Company's products has a broad spectrum of applications, not only in the field of Neuroscience, but in virtually every medical and pharmaceutical research field in practice today. ATS is continuing to develop and expand the existing product line through strategic scientific collaborations with top scientists throughout the world.

History
Advanced Targeting Systems was founded in April of 1994 to concentrate production efforts that had been developed and refined by Douglas Lappi, Ph.D. (President and Chief Scientific Officer) and Ronald Wiley, M.D., Ph.D. (Scientific Advisor) in their academic laboratories. Together, they developed a powerful neuroscience technique which the Company has termed Molecular Neurosurgery.

Molecular Neurosurgery is a modification of one of the most widely used techniques in the Neurosciences: lesioning of a region by surgical means and observation of the effect. All neuroscientists recognize and are comfortable with this concept, and Lappi and Wiley were able to present a new method of molecular lesioning by means of a specific cytotoxin. Because of this, 192-IgG-SAP, one of Advanced Targeting Systems' first products for market, is in use in the finest Neuroscience laboratories worldwide.

Product Focus
Advanced Targeting Systems pioneered the use of targeted toxins. These products include specific lesioning agents for cholinergic basal forebrain neurons, noradrenergic and adrenergic neurons, macrophages and microglia and a pan-neuronal agent that strikes an epitope expressed on all neurons. In addition, ATS produces and sells "second immunotoxins" (or "secondary conjugates") which allow users to convert their own targeting agents into specific cytotoxic tools. The Company also sells neuronal and neuroendocrine antibodies.

Pharmaceutical Applications
In 1997, the Company created SP-SAP. This reagent eliminates specific pain transmission neurons that propagate the signal for chronic pain, but it has no effect on normal pain sensitivity, which continues to function normally. The ability to separate chronic pain transmission from normal pain transmission, and the ablation of the former, created great excitement in the scientific community. Advanced Targeting Systems has been granted patent protection for this molecule, the second generation reagents, and has patents pending for the uses of these molecules for treatment of chronic pain. A wide variety of other molecules for the study and treatment of pain are in development.

The Future
Advanced Targeting Systems' targeting techniques result in a broad and enabling technology. The characterization of monoclonal antibodies to cell surface antigens of neurons is in the early stages of development. This is one of the base materials for the technology of Advanced Targeting Systems and, as time goes on, new, improved reagents will be introduced that can be used as targeting agents. The introduction of the first line of reagents provided a structure for the commercialization of an entire line of innovative, new tools for Molecular Neurosurgery, vascular biology, pharmaceutical development and many other applications that would be enhanced by the elimination of cells.