TOKU-E
 | |
| Private Corporation | |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder | Joseph Ouyang |
| Headquarters | Bellingham, WA, USA |
Key people | Q Pan (President) |
| Products | Antibiotics, Antimicrobials, Life Science and Transfection |
Number of employees | 31 (2016) |
| Website | TOKU-E.com |
TOKU-E is a supplier of high-purity antibiotics for biotechnology applications as selective antimicrobial reagents.[1] TOKU-E’s facilities include locations in the United States, Europe, China and Singapore.
History
TOKU-E Company was formed in 1981 in Tokyo, Japan and employs engineers and specialists from all over the world in manufacturing facilities on almost every continent. Throughout the 80s, TOKU-E concentrated on fermentation products. Due to market demand, the company diversified and began making instruments for animal health and needles used in electronic applications.
In the 90s, TOKU-E expanded efforts into biotechnology and pharmaceutical research in comparative gene study and site specific mutations of antibiotics producing microorganisms through both private and public contract research, and gradually became a reputable supplier of antibiotics for biopharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology research.
In 2007, TOKU-E had formed a grant-making foundation in Singapore, TOKU-E Foundation, to promote information sharing, compound sharing and some technology sharing for antimicrobials. TOKU-E Foundation will provide funding to public research organizations for antibiotic resistant related studies.
In 2015, TOKU-E opened its European facility in Zwijnaarde, Belgium to focus on research and development in separation chemistry.[2]
Products
Antimicrobials
TOKU-E specializes in manufacturing cell culture selection antibiotics and a wide variety of other antimicrobials for in-vitro studies. Antimicrobial structural categories include:
Aminoglycosides, Azoles, Cephalosporins, Lipopeptides, Macrolides, Quinolones, Sulfamide, Penams, Peptides, Polyketides, etc.
EvoPure®
EvoPure® is a product line developed by the TOKU-E which employs proprietary chemical separation methods to produce highly purified single antibiotic fractions. Many naturally occurring antibiotics are actually a mixture of related compounds with unknown biological activity. Bacitracin for example, is an antibiotic which consists of over ten known related fractions. These fractions are typically given a letter, number, impurity, related compound, or any combination to note a particular compound related to the parent. These names are typically established by the British Pharmacopoeia, Chinese Pharmacopoeia, European Pharmacopoeia, Japanese Pharmacopoeia, or United States Pharmacopoeia.
Isolating these compounds have shown to be especially useful in gene selection applications where the goal is to inhibit growth of non-transformed cells with antibiotics without harming selected cells. Some examples of these compounds that contain these mixtures are as follows: Azithromycin, Bacitracin, Bleomycin, Clarithromycin, Cyclosporin, Enramycin, Erythromycin, G418, Gentamicin, Hygromycin, Kanamycin, Neomycin, Polymyxin, Roxithromycin, Tetracycline, Tylosin.
Resources
Antimicrobial Index
The TOKU-E antimicrobial index allows users to cross-reference literature-based susceptibility data with hundreds of antibiotics, thus allowing for more informed and efficient use of antimicrobials. Currently, the index contains both susceptibility and potency data for thousands of microorganisms and antimicrobial agents. The index contains over 69,300 microorganisms (7,850 unique strains) and 4,100 antimicrobial agents.
Cell Culture Database
The TOKU-E cell culture database is a database designed to help scientists choose the most effective media and antibiotics for their cells. In addition, the database suggests ideal concentrations and combinations of antibiotics for selection and transfection experiments. The easy to use database simply requires the user to enter the cell lines or plasmid/vector and the search results produce an exhaustive list of several antibiotics and concentrations typically used for the specified cell line or plasmid.
Solubility Data
The TOKU-E solubility data is a comprehensive list of solubility's of antimicrobial compounds in common solvents used in cell culture.