PHOTO: COURTESY OF CSTThe CST scientists who developed and tested the products answer customer phone
calls and emails, will send supporting data to customers, and have even been
known to run experiments to crack the thorniest customer queries.
“Technical Support at CST is definitely unique to the industry,” says Craig
Thompson, senior vice president of global operations. CST scientists not only
understand the products and their applications, but often they are also familiar with
the customers’ biological systems. “The customer gets highly qualified support
from a scientist who can troubleshoot the experiment technically and often provide
guidance on experimental design.”
Crosby notes that it’s extremely
satisfying to provide customers with
this kind of detailed support to set
them and their experiments on the
right path to discovery.
Beyond the contributions to
biomedicine, Crosby likes working
at a company that also supports
the broader community through
sustainability initiatives and
investments in science education
and the arts. “We feel like our work
is purposeful and we’re being good
citizens,” she says.
Polakiewicz says that the
company’s scientific rigor, work ethic, and high-quality products and customer
service stem from its family-owned structure and its deeply ingrained corporate
social responsibility values. “Privately held companies like CST have the benefit
of the long-term view without the pressures of the market,” he says. That allows
CST employees the space to do their own research and innovation and to lead the
company in a researcher-centric way.
“From that culture comes the investment in doing good science, when we
validate tools that other scientists will buy and use,” says Polakiewicz. “That leads
to an uncompromising business ethic that enables more good science to be done.
We’ve been that way since we started, and that’s never going to change.”References
- K. Crosby et al., J. Histotechnology 43 , 182–195 (2020).
- T. M. Yaron et al., bioRxiv, https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.14.251207v
(2020).
Produced by the Science
Sponsored byTo test their antibodies under various conditions, CST uses six complementary
strategies that they call the “Hallmarks of Antibody Validation.” These include
testing antibodies across different model systems and cell types, with and without
the target present, across a range of target concentrations, and in comparison to
other antibodies that bind different sites, or epitopes, on the target protein. In this
way, each antibody product can be recommended for high-specificity use under
different experimental parameters. At the center of their validation approach is the
conviction that no single assay can determine the validity of an antibody in a given
application—and that includes
CRISPR knockouts.
“We are particularly rigorous in
our validation of antibodies,” says
Crosby. “When we put something out
there for the community to use, we
are confident in its performance.”
Sometimes this in-depth
validation work yields scientific
discoveries all on its own. In an
award-winning 2020 study of their
monoclonal antibody products
for two transcription coactivator
proteins, yes-associated protein
(YAP) and transcriptional coactivator
with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ),
CST scientists showed that these two closely related proteins could now be
characterized separately in tissues using immunohistochemistry techniques ( 1 ).
Before this, the two proteins implicated in some cancers were so similar in their
sequences, domains, and expression that they were referred to as “YAP/TAZ,” and
scientists had difficulty distinguishing their functions.
“In some cancers we saw YAP and not TAZ, in others, the opposite. And in yet
others, we saw them both together,” says Crosby. “This suggested that they have
individual roles in different cancers.”
She notes that the stakes get much higher if researchers are trying to identify
and characterize potential cancer biomarkers. “How do researchers interpret their
data if they don’t have confidence that the antibody is behaving in a very specific
way?” asks Crosby.
CST is committed to using all available resources to push the science
forward. Says CSO Polakiewicz: “Occasionally, a new product or technology can
emerge from the research, but that is not the primary intent. Because CST scientists
are scientists first, investigating intellectually interesting and impactful disease
mechanisms helps keep them engaged with the scientific community and at the
forefront of the field.” CST scientists have published nearly 160 peer-reviewed
papers since the company’s founding (11 in 2021 alone), including contributing to
research on COVID-19 through a recent collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine
about the impact of the drug alectinib on SARS-CoV-2 infection ( 2 ).Science-based customer support
Because the scientists at CST spend time doing in-depth experiments to validate
their products, they are the best resource when customers need technical support.Left: Michael Comb, Center: Roberto Polakiewicz, Right: Katie Crosby0415Product.indd 217 4/7/22 7:55 AM