Posters

The new model-organism, Macrostomum lignano is a marine flatworm that has an average weight of 350 µg and is 1.2 mm long. RNA-isolation from small quantities of tissue needs optimalisation. Our goal was to isolate RNA from small quantities of sample material.

Correct interpretation of real-time PCR data requires appropriate experimental design, accurate data pre-processing and analysis of the data using proper statistical and multivariate methods. For this process we have developed the GenEx software.

The phenomenon of acquired high quality MS/MS spectra that can not be explained within typical sequence database searches is well known. Although protein identification was successful it is manually very laborious and in most cases even impossible to match these spectra with any suggested protein sequence. The procedure of second pass searches has been developed to overcome this problem. Here we report from our in house developed tool PTM-Explorer.

Recently, we have presented a strategy to identify new marker molecules characteristic for Alopecia areata by combining protein microarray technology with the use of large cDNA expression libraries (Lueking et al., 2005). This strategy is now applied to Juvenile idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in a BMBF-funded project.

Standard Operation Procedures for each and every step within the work flow of proteome analysis is key for the statistical relevance of the data obtained. We have compared the data sets of four larger proteome studies of different biological samples with regards to the influence of the major steps - sample preparation, protein quantification, study design, analysis, and statistics - on the coefficient of validation of the whole process.

Two goals of gene expression analysis are classification and gene selection. Combinations of gene selectors with classifiers were evaluated on random subsets of arrays. Consensus gene signatures are constructed from genes frequently selected. Model reliability is estimated by the variance of the classification performances. The method finds reliable models, even when classification performance is variable. Manual literature screening verified the relevance of the genes identified from an osteoar

MicroRNAs are endogenous, 21–22 nt, noncoding RNAs that mediate post transcriptional gene regulation. miRNAs are involved in regulation of gene expression during development, differentiation, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Misregulation of miRNA expression is associated with several cancers and other diseases. We have developed the miScript System for real-time PCR analysis of hundreds of miRNAs, sno RNAs, piRNAs, other small noncoding RNAs.

The new model-organism, Macrostomum lignano is a marine flatworm that has an average weight of 350 µg and is 1.2 mm long. RNA-isolation from small quantities of tissue needs optimalisation. Our goal was to isolate RNA from small quantities of sample material.

Using the CTC kit (CellSearch™), cells that attached to anti-EpCAM Moab were immunomagnetically separated and used for analysis of a selected pilot set of 32 genes by real time RT-PCR. This study shows the feasibility of multiple gene expression analysis on RNA isolated from only one tumor cell. Most importantly, expression analysis of several tumor-specific genes in blood samples containing only 2 tumor cells is already possible.