Applied Biosystems Announces Commercial Availability of TaqMan® MicroRNA Assays
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Applied Biosystems, an Applera Corporation Business, has announced the commercial release of its TaqMan® microRNA Assays for the detection and quantitation of mature human microRNA (miRNA) _expression levels.
“The commercial availability of our TaqMan® microRNA Assays has been much anticipated in the industry. These novel assays eliminate major challenges in detecting and quantifying miRNAs and are expected to stimulate research in areas such as cancer, stem cell research, and developmental biology,” said Catherine M. Burzik, President of Applied Biosystems.
In May 2005, Dartmouth University presented findings at the European Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting demonstrating the ability of TaqMan® miRNA Assays to reveal miRNA _expression changes in an aggressive form of brain cancer.
“We were extremely pleased to be an early access customer for these assays, which have generated promising results in our studies of the role of miRNAs in cancer,” said Victor Ambros, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics at Dartmouth University.
“We look forward to seeing how other researchers can further our understanding of the complex role of these important regulatory molecules as these assays become generally available.”
William Strauss, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor at the University of Colorado’s Department of Molecular, Chemical and Developmental Biology, recently presented related research at the International Society for Stem Cell Research Annual Meeting.
Study results showed TaqMan® miRNA Assays can be used to differentiate expression levels of miRNA molecules during embryonic stem cell differentiation.
These findings could help stem cell researchers identify optimal stem cell lines for research and therapeutic use.
Based on the industry-standard TaqMan® chemistry, Applied Biosystems’ proprietary stem-loop reverse transcriptase assay technology, and real-time PCR, the assays provide highly sensitive and reproducible data through a simple two-step process.
Unlike other conventional methods such as hybridization arrays, the TaqMan® miRNA assays allow researchers to discriminate between mature miRNA and its precursor form.
The assays require small starting samples (1-10 nanograms of RNA or equivalent) allowing researchers to conserve samples and simplify the analytical process.
The TaqMan® miRNA Assays are pre-designed and validated probe and primer sets with a flexible format.
They accommodate both large initial screening panels (many miRNAs in parallel) and in-depth further screening to determine differential _expression levels of specific miRNAs.
The current product offering includes a set of 157 human assays with three non-vertebrate negative controls and an individually available miR-16 assay.
