About the Authors
- Eytan R. Barnea
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* E-mail: barnea@earlypregnancy.org
Affiliations Research & Development, SIEP The Society for the Investigation of Early Pregnancy, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, United States of America, Research & Development, BioIncept, LLC, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, United States of America, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproduction, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, New Jersey, United States of America
- David M. Lubman
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Affiliation Department Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- Yan-Hui Liu
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Affiliation Department Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- Victor Absalon-Medina
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Affiliation Reproductive Medicine, Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- Soren Hayrabedyan
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Affiliation Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Krassimira Todorova
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Affiliation Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Robert O. Gilbert
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Affiliation Reproductive Medicine, Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- Joy Guingab
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Affiliation Chemical Biology and Proteomics, Banyan Biomarkers, Alachua, Florida, United States of America
- Timothy J. Barder
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Affiliation Research & Development, Eprogen, Downers Grove, Illinois, United States of America
Competing Interests
The authors have the following interests. Eytan R. Barnea is the (uncompensated) Chief Scientist at BioIncept. (His spouse Dr. Jacqueline H. Barnea is [uncompensated] President & CEO and owns the majority of BioIncept shares.) BioIncept owns all the PIF-related patents, among them “New Assays for Preimplantation Factor and Preimplantation Factor peptides,” No. 7678582. PIF related agents were provided free of charge by BioIncept for this study. Joy Guingab is employed by Banyan Biomarkers and Timothy J. Barder by Eprogen. Timothy J. Barder received BioIncept funds to cover costs. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: ERB. Analyzed the data: ERB TJB SH. Wrote the paper: ERB TJB. Developed the affinity chromatography: ERB. Conceived the in silico design and validation study: SH KT. Carried out the equine blastocyst studies: VAM RG. Performed Biotin-PIF binding studies to protein extracts and protein isolation by using PIF-affinity chromatography: TJB. LC/MS/MS analysis: DML YL JG. Performed the in silico experiment and validation study: SH KT.