Microarray Biochip Services

BIOCHIP SERVICES

MICROARRAY TECHNOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW

Microarray technology has revolutionized biological inquiry by making a major shift from studying one or two molecules at time to parallel system analysis of hundreds or thousands of molecules at a time. The technology has evolved as a result of the following technical developments:

Availability of gene sequence data for the genomes of a number of species
Automated systems for synthesis of oligomers, peptides and complex carbohydrates
Concurrent adaptation of molecular biology tools
Availability of monoclonal antibodies to huge variety of antigen for almost any experimental organism
Availability of increasing number of lectins and other proteins isolated from a large number of experimental systems
Great advances in bio-informatics with ability to handle vast amounts of data,
Miniaturization of assay systems
Developments of non-radioactive but equally sensitive tags
Bioinstrumentation to accurately quantitate the emitted non-radioactive signals
Microfluidics and micro-engineering tools for further enhanced utilization of this technology

DNA Microarray analysis are undertaken to simultaneously study most if not all the possible genes of a particular genome (Genomics) for detection of genome variability or changes in gene expression under a variety of normal and abnormal biological or environmental conditions, or due to exposure to particular vaccines or therapeutic drugs. Such an approach has opened a doorway to study all types of biological systems at such large scale levels. The inquiries into genomics have paved the way to simultaneous study of large number of proteins-protein, lectin-glycoprotein and ligand-receptor interactions (Proteomics) with Protein Microarrays and sugars/glycoproteins (Glycomics) with Sugar Microarrays under a particular biological condition. The promise land is identification of molecular signatures of diseases/ abnormalities/ infectious agents and most efficient means of developing clinical diagnostic tools, vaccines and novel therapeutic agents.

KTI offers Microarray Biochip Services to support high throughput systems biology in the form of a variety of ‘Omics’: GENOMICS , PROTEOMICS, GLYCOMICS covering diverse areas such as molecular biology, microbial systems, immune systems and cell biology. A full package of Microarray Biochip Service provided at KamTek, Inc. for each of these ‘Omics’ is listed below.

· Microarray Chip Design
- Selection of chip substrate
- Selection of spot size, spot to spot distance
- Size of arrays
- Number, size and arrangement of sub-arrays
- Arrangement of samples and controls on the arrays
Custom Microarray Printing
- Nucleic acids in the form of Synthetic Oligos or PCR Products
- Proteins, Glyco-proteins, Antibodies, Peptides
- Glycans (Sugars), Lectins, Glyco-lipids or Proteo-Glycans and
- Bacterial Colonies
A variety of microarray surfaces are used for printing. These include :
- Flat glass surfaces with a variety of surface chemistries from different vendors
- Membranes from different vendors
- Clear Plastic surfaces
- Membranes pads adhered to glass surface
- Microtiter wells on glass slides and
- Flat-bottom Microtiter Plates
Assays on Microarrays with fluorescent probes
- DNA/RNA detection by hybridization on plates and microarrays
- Immunoassays for analysis of immune response or detection of antigens
- binding assays for detection of receptors or other macromoleculesv
Services to generate the biopolymers for microarrays or for their analyses
- Plasmid growth, preparation of molecular biology reagents and Agar culture-Plates
- generation of PCR products
- RNA isolation
- PCR or RT-PCR reaction
- Other probe labeling assays
- Facilitate Oligo-Synthesis
- Facilitate DNA Sequencing
- Facilitate Peptide Synthesis
- Monoclonal or Polyclonal Antibody Production
- Facilitate procurement of Glycans, proteoglycans, lectins, glycolipids etc
Scanning and Quantitative Image Analyses of Microarrays
- Scanning of Images
- Preliminary data evaluation
- Detailed quantitative image analysis
- Microarray Data Evaluation for biological system analysis
Design and facilitate microarray experiments Development of Custom Assay systems such as Genome based DNA-Diagnostics or high throughput immuno-diagnostics or microbial diagnostics on microarrays.

Our objective is to take over task of mastering each of the technologies listed above or maintaining fully operational equipment so that you can allocate your resources to solve biological problems. Detailed description of services and protocols are described separately under GENOMICS, PROTEOMICS, and GLYCOMICS.