Applied Biosystems Announces new Tools for Studying Gene Expression

Applied Biosystems has announced the worldwide availability of new gene expression analysis tools that are expected to give life science researchers added flexibility and efficiency in performing experiments that identify and quantify key genes in biological samples, according to company.

The TaqMan® Express Plates are 96-well reaction plates containing dried-down assays selected from more than 50,000 of Applied Biosystems TaqMan® Gene Expression Assays, in customized sets. These new tools have been developed to make the application of real-time PCR TaqMan assays more accessible to larger numbers of researchers.

Using these plates, researchers in academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and other commercial enterprises will be able to custom design 96-wells with pre-plated TaqMan assays, allowing them to cost-effectively screen samples for the presence and amount of specified gene targets expressed in human, mouse, rat, Canine and Rhesus species.

Real-time PCR performed with TaqMan Gene Expression Assays is a widely used laboratory method for simultaneously detecting and quantifying nucleic acids present in samples.

Frequently referenced in published research, this method has already helped thousands of life science researchers to assess how changes in the amount of RNA contribute to the development of disease or relate to biological processes in cells. Applications of TaqMan Gene Expression Assays include microarray validation, RNA interference (RNAi), candidate gene studies, and biological pathway studies.

Applied Biosystems developed the new TaqMan Express Plates so that researchers can choose gene targets of interest from the company’s broad collection of TaqMan Gene Expression Assays, and then designate the well-location for those assays to be dried-down on reaction plates.

“The TaqMan Express plates demonstrate excellent reproducibility, are easy to use, and provide us with the ability to run sets of TaqMan Gene Expression Assays with a minimal amount of time needed to set up our experiments,” said Dr. Lipton. “As competitive technologies for the same experiments did not meet our standards for data quality, resulting in half of the data being useless, we are planning on using the TaqMan Express Plates in our lab on a regular basis.”

Applied Biosystems says that the assays used for the TaqMan Express Plates offer researchers the reproducibility of gold-standard TaqMan chemistry. This chemistry underlies the assays in Applied Biosystems line of gene expression analysis products, which won the best-in-class distinction at the fourth annual Life Science Industry Awards™ event this month.

Extensive tests by Applied Biosystems scientists have found the same high level of performance between TaqMan Gene Expression Assays supplied in the traditional liquid format and assays dried into a TaqMan Express Plate. For studies using cultured cells, TaqMan Express Plates are also compatible for use with the TaqMan® Gene Expression Cells-to-CT™ Kit.

To use the TaqMan Express Plates, researchers first access an intuitive web site to select one of three plate formats (32, 48, and 96 genes per plate). They then choose targets from a catalogue of TaqMan Gene Expression Assays and controls. Researchers customize a virtual plate layout by placing assays in specific wells of the plate.

Once plates are designed, researchers order them, then Applied Biosystems manufactures the plates with assays in a convenient dried-down format and ships them. Researchers generally receive their customized plates of assays in less than two weeks. They can store plates at room temperature until they use them.

Use of TaqMan Express Plates reduces pipetting errors and promotes standardization of processes for performing gene expression applications in different laboratory environments. As few as six plates can be ordered at a time. Each pack of Express Plates is shipped with a CD containing the plate configuration map along with the details of each TaqMan assay.