About Us

BioZyme, Inc. was incorporated in North Carolina, USA, in by Fred Rasmussen. BioZyme’s principle focus is the development of substrates for metalloproteinases; concentrating on the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) families.  In the past, BioZyme has provided inhibitor testing services, as well as in house inhibitor development.

BioZyme initially developed fluorescence substrates useful for ADAMs 17, 12, 10, 9, and 8, and also for MMPs 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, and 14.  The substrates can be used in enzymatic assays in vitro, but also in cell based assays, and with biological fluids.  Many of the substrates are selective enough to be used individually in complex biological mixtures.  However, even if the selectivity is not high enough to be used individually, they can be used collectively, with a technique named proteolytic activity matrix analysis (PrAMA). PrAMA was developed by collaborators at MIT.

Our product line now includes colorimetric substrates that are as sensitive as standard fluorescence substrates.  The substrates utilize a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) amplification system.

See our publications for specific details on how BioZyme products are used.