Core Resources : eMicroarray and Gene Expression Core
eMicroarray and Gene Expression Core
Contact: Toumy Guettouche, Ph.D. TGuettouche@med.miami.edu
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DNA Microarray technology is one of the most important breakthroughs of recent years in studying how individual genes express themselves at the molecular level. Though every cell in the human body contains identical genetic material, the same genes are not active in every cell. Determining which genes are active in which type of cell allows researchers at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics to understand how these cells function normally, and what happens when the healthy system breaks down. With Microarray technology, that literally can observe the functioning of thousands of genes at any given time.
Microarrays are created by robotic machines that arrange minuscule amounts of hundreds or thousands of gene sequences on a single microscope slide. When a gene is activated, cellular machinery begins to copy certain segments of that gene. This creates messenger RNA (mRNA), the body’s template for creating proteins. The mRNA will bind to the original portion of the DNA strand from which it was copied. Using a complex process involving fluorescent nucleotides, researchers then look at the rate that messenger RNA is created to determine the level of activity of targeted cells.
One intense area of microarray research is the study of many genetic diseases, including cancer. Before microarray, scientists ranked different types of cancers based on the organs in which the tumors develop. Now, using microarray, they are able to further classify these types of cancers based on the patterns of gene activity in the tumor cells. Ultimately, new treatment strategies will be designed that are targeted directly to each specific type of cancer.
The HIHG’s resources include the Agilent and Nimblegen platforms. These include a scanner, hybridization stations and ovens. For gene expression studies we have two primary platforms: the Affymetrix Gene Chip 3000 and a complete Agilent microarray system.
Our equipment includes:
• One Agilent microarray system with the hybridization oven and Agilent high resolution microarray scanner
• One Nimblegen System with two Maui Workstations
• One Axon 4100B Scanner with GenePix analysis software
• Two Roche Lightcycler LC 480 real-time PCR systems
• One ABI Prism 7900HT Sequence Detection System (Genotyping & Gene Expression)
• Two Affymetrix GeneChip Scanner 3000 Systems with two additional GeneChip Fluidics Station 450s (Genotyping & Gene Expression)
• One Nanostring nCounter Analysis System
• One Samsung Nanodispenser micro-arrayer