UAB faculty and researchers now have access to the by Nanostring Technologies through the UAB Nanostring Laboratory in the Department of Radiation Oncology. This platform enables investigators to profile hundreds of targets simultaneously with high sensitivity and precision — even in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues — without the need for amplification steps in all but single-cell or low-cell-number experiments.
“We’re very excited to be one of the first laboratories in the United States to adopt the nCounter Dx Analysis System,” said Eddy Yang, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Nanostring Lab and associate scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The Prosigna Assay will help inform the treatment decisions clinicians and patients make regarding breast-cancer care, and we find great value also in using the system to translate our research into our own laboratory-developed tests.”
The system uses a novel digital technology that is based on direct multiplexed quantification of nucleic acids and provides highly reproducible data over five logs of dynamic range. Applications include gene expression analysis, microRNA and lncRNA analysis, copy number variation analysis, ChIP-String analysis and leukemia fusion gene analysis. Users also may assemble their own assays as part of development of a novel laboratory-developed test using the nCounter Elements Tagsets,
Nanostring’s digital-profiling technology can be used to explore the fundamental roles of signaling pathways in various biological systems. Pre-constructed panels available include the PanCancer Pathways Panel, the Human Kinase Panel the Human Immunology Panel, microRNA Panels, the Cancer Copy Number Variation Assay and others. Custom panels may be developed to assay specific genes or pathways of interest depending on investigator needs.
A schedule of fees and services is online. Direct questions to Eddy Yang at eyang@uab.edu or Tiffiny Cooper at tiffinyc@uab.edu.
