Sample records for high-throughput resequenced microarray-enriched

  1. Multiplex amplification of large sets of human exons.

    PubMed

    Porreca, Gregory J; Zhang, Kun; Li, Jin Billy; Xie, Bin; Austin, Derek; Vassallo, Sara L; LeProust, Emily M; Peck, Bill J; Emig, Christopher J; Dahl, Fredrik; Gao, Yuan; Church, George M; Shendure, Jay

    2007-11-01

    A new generation of technologies is poised to reduce DNA sequencing costs by several orders of magnitude. But our ability to fully leverage the power of these technologies is crippled by the absence of suitable 'front-end' methods for isolating complex subsets of a mammalian genome at a scale that matches the throughput at which these platforms will routinely operate. We show that targeting oligonucleotides released from programmable microarrays can be used to capture and amplify approximately 10,000 human exons in a single multiplex reaction. Additionally, we show integration of this protocol with ultra-high-throughput sequencing for targeted variation discovery. Although the multiplex capture reaction is highly specific, we found that nonuniform capture is a key issue that will need to be resolved by additional optimization. We anticipate that highly multiplexed methods for targeted amplification will enable the comprehensive resequencing of human exons at a fraction of the cost of whole-genome resequencing.

  2. Development of a High-Throughput Resequencing Array for the Detection of Pathogenic Mutations in Osteogenesis Imperfecta

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Yao; Cui, Yazhou; Zhou, Xiaoyan; Han, Jinxiang

    2015-01-01

    Objective Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare inherited skeletal disease, characterized by bone fragility and low bone density. The mutations in this disorder have been widely reported to be on various exonal hotspots of the candidate genes, including COL1A1, COL1A2, CRTAP, LEPRE1, and FKBP10, thus creating a great demand for precise genetic tests. However, large genome sizes make the process daunting and the analyses, inefficient and expensive. Therefore, we aimed at developing a fast, accurate, efficient, and cheaper sequencing platform for OI diagnosis; and to this end, use of an advanced array-based technique was proposed. Method A CustomSeq Affymetrix Resequencing Array was established for high-throughput sequencing of five genes simultaneously. Genomic DNA extraction from 13 OI patients and 85 normal controls and amplification using long-range PCR (LR-PCR) were followed by DNA fragmentation and chip hybridization, according to standard Affymetrix protocols. Hybridization signals were determined using GeneChip Sequence Analysis Software (GSEQ). To examine the feasibility, the outcome from new resequencing approach was validated by conventional capillary sequencing method. Result Overall call rates using resequencing array was 96–98% and the agreement between microarray and capillary sequencing was 99.99%. 11 out of 13 OI patients with pathogenic mutations were successfully detected by the chip analysis without adjustment, and one mutation could also be identified using manual visual inspection. Conclusion A high-throughput resequencing array was developed that detects the disease-associated mutations in OI, providing a potential tool to facilitate large-scale genetic screening for OI patients. Through this method, a novel mutation was also found. PMID:25742658

  3. High-Throughput resequencing of maize landraces at genomic regions associated with flowering time

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Despite the reduction in the price of sequencing, it remains expensive to sequence and assemble whole, complex genomes of multiple samples for population studies, particularly for large genomes like those of many crop species. Enrichment of target genome regions coupled with next generation sequenci...

  4. Diff-seq: A high throughput sequencing-based mismatch detection assay for DNA variant enrichment and discovery

    PubMed Central

    Karas, Vlad O; Sinnott-Armstrong, Nicholas A; Varghese, Vici; Shafer, Robert W; Greenleaf, William J; Sherlock, Gavin

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Much of the within species genetic variation is in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), typically detected by whole genome sequencing (WGS) or microarray-based technologies. However, WGS produces mostly uninformative reads that perfectly match the reference, while microarrays require genome-specific reagents. We have developed Diff-seq, a sequencing-based mismatch detection assay for SNP discovery without the requirement for specialized nucleic-acid reagents. Diff-seq leverages the Surveyor endonuclease to cleave mismatched DNA molecules that are generated after cross-annealing of a complex pool of DNA fragments. Sequencing libraries enriched for Surveyor-cleaved molecules result in increased coverage at the variant sites. Diff-seq detected all mismatches present in an initial test substrate, with specific enrichment dependent on the identity and context of the variation. Application to viral sequences resulted in increased observation of variant alleles in a biologically relevant context. Diff-Seq has the potential to increase the sensitivity and efficiency of high-throughput sequencing in the detection of variation. PMID:29361139

  5. Multiplexed Elimination of Wild-Type DNA and High-Resolution Melting Prior to Targeted Resequencing of Liquid Biopsies.

    PubMed

    Ladas, Ioannis; Fitarelli-Kiehl, Mariana; Song, Chen; Adalsteinsson, Viktor A; Parsons, Heather A; Lin, Nancy U; Wagle, Nikhil; Makrigiorgos, G Mike

    2017-10-01

    The use of clinical samples and circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) collected from liquid biopsies for diagnostic and prognostic applications in cancer is burgeoning, and improved methods that reduce the influence of excess wild-type (WT) portion of the sample are desirable. Here we present enrichment of mutation-containing sequences using enzymatic degradation of WT DNA. Mutation enrichment is combined with high-resolution melting (HRM) performed in multiplexed closed-tube reactions as a rapid, cost-effective screening tool before targeted resequencing. We developed a homogeneous, closed-tube approach to use a double-stranded DNA-specific nuclease for degradation of WT DNA at multiple targets simultaneously. The No Denaturation Nuclease-assisted Minor Allele Enrichment with Probe Overlap (ND-NaME-PrO) uses WT oligonucleotides overlapping both strands on putative DNA targets. Under conditions of partial denaturation (DNA breathing), the oligonucleotide probes enhance double-stranded DNA-specific nuclease digestion at the selected targets, with high preference toward WT over mutant DNA. To validate ND-NaME-PrO, we used multiplexed HRM, digital PCR, and MiSeq targeted resequencing of mutated genomic DNA and cfDNA. Serial dilution of KRAS mutation-containing DNA shows mutation enrichment by 10- to 120-fold and detection of allelic fractions down to 0.01%. Multiplexed ND-NaME-PrO combined with multiplexed PCR-HRM showed mutation scanning of 10-20 DNA amplicons simultaneously. ND-NaME-PrO applied on cfDNA from clinical samples enables mutation enrichment and HRM scanning over 10 DNA targets. cfDNA mutations were enriched up to approximately 100-fold (average approximately 25-fold) and identified via targeted resequencing. Closed-tube homogeneous ND-NaME-PrO combined with multiplexed HRM is a convenient approach to efficiently enrich for mutations on multiple DNA targets and to enable prescreening before targeted resequencing. © 2017 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

  6. On-Chip, Amplification-Free Quantification of Nucleic Acid for Point-of-Care Diagnosis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yen, Tony Minghung

    This dissertation demonstrates three physical device concepts to overcome limitations in point-of-care quantification of nucleic acids. Enabling sensitive, high throughput nucleic acid quantification on a chip, outside of hospital and centralized laboratory setting, is crucial for improving pathogen detection and cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Among existing platforms, microarray have the advantages of being amplification free, low instrument cost, and high throughput, but are generally less sensitive compared to sequencing and PCR assays. To bridge this performance gap, this dissertation presents theoretical and experimental progress to develop a platform nucleic acid quantification technology that is drastically more sensitive than current microarrays while compatible with microarray architecture. The first device concept explores on-chip nucleic acid enrichment by natural evaporation of nucleic acid solution droplet. Using a micro-patterned super-hydrophobic black silicon array device, evaporative enrichment is coupled with nano-liter droplet self-assembly workflow to produce a 50 aM concentration sensitivity, 6 orders of dynamic range, and rapid hybridization time at under 5 minutes. The second device concept focuses on improving target copy number sensitivity, instead of concentration sensitivity. A comprehensive microarray physical model taking into account of molecular transport, electrostatic intermolecular interactions, and reaction kinetics is considered to guide device optimization. Device pattern size and target copy number are optimized based on model prediction to achieve maximal hybridization efficiency. At a 100-mum pattern size, a quantum leap in detection limit of 570 copies is achieved using black silicon array device with self-assembled pico-liter droplet workflow. Despite its merits, evaporative enrichment on black silicon device suffers from coffee-ring effect at 100-mum pattern size, and thus not compatible with clinical patient samples. The third device concept utilizes an integrated optomechanical laser system and a Cytop microarray device to reverse coffee-ring effect during evaporative enrichment at 100-mum pattern size. This method, named "laser-induced differential evaporation" is expected to enable 570 copies detection limit for clinical samples in near future. While the work is ongoing as of the writing of this dissertation, a clear research plan is in place to implement this method on microarray platform toward clinical sample testing for disease applications and future commercialization.

  7. Carbohydrate Microarray Technology Applied to High-Throughput Mapping of Plant Cell Wall Glycans Using Comprehensive Microarray Polymer Profiling (CoMPP).

    PubMed

    Kračun, Stjepan Krešimir; Fangel, Jonatan Ulrik; Rydahl, Maja Gro; Pedersen, Henriette Lodberg; Vidal-Melgosa, Silvia; Willats, William George Tycho

    2017-01-01

    Cell walls are an important feature of plant cells and a major component of the plant glycome. They have both structural and physiological functions and are critical for plant growth and development. The diversity and complexity of these structures demand advanced high-throughput techniques to answer questions about their structure, functions and roles in both fundamental and applied scientific fields. Microarray technology provides both the high-throughput and the feasibility aspects required to meet that demand. In this chapter, some of the most recent microarray-based techniques relating to plant cell walls are described together with an overview of related contemporary techniques applied to carbohydrate microarrays and their general potential in glycoscience. A detailed experimental procedure for high-throughput mapping of plant cell wall glycans using the comprehensive microarray polymer profiling (CoMPP) technique is included in the chapter and provides a good example of both the robust and high-throughput nature of microarrays as well as their applicability to plant glycomics.

  8. Quantitative phenotyping via deep barcode sequencing.

    PubMed

    Smith, Andrew M; Heisler, Lawrence E; Mellor, Joseph; Kaper, Fiona; Thompson, Michael J; Chee, Mark; Roth, Frederick P; Giaever, Guri; Nislow, Corey

    2009-10-01

    Next-generation DNA sequencing technologies have revolutionized diverse genomics applications, including de novo genome sequencing, SNP detection, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and transcriptome analysis. Here we apply deep sequencing to genome-scale fitness profiling to evaluate yeast strain collections in parallel. This method, Barcode analysis by Sequencing, or "Bar-seq," outperforms the current benchmark barcode microarray assay in terms of both dynamic range and throughput. When applied to a complex chemogenomic assay, Bar-seq quantitatively identifies drug targets, with performance superior to the benchmark microarray assay. We also show that Bar-seq is well-suited for a multiplex format. We completely re-sequenced and re-annotated the yeast deletion collection using deep sequencing, found that approximately 20% of the barcodes and common priming sequences varied from expectation, and used this revised list of barcode sequences to improve data quality. Together, this new assay and analysis routine provide a deep-sequencing-based toolkit for identifying gene-environment interactions on a genome-wide scale.

  9. Application of resequencing to rice genomics, functional genomics and evolutionary analysis

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Rice is a model system used for crop genomics studies. The completion of the rice genome draft sequences in 2002 not only accelerated functional genome studies, but also initiated a new era of resequencing rice genomes. Based on the reference genome in rice, next-generation sequencing (NGS) using the high-throughput sequencing system can efficiently accomplish whole genome resequencing of various genetic populations and diverse germplasm resources. Resequencing technology has been effectively utilized in evolutionary analysis, rice genomics and functional genomics studies. This technique is beneficial for both bridging the knowledge gap between genotype and phenotype and facilitating molecular breeding via gene design in rice. Here, we also discuss the limitation, application and future prospects of rice resequencing. PMID:25006357

  10. Potentials and capabilities of the Extracellular Vesicle (EV) Array.

    PubMed

    Jørgensen, Malene Møller; Bæk, Rikke; Varming, Kim

    2015-01-01

    Extracellular vesicles (EVs) and exosomes are difficult to enrich or purify from biofluids, hence quantification and phenotyping of these are tedious and inaccurate. The multiplexed, highly sensitive and high-throughput platform of the EV Array presented by Jørgensen et al., (J Extracell Vesicles, 2013; 2: 10) has been refined regarding the capabilities of the method for characterization and molecular profiling of EV surface markers. Here, we present an extended microarray platform to detect and phenotype plasma-derived EVs (optimized for exosomes) for up to 60 antigens without any enrichment or purification prior to analysis.

  11. Measuring Sister Chromatid Cohesion Protein Genome Occupancy in Drosophila melanogaster by ChIP-seq.

    PubMed

    Dorsett, Dale; Misulovin, Ziva

    2017-01-01

    This chapter presents methods to conduct and analyze genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation of the cohesin complex and the Nipped-B cohesin loading factor in Drosophila cells using high-throughput DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq). Procedures for isolation of chromatin, immunoprecipitation, and construction of sequencing libraries for the Ion Torrent Proton high throughput sequencer are detailed, and computational methods to calculate occupancy as input-normalized fold-enrichment are described. The results obtained by ChIP-seq are compared to those obtained by ChIP-chip (genomic ChIP using tiling microarrays), and the effects of sequencing depth on the accuracy are analyzed. ChIP-seq provides similar sensitivity and reproducibility as ChIP-chip, and identifies the same broad regions of occupancy. The locations of enrichment peaks, however, can differ between ChIP-chip and ChIP-seq, and low sequencing depth can splinter broad regions of occupancy into distinct peaks.

  12. Resequencing microarray probe design for typing genetically diverse viruses: human rhinoviruses and enteroviruses

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Zheng; Malanoski, Anthony P; Lin, Baochuan; Kidd, Carolyn; Long, Nina C; Blaney, Kate M; Thach, Dzung C; Tibbetts, Clark; Stenger, David A

    2008-01-01

    Background Febrile respiratory illness (FRI) has a high impact on public health and global economics and poses a difficult challenge for differential diagnosis. A particular issue is the detection of genetically diverse pathogens, i.e. human rhinoviruses (HRV) and enteroviruses (HEV) which are frequent causes of FRI. Resequencing Pathogen Microarray technology has demonstrated potential for differential diagnosis of several respiratory pathogens simultaneously, but a high confidence design method to select probes for genetically diverse viruses is lacking. Results Using HRV and HEV as test cases, we assess a general design strategy for detecting and serotyping genetically diverse viruses. A minimal number of probe sequences (26 for HRV and 13 for HEV), which were potentially capable of detecting all serotypes of HRV and HEV, were determined and implemented on the Resequencing Pathogen Microarray RPM-Flu v.30/31 (Tessarae RPM-Flu). The specificities of designed probes were validated using 34 HRV and 28 HEV strains. All strains were successfully detected and identified at least to species level. 33 HRV strains and 16 HEV strains could be further differentiated to serotype level. Conclusion This study provides a fundamental evaluation of simultaneous detection and differential identification of genetically diverse RNA viruses with a minimal number of prototype sequences. The results demonstrated that the newly designed RPM-Flu v.30/31 can provide comprehensive and specific analysis of HRV and HEV samples which implicates that this design strategy will be applicable for other genetically diverse viruses. PMID:19046445

  13. Using Informatics-, Bioinformatics- and Genomics-Based Approaches for the Molecular Surveillance and Detection of Biothreat Agents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seto, Donald

    The convergence and wealth of informatics, bioinformatics and genomics methods and associated resources allow a comprehensive and rapid approach for the surveillance and detection of bacterial and viral organisms. Coupled with the continuing race for the fastest, most cost-efficient and highest-quality DNA sequencing technology, that is, "next generation sequencing", the detection of biological threat agents by `cheaper and faster' means is possible. With the application of improved bioinformatic tools for the understanding of these genomes and for parsing unique pathogen genome signatures, along with `state-of-the-art' informatics which include faster computational methods, equipment and databases, it is feasible to apply new algorithms to biothreat agent detection. Two such methods are high-throughput DNA sequencing-based and resequencing microarray-based identification. These are illustrated and validated by two examples involving human adenoviruses, both from real-world test beds.

  14. Quantitative phenotyping via deep barcode sequencing

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Andrew M.; Heisler, Lawrence E.; Mellor, Joseph; Kaper, Fiona; Thompson, Michael J.; Chee, Mark; Roth, Frederick P.; Giaever, Guri; Nislow, Corey

    2009-01-01

    Next-generation DNA sequencing technologies have revolutionized diverse genomics applications, including de novo genome sequencing, SNP detection, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and transcriptome analysis. Here we apply deep sequencing to genome-scale fitness profiling to evaluate yeast strain collections in parallel. This method, Barcode analysis by Sequencing, or “Bar-seq,” outperforms the current benchmark barcode microarray assay in terms of both dynamic range and throughput. When applied to a complex chemogenomic assay, Bar-seq quantitatively identifies drug targets, with performance superior to the benchmark microarray assay. We also show that Bar-seq is well-suited for a multiplex format. We completely re-sequenced and re-annotated the yeast deletion collection using deep sequencing, found that ∼20% of the barcodes and common priming sequences varied from expectation, and used this revised list of barcode sequences to improve data quality. Together, this new assay and analysis routine provide a deep-sequencing-based toolkit for identifying gene–environment interactions on a genome-wide scale. PMID:19622793

  15. Resequencing Pathogen Microarray (RPM) for prospective detection and identification of emergent pathogen strains and variants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tibbetts, Clark; Lichanska, Agnieszka M.; Borsuk, Lisa A.; Weslowski, Brian; Morris, Leah M.; Lorence, Matthew C.; Schafer, Klaus O.; Campos, Joseph; Sene, Mohamadou; Myers, Christopher A.; Faix, Dennis; Blair, Patrick J.; Brown, Jason; Metzgar, David

    2010-04-01

    High-density resequencing microarrays support simultaneous detection and identification of multiple viral and bacterial pathogens. Because detection and identification using RPM is based upon multiple specimen-specific target pathogen gene sequences generated in the individual test, the test results enable both a differential diagnostic analysis and epidemiological tracking of detected pathogen strains and variants from one specimen to the next. The RPM assay enables detection and identification of pathogen sequences that share as little as 80% sequence similarity to prototype target gene sequences represented as detector tiles on the array. This capability enables the RPM to detect and identify previously unknown strains and variants of a detected pathogen, as in sentinel cases associated with an infectious disease outbreak. We illustrate this capability using assay results from testing influenza A virus vaccines configured with strains that were first defined years after the design of the RPM microarray. Results are also presented from RPM-Flu testing of three specimens independently confirmed to the positive for the 2009 Novel H1N1 outbreak strain of influenza virus.

  16. Selective whole genome amplification for resequencing target microbial species from complex natural samples.

    PubMed

    Leichty, Aaron R; Brisson, Dustin

    2014-10-01

    Population genomic analyses have demonstrated power to address major questions in evolutionary and molecular microbiology. Collecting populations of genomes is hindered in many microbial species by the absence of a cost effective and practical method to collect ample quantities of sufficiently pure genomic DNA for next-generation sequencing. Here we present a simple method to amplify genomes of a target microbial species present in a complex, natural sample. The selective whole genome amplification (SWGA) technique amplifies target genomes using nucleotide sequence motifs that are common in the target microbe genome, but rare in the background genomes, to prime the highly processive phi29 polymerase. SWGA thus selectively amplifies the target genome from samples in which it originally represented a minor fraction of the total DNA. The post-SWGA samples are enriched in target genomic DNA, which are ideal for population resequencing. We demonstrate the efficacy of SWGA using both laboratory-prepared mixtures of cultured microbes as well as a natural host-microbe association. Targeted amplification of Borrelia burgdorferi mixed with Escherichia coli at genome ratios of 1:2000 resulted in >10(5)-fold amplification of the target genomes with <6.7-fold amplification of the background. SWGA-treated genomic extracts from Wolbachia pipientis-infected Drosophila melanogaster resulted in up to 70% of high-throughput resequencing reads mapping to the W. pipientis genome. By contrast, 2-9% of sequencing reads were derived from W. pipientis without prior amplification. The SWGA technique results in high sequencing coverage at a fraction of the sequencing effort, thus allowing population genomic studies at affordable costs. Copyright © 2014 by the Genetics Society of America.

  17. Moving Toward Integrating Gene Expression Profiling into High-throughput Testing:A Gene Expression Biomarker Accurately Predicts Estrogen Receptor α Modulation in a Microarray Compendium

    EPA Science Inventory

    Microarray profiling of chemical-induced effects is being increasingly used in medium and high-throughput formats. In this study, we describe computational methods to identify molecular targets from whole-genome microarray data using as an example the estrogen receptor α (ERα), ...

  18. High-throughput discovery of rare human nucleotide polymorphisms by Ecotilling

    PubMed Central

    Till, Bradley J.; Zerr, Troy; Bowers, Elisabeth; Greene, Elizabeth A.; Comai, Luca; Henikoff, Steven

    2006-01-01

    Human individuals differ from one another at only ∼0.1% of nucleotide positions, but these single nucleotide differences account for most heritable phenotypic variation. Large-scale efforts to discover and genotype human variation have been limited to common polymorphisms. However, these efforts overlook rare nucleotide changes that may contribute to phenotypic diversity and genetic disorders, including cancer. Thus, there is an increasing need for high-throughput methods to robustly detect rare nucleotide differences. Toward this end, we have adapted the mismatch discovery method known as Ecotilling for the discovery of human single nucleotide polymorphisms. To increase throughput and reduce costs, we developed a universal primer strategy and implemented algorithms for automated band detection. Ecotilling was validated by screening 90 human DNA samples for nucleotide changes in 5 gene targets and by comparing results to public resequencing data. To increase throughput for discovery of rare alleles, we pooled samples 8-fold and found Ecotilling to be efficient relative to resequencing, with a false negative rate of 5% and a false discovery rate of 4%. We identified 28 new rare alleles, including some that are predicted to damage protein function. The detection of rare damaging mutations has implications for models of human disease. PMID:16893952

  19. Analysis of High-Throughput ELISA Microarray Data

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    White, Amanda M.; Daly, Don S.; Zangar, Richard C.

    Our research group develops analytical methods and software for the high-throughput analysis of quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) microarrays. ELISA microarrays differ from DNA microarrays in several fundamental aspects and most algorithms for analysis of DNA microarray data are not applicable to ELISA microarrays. In this review, we provide an overview of the steps involved in ELISA microarray data analysis and how the statistically sound algorithms we have developed provide an integrated software suite to address the needs of each data-processing step. The algorithms discussed are available in a set of open-source software tools (http://www.pnl.gov/statistics/ProMAT).

  20. Massively multiplexed microbial identification using resequencing DNA microarrays for outbreak investigation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leski, T. A.; Ansumana, R.; Jimmy, D. H.; Bangura, U.; Malanoski, A. P.; Lin, B.; Stenger, D. A.

    2011-06-01

    Multiplexed microbial diagnostic assays are a promising method for detection and identification of pathogens causing syndromes characterized by nonspecific symptoms in which traditional differential diagnosis is difficult. Also such assays can play an important role in outbreak investigations and environmental screening for intentional or accidental release of biothreat agents, which requires simultaneous testing for hundreds of potential pathogens. The resequencing pathogen microarray (RPM) is an emerging technological platform, relying on a combination of massively multiplex PCR and high-density DNA microarrays for rapid detection and high-resolution identification of hundreds of infectious agents simultaneously. The RPM diagnostic system was deployed in Sierra Leone, West Africa in collaboration with Njala University and Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory located in Bo. We used the RPM-Flu microarray designed for broad-range detection of human respiratory pathogens, to investigate a suspected outbreak of avian influenza in a number of poultry farms in which significant mortality of chickens was observed. The microarray results were additionally confirmed by influenza specific real-time PCR. The results of the study excluded the possibility that the outbreak was caused by influenza, but implicated Klebsiella pneumoniae as a possible pathogen. The outcome of this feasibility study confirms that application of broad-spectrum detection platforms for outbreak investigation in low-resource locations is possible and allows for rapid discovery of the responsible agents, even in cases when different agents are suspected. This strategy enables quick and cost effective detection of low probability events such as outbreak of a rare disease or intentional release of a biothreat agent.

  1. NetGen: a novel network-based probabilistic generative model for gene set functional enrichment analysis.

    PubMed

    Sun, Duanchen; Liu, Yinliang; Zhang, Xiang-Sun; Wu, Ling-Yun

    2017-09-21

    High-throughput experimental techniques have been dramatically improved and widely applied in the past decades. However, biological interpretation of the high-throughput experimental results, such as differential expression gene sets derived from microarray or RNA-seq experiments, is still a challenging task. Gene Ontology (GO) is commonly used in the functional enrichment studies. The GO terms identified via current functional enrichment analysis tools often contain direct parent or descendant terms in the GO hierarchical structure. Highly redundant terms make users difficult to analyze the underlying biological processes. In this paper, a novel network-based probabilistic generative model, NetGen, was proposed to perform the functional enrichment analysis. An additional protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was explicitly used to assist the identification of significantly enriched GO terms. NetGen achieved a superior performance than the existing methods in the simulation studies. The effectiveness of NetGen was explored further on four real datasets. Notably, several GO terms which were not directly linked with the active gene list for each disease were identified. These terms were closely related to the corresponding diseases when accessed to the curated literatures. NetGen has been implemented in the R package CopTea publicly available at GitHub ( http://github.com/wulingyun/CopTea/ ). Our procedure leads to a more reasonable and interpretable result of the functional enrichment analysis. As a novel term combination-based functional enrichment analysis method, NetGen is complementary to current individual term-based methods, and can help to explore the underlying pathogenesis of complex diseases.

  2. Applications of microarray technology in breast cancer research

    PubMed Central

    Cooper, Colin S

    2001-01-01

    Microarrays provide a versatile platform for utilizing information from the Human Genome Project to benefit human health. This article reviews the ways in which microarray technology may be used in breast cancer research. Its diverse applications include monitoring chromosome gains and losses, tumour classification, drug discovery and development, DNA resequencing, mutation detection and investigating the mechanism of tumour development. PMID:11305951

  3. Global assessment of genomic variation in cattle by genome resequencing and high-throughput genotyping

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Integration of genomic variation with phenotypic information is an effective approach for uncovering genotype-phenotype associations. This requires an accurate identification of the different types of variation in individual genomes. Results We report the integration of the whole genome sequence of a single Holstein Friesian bull with data from single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) array technologies to determine a comprehensive spectrum of genomic variation. The performance of resequencing SNP detection was assessed by combining SNPs that were identified to be either in identity by descent (IBD) or in copy number variation (CNV) with results from SNP array genotyping. Coding insertions and deletions (indels) were found to be enriched for size in multiples of 3 and were located near the N- and C-termini of proteins. For larger indels, a combination of split-read and read-pair approaches proved to be complementary in finding different signatures. CNVs were identified on the basis of the depth of sequenced reads, and by using SNP and CGH arrays. Conclusions Our results provide high resolution mapping of diverse classes of genomic variation in an individual bovine genome and demonstrate that structural variation surpasses sequence variation as the main component of genomic variability. Better accuracy of SNP detection was achieved with little loss of sensitivity when algorithms that implemented mapping quality were used. IBD regions were found to be instrumental for calculating resequencing SNP accuracy, while SNP detection within CNVs tended to be less reliable. CNV discovery was affected dramatically by platform resolution and coverage biases. The combined data for this study showed that at a moderate level of sequencing coverage, an ensemble of platforms and tools can be applied together to maximize the accurate detection of sequence and structural variants. PMID:22082336

  4. The Genome Sequencer FLX System--longer reads, more applications, straight forward bioinformatics and more complete data sets.

    PubMed

    Droege, Marcus; Hill, Brendon

    2008-08-31

    The Genome Sequencer FLX System (GS FLX), powered by 454 Sequencing, is a next-generation DNA sequencing technology featuring a unique mix of long reads, exceptional accuracy, and ultra-high throughput. It has been proven to be the most versatile of all currently available next-generation sequencing technologies, supporting many high-profile studies in over seven applications categories. GS FLX users have pursued innovative research in de novo sequencing, re-sequencing of whole genomes and target DNA regions, metagenomics, and RNA analysis. 454 Sequencing is a powerful tool for human genetics research, having recently re-sequenced the genome of an individual human, currently re-sequencing the complete human exome and targeted genomic regions using the NimbleGen sequence capture process, and detected low-frequency somatic mutations linked to cancer.

  5. WholePathwayScope: a comprehensive pathway-based analysis tool for high-throughput data

    PubMed Central

    Yi, Ming; Horton, Jay D; Cohen, Jonathan C; Hobbs, Helen H; Stephens, Robert M

    2006-01-01

    Background Analysis of High Throughput (HTP) Data such as microarray and proteomics data has provided a powerful methodology to study patterns of gene regulation at genome scale. A major unresolved problem in the post-genomic era is to assemble the large amounts of data generated into a meaningful biological context. We have developed a comprehensive software tool, WholePathwayScope (WPS), for deriving biological insights from analysis of HTP data. Result WPS extracts gene lists with shared biological themes through color cue templates. WPS statistically evaluates global functional category enrichment of gene lists and pathway-level pattern enrichment of data. WPS incorporates well-known biological pathways from KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) and Biocarta, GO (Gene Ontology) terms as well as user-defined pathways or relevant gene clusters or groups, and explores gene-term relationships within the derived gene-term association networks (GTANs). WPS simultaneously compares multiple datasets within biological contexts either as pathways or as association networks. WPS also integrates Genetic Association Database and Partial MedGene Database for disease-association information. We have used this program to analyze and compare microarray and proteomics datasets derived from a variety of biological systems. Application examples demonstrated the capacity of WPS to significantly facilitate the analysis of HTP data for integrative discovery. Conclusion This tool represents a pathway-based platform for discovery integration to maximize analysis power. The tool is freely available at . PMID:16423281

  6. High-Throughput Nano-Biofilm Microarray for Antifungal Drug Discovery

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-06-25

    High-Throughput Nano-Biofilm Microarray for Antifungal Drug Discovery Anand Srinivasan,a, c Kai P. Leung,d Jose L. Lopez-Ribot,b, c Anand K...Ramasubramaniana, c Departments of Biomedical Engineeringa and Biologyb and South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, c The University of Texas at San...of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans on a microarray platform. The mi- croarray consists of 1,200 individual cultures of 30 nl of C

  7. Pathway analysis of high-throughput biological data within a Bayesian network framework.

    PubMed

    Isci, Senol; Ozturk, Cengizhan; Jones, Jon; Otu, Hasan H

    2011-06-15

    Most current approaches to high-throughput biological data (HTBD) analysis either perform individual gene/protein analysis or, gene/protein set enrichment analysis for a list of biologically relevant molecules. Bayesian Networks (BNs) capture linear and non-linear interactions, handle stochastic events accounting for noise, and focus on local interactions, which can be related to causal inference. Here, we describe for the first time an algorithm that models biological pathways as BNs and identifies pathways that best explain given HTBD by scoring fitness of each network. Proposed method takes into account the connectivity and relatedness between nodes of the pathway through factoring pathway topology in its model. Our simulations using synthetic data demonstrated robustness of our approach. We tested proposed method, Bayesian Pathway Analysis (BPA), on human microarray data regarding renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and compared our results with gene set enrichment analysis. BPA was able to find broader and more specific pathways related to RCC. Accompanying BPA software (BPAS) package is freely available for academic use at http://bumil.boun.edu.tr/bpa.

  8. Meta-analysis of pathway enrichment: combining independent and dependent omics data sets.

    PubMed

    Kaever, Alexander; Landesfeind, Manuel; Feussner, Kirstin; Morgenstern, Burkhard; Feussner, Ivo; Meinicke, Peter

    2014-01-01

    A major challenge in current systems biology is the combination and integrative analysis of large data sets obtained from different high-throughput omics platforms, such as mass spectrometry based Metabolomics and Proteomics or DNA microarray or RNA-seq-based Transcriptomics. Especially in the case of non-targeted Metabolomics experiments, where it is often impossible to unambiguously map ion features from mass spectrometry analysis to metabolites, the integration of more reliable omics technologies is highly desirable. A popular method for the knowledge-based interpretation of single data sets is the (Gene) Set Enrichment Analysis. In order to combine the results from different analyses, we introduce a methodical framework for the meta-analysis of p-values obtained from Pathway Enrichment Analysis (Set Enrichment Analysis based on pathways) of multiple dependent or independent data sets from different omics platforms. For dependent data sets, e.g. obtained from the same biological samples, the framework utilizes a covariance estimation procedure based on the nonsignificant pathways in single data set enrichment analysis. The framework is evaluated and applied in the joint analysis of Metabolomics mass spectrometry and Transcriptomics DNA microarray data in the context of plant wounding. In extensive studies of simulated data set dependence, the introduced correlation could be fully reconstructed by means of the covariance estimation based on pathway enrichment. By restricting the range of p-values of pathways considered in the estimation, the overestimation of correlation, which is introduced by the significant pathways, could be reduced. When applying the proposed methods to the real data sets, the meta-analysis was shown not only to be a powerful tool to investigate the correlation between different data sets and summarize the results of multiple analyses but also to distinguish experiment-specific key pathways.

  9. High-throughput interpretation of gene structure changes in human and nonhuman resequencing data, using ACE

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    We describe a suite of software tools for identifying possible functional changes in gene structure that may result from sequence variants. ACE (“Assessing Changes to Exons”) converts phased genotype calls to a collection of explicit haplotype sequences, maps transcript annotations onto them, detect...

  10. High-Throughput Lectin Microarray-Based Analysis of Live Cell Surface Glycosylation

    PubMed Central

    Li, Yu; Tao, Sheng-ce; Zhu, Heng; Schneck, Jonathan P.

    2011-01-01

    Lectins, plant-derived glycan-binding proteins, have long been used to detect glycans on cell surfaces. However, the techniques used to characterize serum or cells have largely been limited to mass spectrometry, blots, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry. While these lectin-based approaches are well established and they can discriminate a limited number of sugar isomers by concurrently using a limited number of lectins, they are not amenable for adaptation to a high-throughput platform. Fortunately, given the commercial availability of lectins with a variety of glycan specificities, lectins can be printed on a glass substrate in a microarray format to profile accessible cell-surface glycans. This method is an inviting alternative for analysis of a broad range of glycans in a high-throughput fashion and has been demonstrated to be a feasible method of identifying binding-accessible cell surface glycosylation on living cells. The current unit presents a lectin-based microarray approach for analyzing cell surface glycosylation in a high-throughput fashion. PMID:21400689

  11. Contributions to Statistical Problems Related to Microarray Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hong, Feng

    2009-01-01

    Microarray is a high throughput technology to measure the gene expression. Analysis of microarray data brings many interesting and challenging problems. This thesis consists three studies related to microarray data. First, we propose a Bayesian model for microarray data and use Bayes Factors to identify differentially expressed genes. Second, we…

  12. SLEPR: A Sample-Level Enrichment-Based Pathway Ranking Method — Seeking Biological Themes through Pathway-Level Consistency

    PubMed Central

    Yi, Ming; Stephens, Robert M.

    2008-01-01

    Analysis of microarray and other high throughput data often involves identification of genes consistently up or down-regulated across samples as the first step in extraction of biological meaning. This gene-level paradigm can be limited as a result of valid sample fluctuations and biological complexities. In this report, we describe a novel method, SLEPR, which eliminates this limitation by relying on pathway-level consistencies. Our method first selects the sample-level differentiated genes from each individual sample, capturing genes missed by other analysis methods, ascertains the enrichment levels of associated pathways from each of those lists, and then ranks annotated pathways based on the consistency of enrichment levels of individual samples from both sample classes. As a proof of concept, we have used this method to analyze three public microarray datasets with a direct comparison with the GSEA method, one of the most popular pathway-level analysis methods in the field. We found that our method was able to reproduce the earlier observations with significant improvements in depth of coverage for validated or expected biological themes, but also produced additional insights that make biological sense. This new method extends existing analyses approaches and facilitates integration of different types of HTP data. PMID:18818771

  13. From cancer genomes to cancer models: bridging the gaps

    PubMed Central

    Baudot, Anaïs; Real, Francisco X.; Izarzugaza, José M. G.; Valencia, Alfonso

    2009-01-01

    Cancer genome projects are now being expanded in an attempt to provide complete landscapes of the mutations that exist in tumours. Although the importance of cataloguing genome variations is well recognized, there are obvious difficulties in bridging the gaps between high-throughput resequencing information and the molecular mechanisms of cancer evolution. Here, we describe the current status of the high-throughput genomic technologies, and the current limitations of the associated computational analysis and experimental validation of cancer genetic variants. We emphasize how the current cancer-evolution models will be influenced by the high-throughput approaches, in particular through efforts devoted to monitoring tumour progression, and how, in turn, the integration of data and models will be translated into mechanistic knowledge and clinical applications. PMID:19305388

  14. Digital Microarrays: Single-Molecule Readout with Interferometric Detection of Plasmonic Nanorod Labels.

    PubMed

    Sevenler, Derin; Daaboul, George G; Ekiz Kanik, Fulya; Ünlü, Neşe Lortlar; Ünlü, M Selim

    2018-05-21

    DNA and protein microarrays are a high-throughput technology that allow the simultaneous quantification of tens of thousands of different biomolecular species. The mediocre sensitivity and limited dynamic range of traditional fluorescence microarrays compared to other detection techniques have been the technology's Achilles' heel and prevented their adoption for many biomedical and clinical diagnostic applications. Previous work to enhance the sensitivity of microarray readout to the single-molecule ("digital") regime have either required signal amplifying chemistry or sacrificed throughput, nixing the platform's primary advantages. Here, we report the development of a digital microarray which extends both the sensitivity and dynamic range of microarrays by about 3 orders of magnitude. This technique uses functionalized gold nanorods as single-molecule labels and an interferometric scanner which can rapidly enumerate individual nanorods by imaging them with a 10× objective lens. This approach does not require any chemical signal enhancement such as silver deposition and scans arrays with a throughput similar to commercial fluorescence scanners. By combining single-nanoparticle enumeration and ensemble measurements of spots when the particles are very dense, this system achieves a dynamic range of about 6 orders of magnitude directly from a single scan. As a proof-of-concept digital protein microarray assay, we demonstrated detection of hepatitis B virus surface antigen in buffer with a limit of detection of 3.2 pg/mL. More broadly, the technique's simplicity and high-throughput nature make digital microarrays a flexible platform technology with a wide range of potential applications in biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.

  15. Canonical single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for high-resolution subtyping of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The objective of this study was to develop a canonical SNP panel for subtyping of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC). To this purpose, 906 putative SNPs were identified using resequencing tiling arrays. A subset of 391 SNPs was further screened using high-throughput TaqMan PCR against a d...

  16. Microarray Detection of Duplex and Triplex DNA Binders with DNA-Modified Gold Nanoparticles

    PubMed Central

    Lytton-Jean, Abigail K. R.; Han, Min Su; Mirkin, Chad A.

    2008-01-01

    We have designed a chip-based assay, using microarray technology, for determining the relative binding affinities of duplex and triplex DNA binders. This assay combines the high discrimination capabilities afforded by DNA-modified Au nanoparticles with the high-throughput capabilities of DNA microarrays. The detection and screening of duplex DNA binders are important because these molecules, in many cases, are potential anticancer agents as well as toxins. Triplex DNA binders are also promising drug candidates. These molecules, in conjunction with triplex forming oligonucleotides, could potentially be used to achieve control of gene expression by interfering with transcription factors that bind to DNA. Therefore, the ability to screen for these molecules in a high-throughput fashion could dramatically improve the drug screening process. The assay reported here provides excellent discrimination between strong, intermediate, and weak duplex and triplex DNA binders in a high-throughput fashion. PMID:17614366

  17. Microarray platform affords improved product analysis in mammalian cell growth studies

    PubMed Central

    Li, Lingyun; Migliore, Nicole; Schaefer, Eugene; Sharfstein, Susan T.; Dordick, Jonathan S.; Linhardt, Robert J.

    2014-01-01

    High throughput (HT) platforms serve as cost-efficient and rapid screening method for evaluating the effect of cell culture conditions and screening of chemicals. The aim of the current study was to develop a high-throughput cell-based microarray platform to assess the effect of culture conditions on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Specifically, growth, transgene expression and metabolism of a GS/MSX CHO cell line, which produces a therapeutic monoclonal antibody, was examined using microarray system in conjunction with conventional shake flask platform in a non-proprietary medium. The microarray system consists of 60 nl spots of cells encapsulated in alginate and separated in groups via an 8-well chamber system attached to the chip. Results show the non-proprietary medium developed allows cell growth, production and normal glycosylation of recombinant antibody and metabolism of the recombinant CHO cells in both the microarray and shake flask platforms. In addition, 10.3 mM glutamate addition to the defined base media results in lactate metabolism shift in the recombinant GS/MSX CHO cells in the shake flask platform. Ultimately, the results demonstrate that the high-throughput microarray platform has the potential to be utilized for evaluating the impact of media additives on cellular processes, such as, cell growth, metabolism and productivity. PMID:24227746

  18. Knowledge-based analysis of microarrays for the discovery of transcriptional regulation relationships

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background The large amount of high-throughput genomic data has facilitated the discovery of the regulatory relationships between transcription factors and their target genes. While early methods for discovery of transcriptional regulation relationships from microarray data often focused on the high-throughput experimental data alone, more recent approaches have explored the integration of external knowledge bases of gene interactions. Results In this work, we develop an algorithm that provides improved performance in the prediction of transcriptional regulatory relationships by supplementing the analysis of microarray data with a new method of integrating information from an existing knowledge base. Using a well-known dataset of yeast microarrays and the Yeast Proteome Database, a comprehensive collection of known information of yeast genes, we show that knowledge-based predictions demonstrate better sensitivity and specificity in inferring new transcriptional interactions than predictions from microarray data alone. We also show that comprehensive, direct and high-quality knowledge bases provide better prediction performance. Comparison of our results with ChIP-chip data and growth fitness data suggests that our predicted genome-wide regulatory pairs in yeast are reasonable candidates for follow-up biological verification. Conclusion High quality, comprehensive, and direct knowledge bases, when combined with appropriate bioinformatic algorithms, can significantly improve the discovery of gene regulatory relationships from high throughput gene expression data. PMID:20122245

  19. Knowledge-based analysis of microarrays for the discovery of transcriptional regulation relationships.

    PubMed

    Seok, Junhee; Kaushal, Amit; Davis, Ronald W; Xiao, Wenzhong

    2010-01-18

    The large amount of high-throughput genomic data has facilitated the discovery of the regulatory relationships between transcription factors and their target genes. While early methods for discovery of transcriptional regulation relationships from microarray data often focused on the high-throughput experimental data alone, more recent approaches have explored the integration of external knowledge bases of gene interactions. In this work, we develop an algorithm that provides improved performance in the prediction of transcriptional regulatory relationships by supplementing the analysis of microarray data with a new method of integrating information from an existing knowledge base. Using a well-known dataset of yeast microarrays and the Yeast Proteome Database, a comprehensive collection of known information of yeast genes, we show that knowledge-based predictions demonstrate better sensitivity and specificity in inferring new transcriptional interactions than predictions from microarray data alone. We also show that comprehensive, direct and high-quality knowledge bases provide better prediction performance. Comparison of our results with ChIP-chip data and growth fitness data suggests that our predicted genome-wide regulatory pairs in yeast are reasonable candidates for follow-up biological verification. High quality, comprehensive, and direct knowledge bases, when combined with appropriate bioinformatic algorithms, can significantly improve the discovery of gene regulatory relationships from high throughput gene expression data.

  20. Quantifying protein-protein interactions in high throughput using protein domain microarrays.

    PubMed

    Kaushansky, Alexis; Allen, John E; Gordus, Andrew; Stiffler, Michael A; Karp, Ethan S; Chang, Bryan H; MacBeath, Gavin

    2010-04-01

    Protein microarrays provide an efficient way to identify and quantify protein-protein interactions in high throughput. One drawback of this technique is that proteins show a broad range of physicochemical properties and are often difficult to produce recombinantly. To circumvent these problems, we have focused on families of protein interaction domains. Here we provide protocols for constructing microarrays of protein interaction domains in individual wells of 96-well microtiter plates, and for quantifying domain-peptide interactions in high throughput using fluorescently labeled synthetic peptides. As specific examples, we will describe the construction of microarrays of virtually every human Src homology 2 (SH2) and phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domain, as well as microarrays of mouse PDZ domains, all produced recombinantly in Escherichia coli. For domains that mediate high-affinity interactions, such as SH2 and PTB domains, equilibrium dissociation constants (K(D)s) for their peptide ligands can be measured directly on arrays by obtaining saturation binding curves. For weaker binding domains, such as PDZ domains, arrays are best used to identify candidate interactions, which are then retested and quantified by fluorescence polarization. Overall, protein domain microarrays provide the ability to rapidly identify and quantify protein-ligand interactions with minimal sample consumption. Because entire domain families can be interrogated simultaneously, they provide a powerful way to assess binding selectivity on a proteome-wide scale and provide an unbiased perspective on the connectivity of protein-protein interaction networks.

  1. Polymorphism discovery and allele frequency estimation using high-throughput DNA sequencing of target-enriched pooled DNA samples

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The central role of the somatotrophic axis in animal post-natal growth, development and fertility is well established. Therefore, the identification of genetic variants affecting quantitative traits within this axis is an attractive goal. However, large sample numbers are a pre-requisite for the identification of genetic variants underlying complex traits and although technologies are improving rapidly, high-throughput sequencing of large numbers of complete individual genomes remains prohibitively expensive. Therefore using a pooled DNA approach coupled with target enrichment and high-throughput sequencing, the aim of this study was to identify polymorphisms and estimate allele frequency differences across 83 candidate genes of the somatotrophic axis, in 150 Holstein-Friesian dairy bulls divided into two groups divergent for genetic merit for fertility. Results In total, 4,135 SNPs and 893 indels were identified during the resequencing of the 83 candidate genes. Nineteen percent (n = 952) of variants were located within 5' and 3' UTRs. Seventy-two percent (n = 3,612) were intronic and 9% (n = 464) were exonic, including 65 indels and 236 SNPs resulting in non-synonymous substitutions (NSS). Significant (P < 0.01) mean allele frequency differentials between the low and high fertility groups were observed for 720 SNPs (58 NSS). Allele frequencies for 43 of the SNPs were also determined by genotyping the 150 individual animals (Sequenom® MassARRAY). No significant differences (P > 0.1) were observed between the two methods for any of the 43 SNPs across both pools (i.e., 86 tests in total). Conclusions The results of the current study support previous findings of the use of DNA sample pooling and high-throughput sequencing as a viable strategy for polymorphism discovery and allele frequency estimation. Using this approach we have characterised the genetic variation within genes of the somatotrophic axis and related pathways, central to mammalian post-natal growth and development and subsequent lactogenesis and fertility. We have identified a large number of variants segregating at significantly different frequencies between cattle groups divergent for calving interval plausibly harbouring causative variants contributing to heritable variation. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing sequencing of targeted genomic regions in any livestock species using groups with divergent phenotypes for an economically important trait. PMID:22235840

  2. High-throughput screening in two dimensions: binding intensity and off-rate on a peptide microarray.

    PubMed

    Greving, Matthew P; Belcher, Paul E; Cox, Conor D; Daniel, Douglas; Diehnelt, Chris W; Woodbury, Neal W

    2010-07-01

    We report a high-throughput two-dimensional microarray-based screen, incorporating both target binding intensity and off-rate, which can be used to analyze thousands of compounds in a single binding assay. Relative binding intensities and time-resolved dissociation are measured for labeled tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) bound to a peptide microarray. The time-resolved dissociation is fitted to a one-component exponential decay model, from which relative dissociation rates are determined for all peptides with binding intensities above background. We show that most peptides with the slowest off-rates on the microarray also have the slowest off-rates when measured by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Quantitation of heteroplasmy of mtDNA sequence variants identified in a population of AD patients and controls by array-based resequencing.

    PubMed

    Coon, Keith D; Valla, Jon; Szelinger, Szabolics; Schneider, Lonnie E; Niedzielko, Tracy L; Brown, Kevin M; Pearson, John V; Halperin, Rebecca; Dunckley, Travis; Papassotiropoulos, Andreas; Caselli, Richard J; Reiman, Eric M; Stephan, Dietrich A

    2006-08-01

    The role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been well documented. Though evidence for the role of mitochondria in AD seems incontrovertible, the impact of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in AD etiology remains controversial. Though mutations in mitochondrially encoded genes have repeatedly been implicated in the pathogenesis of AD, many of these studies have been plagued by lack of replication as well as potential contamination of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial pseudogenes. To assess the role of mtDNA mutations in the pathogenesis of AD, while avoiding the pitfalls of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial pseudogenes encountered in previous investigations and showcasing the benefits of a novel resequencing technology, we sequenced the entire coding region (15,452 bp) of mtDNA from 19 extremely well-characterized AD patients and 18 age-matched, unaffected controls utilizing a new, reliable, high-throughput array-based resequencing technique, the Human MitoChip. High-throughput, array-based DNA resequencing of the entire mtDNA coding region from platelets of 37 subjects revealed the presence of 208 loci displaying a total of 917 sequence variants. There were no statistically significant differences in overall mutational burden between cases and controls, however, 265 independent sites of statistically significant change between cases and controls were identified. Changed sites were found in genes associated with complexes I (30.2%), III (3.0%), IV (33.2%), and V (9.1%) as well as tRNA (10.6%) and rRNA (14.0%). Despite their statistical significance, the subtle nature of the observed changes makes it difficult to determine whether they represent true functional variants involved in AD etiology or merely naturally occurring dissimilarity. Regardless, this study demonstrates the tremendous value of this novel mtDNA resequencing platform, which avoids the pitfalls of erroneously amplifying nuclear-encoded mtDNA pseudogenes, and our proposed analysis paradigm, which utilizes the availability of raw signal intensity values for each of the four potential alleles to facilitate quantitative estimates of mtDNA heteroplasmy. This information provides a potential new target for burgeoning diagnostics and therapeutics that could truly assist those suffering from this devastating disorder.

  4. A re-sequencing based assessment of genomic heterogeneity and fast neutron-induced deletions in a common bean cultivar

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A small fast neutron mutant population has been established from Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Red Hawk. We leveraged the available P. vulgaris genome sequence and high throughput next generation DNA sequencing to examine the genomic structure of five Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Red Hawk fast neutron mutants wi...

  5. Advantages of RNA-seq compared to RNA microarrays for transcriptome profiling of anterior cruciate ligament tears.

    PubMed

    Rai, Muhammad Farooq; Tycksen, Eric D; Sandell, Linda J; Brophy, Robert H

    2018-01-01

    Microarrays and RNA-seq are at the forefront of high throughput transcriptome analyses. Since these methodologies are based on different principles, there are concerns about the concordance of data between the two techniques. The concordance of RNA-seq and microarrays for genome-wide analysis of differential gene expression has not been rigorously assessed in clinically derived ligament tissues. To demonstrate the concordance between RNA-seq and microarrays and to assess potential benefits of RNA-seq over microarrays, we assessed differences in transcript expression in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tissues based on time-from-injury. ACL remnants were collected from patients with an ACL tear at the time of ACL reconstruction. RNA prepared from torn ACL remnants was subjected to Agilent microarrays (N = 24) and RNA-seq (N = 8). The correlation of biological replicates in RNA-seq and microarrays data was similar (0.98 vs. 0.97), demonstrating that each platform has high internal reproducibility. Correlations between the RNA-seq data and the individual microarrays were low, but correlations between the RNA-seq values and the geometric mean of the microarrays values were moderate. The cross-platform concordance for differentially expressed transcripts or enriched pathways was linearly correlated (r = 0.64). RNA-Seq was superior in detecting low abundance transcripts and differentiating biologically critical isoforms. Additional independent validation of transcript expression was undertaken using microfluidic PCR for selected genes. PCR data showed 100% concordance (in expression pattern) with RNA-seq and microarrays data. These findings demonstrate that RNA-seq has advantages over microarrays for transcriptome profiling of ligament tissues when available and affordable. Furthermore, these findings are likely transferable to other musculoskeletal tissues where tissue collection is challenging and cells are in low abundance. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 36:484-497, 2018. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Printing Proteins as Microarrays for High-Throughput Function Determination

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    MacBeath, Gavin; Schreiber, Stuart L.

    2000-09-01

    Systematic efforts are currently under way to construct defined sets of cloned genes for high-throughput expression and purification of recombinant proteins. To facilitate subsequent studies of protein function, we have developed miniaturized assays that accommodate extremely low sample volumes and enable the rapid, simultaneous processing of thousands of proteins. A high-precision robot designed to manufacture complementary DNA microarrays was used to spot proteins onto chemically derivatized glass slides at extremely high spatial densities. The proteins attached covalently to the slide surface yet retained their ability to interact specifically with other proteins, or with small molecules, in solution. Three applications for protein microarrays were demonstrated: screening for protein-protein interactions, identifying the substrates of protein kinases, and identifying the protein targets of small molecules.

  7. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gentry, T.; Schadt, C.; Zhou, J.

    Microarray technology has the unparalleled potential tosimultaneously determine the dynamics and/or activities of most, if notall, of the microbial populations in complex environments such as soilsand sediments. Researchers have developed several types of arrays thatcharacterize the microbial populations in these samples based on theirphylogenetic relatedness or functional genomic content. Several recentstudies have used these microarrays to investigate ecological issues;however, most have only analyzed a limited number of samples withrelatively few experiments utilizing the full high-throughput potentialof microarray analysis. This is due in part to the unique analyticalchallenges that these samples present with regard to sensitivity,specificity, quantitation, and data analysis. Thismore » review discussesspecific applications of microarrays to microbial ecology research alongwith some of the latest studies addressing the difficulties encounteredduring analysis of complex microbial communities within environmentalsamples. With continued development, microarray technology may ultimatelyachieve its potential for comprehensive, high-throughput characterizationof microbial populations in near real-time.« less

  8. mRNA-Seq and microarray development for the Grooved carpet shell clam, Ruditapes decussatus: a functional approach to unravel host -parasite interaction

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background The Grooved Carpet shell clam Ruditapes decussatus is the autochthonous European clam and the most appreciated from a gastronomic and economic point of view. The production is in decline due to several factors such as Perkinsiosis and habitat invasion and competition by the introduced exotic species, the manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum. After we sequenced R. decussatus transcriptome we have designed an oligo microarray capable of contributing to provide some clues on molecular response of the clam to Perkinsiosis. Results A database consisting of 41,119 unique transcripts was constructed, of which 12,479 (30.3%) were annotated by similarity. An oligo-DNA microarray platform was then designed and applied to profile gene expression in R. decussatus heavily infected by Perkinsus olseni. Functional annotation of differentially expressed genes between those two conditionswas performed by gene set enrichment analysis. As expected, microarrays unveil genes related with stress/infectious agents such as hydrolases, proteases and others. The extensive role of innate immune system was also analyzed and effect of parasitosis upon expression of important molecules such as lectins reviewed. Conclusions This study represents a first attempt to characterize Ruditapes decussatus transcriptome, an important marine resource for the European aquaculture. The trancriptome sequencing and consequent annotation will increase the available tools and resources for this specie, introducing the possibility of high throughput experiments such as microarrays analysis. In this specific case microarray approach was used to unveil some important aspects of host-parasite interaction between the Carpet shell clam and Perkinsus, two non-model species, highlighting some genes associated with this interaction. Ample information was obtained to identify biological processes significantly enriched among differentially expressed genes in Perkinsus infected versus non-infected gills. An overview on the genes related with the immune system on R. decussatus transcriptome is also reported. PMID:24168212

  9. mRNA-Seq and microarray development for the Grooved Carpet shell clam, Ruditapes decussatus: a functional approach to unravel host-parasite interaction.

    PubMed

    Leite, Ricardo B; Milan, Massimo; Coppe, Alessandro; Bortoluzzi, Stefania; dos Anjos, António; Reinhardt, Richard; Saavedra, Carlos; Patarnello, Tomaso; Cancela, M Leonor; Bargelloni, Luca

    2013-10-29

    The Grooved Carpet shell clam Ruditapes decussatus is the autochthonous European clam and the most appreciated from a gastronomic and economic point of view. The production is in decline due to several factors such as Perkinsiosis and habitat invasion and competition by the introduced exotic species, the manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum. After we sequenced R. decussatus transcriptome we have designed an oligo microarray capable of contributing to provide some clues on molecular response of the clam to Perkinsiosis. A database consisting of 41,119 unique transcripts was constructed, of which 12,479 (30.3%) were annotated by similarity. An oligo-DNA microarray platform was then designed and applied to profile gene expression in R. decussatus heavily infected by Perkinsus olseni. Functional annotation of differentially expressed genes between those two conditionswas performed by gene set enrichment analysis. As expected, microarrays unveil genes related with stress/infectious agents such as hydrolases, proteases and others. The extensive role of innate immune system was also analyzed and effect of parasitosis upon expression of important molecules such as lectins reviewed. This study represents a first attempt to characterize Ruditapes decussatus transcriptome, an important marine resource for the European aquaculture. The trancriptome sequencing and consequent annotation will increase the available tools and resources for this specie, introducing the possibility of high throughput experiments such as microarrays analysis. In this specific case microarray approach was used to unveil some important aspects of host-parasite interaction between the Carpet shell clam and Perkinsus, two non-model species, highlighting some genes associated with this interaction. Ample information was obtained to identify biological processes significantly enriched among differentially expressed genes in Perkinsus infected versus non-infected gills. An overview on the genes related with the immune system on R. decussatus transcriptome is also reported.

  10. Quantification of differential gene expression by multiplexed targeted resequencing of cDNA

    PubMed Central

    Arts, Peer; van der Raadt, Jori; van Gestel, Sebastianus H.C.; Steehouwer, Marloes; Shendure, Jay; Hoischen, Alexander; Albers, Cornelis A.

    2017-01-01

    Whole-transcriptome or RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a powerful and versatile tool for functional analysis of different types of RNA molecules, but sample reagent and sequencing cost can be prohibitive for hypothesis-driven studies where the aim is to quantify differential expression of a limited number of genes. Here we present an approach for quantification of differential mRNA expression by targeted resequencing of complementary DNA using single-molecule molecular inversion probes (cDNA-smMIPs) that enable highly multiplexed resequencing of cDNA target regions of ∼100 nucleotides and counting of individual molecules. We show that accurate estimates of differential expression can be obtained from molecule counts for hundreds of smMIPs per reaction and that smMIPs are also suitable for quantification of relative gene expression and allele-specific expression. Compared with low-coverage RNA-Seq and a hybridization-based targeted RNA-Seq method, cDNA-smMIPs are a cost-effective high-throughput tool for hypothesis-driven expression analysis in large numbers of genes (10 to 500) and samples (hundreds to thousands). PMID:28474677

  11. Single-Molecule Electrical Random Resequencing of DNA and RNA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ohshiro, Takahito; Matsubara, Kazuki; Tsutsui, Makusu; Furuhashi, Masayuki; Taniguchi, Masateru; Kawai, Tomoji

    2012-07-01

    Two paradigm shifts in DNA sequencing technologies--from bulk to single molecules and from optical to electrical detection--are expected to realize label-free, low-cost DNA sequencing that does not require PCR amplification. It will lead to development of high-throughput third-generation sequencing technologies for personalized medicine. Although nanopore devices have been proposed as third-generation DNA-sequencing devices, a significant milestone in these technologies has been attained by demonstrating a novel technique for resequencing DNA using electrical signals. Here we report single-molecule electrical resequencing of DNA and RNA using a hybrid method of identifying single-base molecules via tunneling currents and random sequencing. Our method reads sequences of nine types of DNA oligomers. The complete sequence of 5'-UGAGGUA-3' from the let-7 microRNA family was also identified by creating a composite of overlapping fragment sequences, which was randomly determined using tunneling current conducted by single-base molecules as they passed between a pair of nanoelectrodes.

  12. High-Throughput SNP Discovery through Deep Resequencing of a Reduced Representation Library to Anchor and Orient Scaffolds in the Soybean Whole Genome Sequence

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The soybean Consensus Map 4.0 facilitated the anchoring of 95.6% of the soybean whole genome sequence developed by the Joint Genome Institute, Department of Energy but only properly oriented 66% of the sequence scaffolds. To find additional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for additiona...

  13. SVS: data and knowledge integration in computational biology.

    PubMed

    Zycinski, Grzegorz; Barla, Annalisa; Verri, Alessandro

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we present a framework for structured variable selection (SVS). The main concept of the proposed schema is to take a step towards the integration of two different aspects of data mining: database and machine learning perspective. The framework is flexible enough to use not only microarray data, but other high-throughput data of choice (e.g. from mass spectrometry, microarray, next generation sequencing). Moreover, the feature selection phase incorporates prior biological knowledge in a modular way from various repositories and is ready to host different statistical learning techniques. We present a proof of concept of SVS, illustrating some implementation details and describing current results on high-throughput microarray data.

  14. Gene Expression Browser: Large-Scale and Cross-Experiment Microarray Data Management, Search & Visualization

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The amount of microarray gene expression data in public repositories has been increasing exponentially for the last couple of decades. High-throughput microarray data integration and analysis has become a critical step in exploring the large amount of expression data for biological discovery. Howeve...

  15. Screening small-molecule compound microarrays for protein ligands without fluorescence labeling with a high-throughput scanning microscope.

    PubMed

    Fei, Yiyan; Landry, James P; Sun, Yungshin; Zhu, Xiangdong; Wang, Xiaobing; Luo, Juntao; Wu, Chun-Yi; Lam, Kit S

    2010-01-01

    We describe a high-throughput scanning optical microscope for detecting small-molecule compound microarrays on functionalized glass slides. It is based on measurements of oblique-incidence reflectivity difference and employs a combination of a y-scan galvometer mirror and an x-scan translation stage with an effective field of view of 2 cm x 4 cm. Such a field of view can accommodate a printed small-molecule compound microarray with as many as 10,000 to 20,000 targets. The scanning microscope is capable of measuring kinetics as well as endpoints of protein-ligand reactions simultaneously. We present the experimental results on solution-phase protein reactions with small-molecule compound microarrays synthesized from one-bead, one-compound combinatorial chemistry and immobilized on a streptavidin-functionalized glass slide.

  16. Screening small-molecule compound microarrays for protein ligands without fluorescence labeling with a high-throughput scanning microscope

    PubMed Central

    Fei, Yiyan; Landry, James P.; Sun, Yungshin; Zhu, Xiangdong; Wang, Xiaobing; Luo, Juntao; Wu, Chun-Yi; Lam, Kit S.

    2010-01-01

    We describe a high-throughput scanning optical microscope for detecting small-molecule compound microarrays on functionalized glass slides. It is based on measurements of oblique-incidence reflectivity difference and employs a combination of a y-scan galvometer mirror and an x-scan translation stage with an effective field of view of 2 cm×4 cm. Such a field of view can accommodate a printed small-molecule compound microarray with as many as 10,000 to 20,000 targets. The scanning microscope is capable of measuring kinetics as well as endpoints of protein-ligand reactions simultaneously. We present the experimental results on solution-phase protein reactions with small-molecule compound microarrays synthesized from one-bead, one-compound combinatorial chemistry and immobilized on a streptavidin-functionalized glass slide. PMID:20210464

  17. Application of Broad-Spectrum Resequencing Microarray for Genotyping Rhabdoviruses▿

    PubMed Central

    Dacheux, Laurent; Berthet, Nicolas; Dissard, Gabriel; Holmes, Edward C.; Delmas, Olivier; Larrous, Florence; Guigon, Ghislaine; Dickinson, Philip; Faye, Ousmane; Sall, Amadou A.; Old, Iain G.; Kong, Katherine; Kennedy, Giulia C.; Manuguerra, Jean-Claude; Cole, Stewart T.; Caro, Valérie; Gessain, Antoine; Bourhy, Hervé

    2010-01-01

    The rapid and accurate identification of pathogens is critical in the control of infectious disease. To this end, we analyzed the capacity for viral detection and identification of a newly described high-density resequencing microarray (RMA), termed PathogenID, which was designed for multiple pathogen detection using database similarity searching. We focused on one of the largest and most diverse viral families described to date, the family Rhabdoviridae. We demonstrate that this approach has the potential to identify both known and related viruses for which precise sequence information is unavailable. In particular, we demonstrate that a strategy based on consensus sequence determination for analysis of RMA output data enabled successful detection of viruses exhibiting up to 26% nucleotide divergence with the closest sequence tiled on the array. Using clinical specimens obtained from rabid patients and animals, this method also shows a high species level concordance with standard reference assays, indicating that it is amenable for the development of diagnostic assays. Finally, 12 animal rhabdoviruses which were currently unclassified, unassigned, or assigned as tentative species within the family Rhabdoviridae were successfully detected. These new data allowed an unprecedented phylogenetic analysis of 106 rhabdoviruses and further suggest that the principles and methodology developed here may be used for the broad-spectrum surveillance and the broader-scale investigation of biodiversity in the viral world. PMID:20610710

  18. MIPHENO: Data normalization for high throughput metabolic analysis.

    EPA Science Inventory

    High throughput methodologies such as microarrays, mass spectrometry and plate-based small molecule screens are increasingly used to facilitate discoveries from gene function to drug candidate identification. These large-scale experiments are typically carried out over the course...

  19. Overcoming bias and systematic errors in next generation sequencing data.

    PubMed

    Taub, Margaret A; Corrada Bravo, Hector; Irizarry, Rafael A

    2010-12-10

    Considerable time and effort has been spent in developing analysis and quality assessment methods to allow the use of microarrays in a clinical setting. As is the case for microarrays and other high-throughput technologies, data from new high-throughput sequencing technologies are subject to technological and biological biases and systematic errors that can impact downstream analyses. Only when these issues can be readily identified and reliably adjusted for will clinical applications of these new technologies be feasible. Although much work remains to be done in this area, we describe consistently observed biases that should be taken into account when analyzing high-throughput sequencing data. In this article, we review current knowledge about these biases, discuss their impact on analysis results, and propose solutions.

  20. Transfection microarray and the applications.

    PubMed

    Miyake, Masato; Yoshikawa, Tomohiro; Fujita, Satoshi; Miyake, Jun

    2009-05-01

    Microarray transfection has been extensively studied for high-throughput functional analysis of mammalian cells. However, control of efficiency and reproducibility are the critical issues for practical use. By using solid-phase transfection accelerators and nano-scaffold, we provide a highly efficient and reproducible microarray-transfection device, "transfection microarray". The device would be applied to the limited number of available primary cells and stem cells not only for large-scale functional analysis but also reporter-based time-lapse cellular event analysis.

  1. Integrative ChIP-seq/Microarray Analysis Identifies a CTNNB1 Target Signature Enriched in Intestinal Stem Cells and Colon Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Watanabe, Kazuhide; Biesinger, Jacob; Salmans, Michael L.; Roberts, Brian S.; Arthur, William T.; Cleary, Michele; Andersen, Bogi; Xie, Xiaohui; Dai, Xing

    2014-01-01

    Background Deregulation of canonical Wnt/CTNNB1 (beta-catenin) pathway is one of the earliest events in the pathogenesis of colon cancer. Mutations in APC or CTNNB1 are highly frequent in colon cancer and cause aberrant stabilization of CTNNB1, which activates the transcription of Wnt target genes by binding to chromatin via the TCF/LEF transcription factors. Here we report an integrative analysis of genome-wide chromatin occupancy of CTNNB1 by chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) and gene expression profiling by microarray analysis upon RNAi-mediated knockdown of CTNNB1 in colon cancer cells. Results We observed 3629 CTNNB1 binding peaks across the genome and a significant correlation between CTNNB1 binding and knockdown-induced gene expression change. Our integrative analysis led to the discovery of a direct Wnt target signature composed of 162 genes. Gene ontology analysis of this signature revealed a significant enrichment of Wnt pathway genes, suggesting multiple feedback regulations of the pathway. We provide evidence that this gene signature partially overlaps with the Lgr5+ intestinal stem cell signature, and is significantly enriched in normal intestinal stem cells as well as in clinical colorectal cancer samples. Interestingly, while the expression of the CTNNB1 target gene set does not correlate with survival, elevated expression of negative feedback regulators within the signature predicts better prognosis. Conclusion Our data provide a genome-wide view of chromatin occupancy and gene regulation of Wnt/CTNNB1 signaling in colon cancer cells. PMID:24651522

  2. Integrative ChIP-seq/microarray analysis identifies a CTNNB1 target signature enriched in intestinal stem cells and colon cancer.

    PubMed

    Watanabe, Kazuhide; Biesinger, Jacob; Salmans, Michael L; Roberts, Brian S; Arthur, William T; Cleary, Michele; Andersen, Bogi; Xie, Xiaohui; Dai, Xing

    2014-01-01

    Deregulation of canonical Wnt/CTNNB1 (beta-catenin) pathway is one of the earliest events in the pathogenesis of colon cancer. Mutations in APC or CTNNB1 are highly frequent in colon cancer and cause aberrant stabilization of CTNNB1, which activates the transcription of Wnt target genes by binding to chromatin via the TCF/LEF transcription factors. Here we report an integrative analysis of genome-wide chromatin occupancy of CTNNB1 by chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) and gene expression profiling by microarray analysis upon RNAi-mediated knockdown of CTNNB1 in colon cancer cells. We observed 3629 CTNNB1 binding peaks across the genome and a significant correlation between CTNNB1 binding and knockdown-induced gene expression change. Our integrative analysis led to the discovery of a direct Wnt target signature composed of 162 genes. Gene ontology analysis of this signature revealed a significant enrichment of Wnt pathway genes, suggesting multiple feedback regulations of the pathway. We provide evidence that this gene signature partially overlaps with the Lgr5+ intestinal stem cell signature, and is significantly enriched in normal intestinal stem cells as well as in clinical colorectal cancer samples. Interestingly, while the expression of the CTNNB1 target gene set does not correlate with survival, elevated expression of negative feedback regulators within the signature predicts better prognosis. Our data provide a genome-wide view of chromatin occupancy and gene regulation of Wnt/CTNNB1 signaling in colon cancer cells.

  3. MAPPI-DAT: data management and analysis for protein-protein interaction data from the high-throughput MAPPIT cell microarray platform.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Surya; De Puysseleyr, Veronic; Van der Heyden, José; Maddelein, Davy; Lemmens, Irma; Lievens, Sam; Degroeve, Sven; Tavernier, Jan; Martens, Lennart

    2017-05-01

    Protein-protein interaction (PPI) studies have dramatically expanded our knowledge about cellular behaviour and development in different conditions. A multitude of high-throughput PPI techniques have been developed to achieve proteome-scale coverage for PPI studies, including the microarray based Mammalian Protein-Protein Interaction Trap (MAPPIT) system. Because such high-throughput techniques typically report thousands of interactions, managing and analysing the large amounts of acquired data is a challenge. We have therefore built the MAPPIT cell microArray Protein Protein Interaction-Data management & Analysis Tool (MAPPI-DAT) as an automated data management and analysis tool for MAPPIT cell microarray experiments. MAPPI-DAT stores the experimental data and metadata in a systematic and structured way, automates data analysis and interpretation, and enables the meta-analysis of MAPPIT cell microarray data across all stored experiments. MAPPI-DAT is developed in Python, using R for data analysis and MySQL as data management system. MAPPI-DAT is cross-platform and can be ran on Microsoft Windows, Linux and OS X/macOS. The source code and a Microsoft Windows executable are freely available under the permissive Apache2 open source license at https://github.com/compomics/MAPPI-DAT. jan.tavernier@vib-ugent.be or lennart.martens@vib-ugent.be. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  4. Whole mitochondrial genome screening in maternally inherited non-syndromic hearing impairment using a microarray resequencing mitochondrial DNA chip.

    PubMed

    Lévêque, Marianne; Marlin, Sandrine; Jonard, Laurence; Procaccio, Vincent; Reynier, Pascal; Amati-Bonneau, Patrizia; Baulande, Sylvain; Pierron, Denis; Lacombe, Didier; Duriez, Françoise; Francannet, Christine; Mom, Thierry; Journel, Hubert; Catros, Hélène; Drouin-Garraud, Valérie; Obstoy, Marie-Françoise; Dollfus, Hélène; Eliot, Marie-Madeleine; Faivre, Laurence; Duvillard, Christian; Couderc, Remy; Garabedian, Eréa-Noël; Petit, Christine; Feldmann, Delphine; Denoyelle, Françoise

    2007-11-01

    Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations have been implicated in non-syndromic hearing loss either as primary or as predisposing factors. As only a part of the mitochondrial genome is usually explored in deafness, its prevalence is probably under-estimated. Among 1350 families with non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss collected through a French collaborative network, we selected 29 large families with a clear maternal lineage and screened them for known mtDNA mutations in 12S rRNA, tRNASer(UCN) and tRNALeu(UUR) genes. When no mutation could be identified, a whole mitochondrial genome screening was performed, using a microarray resequencing chip: the MitoChip version 2.0 developed by Affymetrix Inc. Known mtDNA mutations was found in nine of the 29 families, which are described in the article: five with A1555G, two with the T7511C, one with 7472insC and one with A3243G mutation. In the remaining 20 families, the resequencing Mitochip detected 258 mitochondrial homoplasmic variants and 107 potentially heteroplasmic variants. Controls were made by direct sequencing on selected fragments and showed a high sensibility of the MitoChip but a low specificity, especially for heteroplasmic variations. An original analysis on the basis of species conservation, frequency and phylogenetic investigation was performed to select the more probably pathogenic variants. The entire genome analysis allowed us to identify five additional families with a putatively pathogenic mitochondrial variant: T669C, C1537T, G8078A, G12236A and G15077A. These results indicate that the new MitoChip platform is a rapid and valuable tool for identification of new mtDNA mutations in deafness.

  5. HTSstation: a web application and open-access libraries for high-throughput sequencing data analysis.

    PubMed

    David, Fabrice P A; Delafontaine, Julien; Carat, Solenne; Ross, Frederick J; Lefebvre, Gregory; Jarosz, Yohan; Sinclair, Lucas; Noordermeer, Daan; Rougemont, Jacques; Leleu, Marion

    2014-01-01

    The HTSstation analysis portal is a suite of simple web forms coupled to modular analysis pipelines for various applications of High-Throughput Sequencing including ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, 4C-seq and re-sequencing. HTSstation offers biologists the possibility to rapidly investigate their HTS data using an intuitive web application with heuristically pre-defined parameters. A number of open-source software components have been implemented and can be used to build, configure and run HTS analysis pipelines reactively. Besides, our programming framework empowers developers with the possibility to design their own workflows and integrate additional third-party software. The HTSstation web application is accessible at http://htsstation.epfl.ch.

  6. HTSstation: A Web Application and Open-Access Libraries for High-Throughput Sequencing Data Analysis

    PubMed Central

    David, Fabrice P. A.; Delafontaine, Julien; Carat, Solenne; Ross, Frederick J.; Lefebvre, Gregory; Jarosz, Yohan; Sinclair, Lucas; Noordermeer, Daan; Rougemont, Jacques; Leleu, Marion

    2014-01-01

    The HTSstation analysis portal is a suite of simple web forms coupled to modular analysis pipelines for various applications of High-Throughput Sequencing including ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, 4C-seq and re-sequencing. HTSstation offers biologists the possibility to rapidly investigate their HTS data using an intuitive web application with heuristically pre-defined parameters. A number of open-source software components have been implemented and can be used to build, configure and run HTS analysis pipelines reactively. Besides, our programming framework empowers developers with the possibility to design their own workflows and integrate additional third-party software. The HTSstation web application is accessible at http://htsstation.epfl.ch. PMID:24475057

  7. pyAmpli: an amplicon-based variant filter pipeline for targeted resequencing data.

    PubMed

    Beyens, Matthias; Boeckx, Nele; Van Camp, Guy; Op de Beeck, Ken; Vandeweyer, Geert

    2017-12-14

    Haloplex targeted resequencing is a popular method to analyze both germline and somatic variants in gene panels. However, involved wet-lab procedures may introduce false positives that need to be considered in subsequent data-analysis. No variant filtering rationale addressing amplicon enrichment related systematic errors, in the form of an all-in-one package, exists to our knowledge. We present pyAmpli, a platform independent parallelized Python package that implements an amplicon-based germline and somatic variant filtering strategy for Haloplex data. pyAmpli can filter variants for systematic errors by user pre-defined criteria. We show that pyAmpli significantly increases specificity, without reducing sensitivity, essential for reporting true positive clinical relevant mutations in gene panel data. pyAmpli is an easy-to-use software tool which increases the true positive variant call rate in targeted resequencing data. It specifically reduces errors related to PCR-based enrichment of targeted regions.

  8. Universal Detection and Identification of Avian Influenza Virus by Use of Resequencing Microarrays▿ †

    PubMed Central

    Lin, Baochuan; Malanoski, Anthony P.; Wang, Zheng; Blaney, Kate M.; Long, Nina C.; Meador, Carolyn E.; Metzgar, David; Myers, Christopher A.; Yingst, Samuel L.; Monteville, Marshall R.; Saad, Magdi D.; Schnur, Joel M.; Tibbetts, Clark; Stenger, David A.

    2009-01-01

    Zoonotic microbes have historically been, and continue to emerge as, threats to human health. The recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in bird populations and the appearance of some human infections have increased the concern of a possible new influenza pandemic, which highlights the need for broad-spectrum detection methods for rapidly identifying the spread or outbreak of all variants of avian influenza virus. In this study, we demonstrate that high-density resequencing pathogen microarrays (RPM) can be such a tool. The results from 37 influenza virus isolates show that the RPM platform is an effective means for detecting and subtyping influenza virus, while simultaneously providing sequence information for strain resolution, pathogenicity, and drug resistance without additional analysis. This study establishes that the RPM platform is a broad-spectrum pathogen detection and surveillance tool for monitoring the circulation of prevalent influenza viruses in the poultry industry and in wild birds or incidental exposures and infections in humans. PMID:19279171

  9. High-Density Droplet Microarray of Individually Addressable Electrochemical Cells.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Huijie; Oellers, Tobias; Feng, Wenqian; Abdulazim, Tarik; Saw, En Ning; Ludwig, Alfred; Levkin, Pavel A; Plumeré, Nicolas

    2017-06-06

    Microarray technology has shown great potential for various types of high-throughput screening applications. The main read-out methods of most microarray platforms, however, are based on optical techniques, limiting the scope of potential applications of such powerful screening technology. Electrochemical methods possess numerous complementary advantages over optical detection methods, including its label-free nature, capability of quantitative monitoring of various reporter molecules, and the ability to not only detect but also address compositions of individual compartments. However, application of electrochemical methods for the purpose of high-throughput screening remains very limited. In this work, we develop a high-density individually addressable electrochemical droplet microarray (eDMA). The eDMA allows for the detection of redox-active reporter molecules irrespective of their electrochemical reversibility in individual nanoliter-sized droplets. Orthogonal band microelectrodes are arranged to form at their intersections an array of three-electrode systems for precise control of the applied potential, which enables direct read-out of the current related to analyte detection. The band microelectrode array is covered with a layer of permeable porous polymethacrylate functionalized with a highly hydrophobic-hydrophilic pattern, forming spatially separated nanoliter-sized droplets on top of each electrochemical cell. Electrochemical characterization of single droplets demonstrates that the underlying electrode system is accessible to redox-active molecules through the hydrophilic polymeric pattern and that the nonwettable hydrophobic boundaries can spatially separate neighboring cells effectively. The eDMA technology opens the possibility to combine the high-throughput biochemical or living cell screenings using the droplet microarray platform with the sequential electrochemical read-out of individual droplets.

  10. BreaKmer: detection of structural variation in targeted massively parallel sequencing data using kmers.

    PubMed

    Abo, Ryan P; Ducar, Matthew; Garcia, Elizabeth P; Thorner, Aaron R; Rojas-Rudilla, Vanesa; Lin, Ling; Sholl, Lynette M; Hahn, William C; Meyerson, Matthew; Lindeman, Neal I; Van Hummelen, Paul; MacConaill, Laura E

    2015-02-18

    Genomic structural variation (SV), a common hallmark of cancer, has important predictive and therapeutic implications. However, accurately detecting SV using high-throughput sequencing data remains challenging, especially for 'targeted' resequencing efforts. This is critically important in the clinical setting where targeted resequencing is frequently being applied to rapidly assess clinically actionable mutations in tumor biopsies in a cost-effective manner. We present BreaKmer, a novel approach that uses a 'kmer' strategy to assemble misaligned sequence reads for predicting insertions, deletions, inversions, tandem duplications and translocations at base-pair resolution in targeted resequencing data. Variants are predicted by realigning an assembled consensus sequence created from sequence reads that were abnormally aligned to the reference genome. Using targeted resequencing data from tumor specimens with orthogonally validated SV, non-tumor samples and whole-genome sequencing data, BreaKmer had a 97.4% overall sensitivity for known events and predicted 17 positively validated, novel variants. Relative to four publically available algorithms, BreaKmer detected SV with increased sensitivity and limited calls in non-tumor samples, key features for variant analysis of tumor specimens in both the clinical and research settings. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  11. Testing and Validation of High Density Resequencing Microarray for Broad Range Biothreat Agents Detection

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-08-11

    Competing Interests: One of the contributing authors : Clark Tibbetts, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Tessarae, LLC...Detection 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR (S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7...N/A 1021 ng No detection Sin nombre Bunyaviridae III 1021 ng Pulmonary syndrome hantavirus strain Convict Creek 107 1CCHFV = Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic

  12. NCBI GEO: archive for high-throughput functional genomic data.

    PubMed

    Barrett, Tanya; Troup, Dennis B; Wilhite, Stephen E; Ledoux, Pierre; Rudnev, Dmitry; Evangelista, Carlos; Kim, Irene F; Soboleva, Alexandra; Tomashevsky, Maxim; Marshall, Kimberly A; Phillippy, Katherine H; Sherman, Patti M; Muertter, Rolf N; Edgar, Ron

    2009-01-01

    The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is the largest public repository for high-throughput gene expression data. Additionally, GEO hosts other categories of high-throughput functional genomic data, including those that examine genome copy number variations, chromatin structure, methylation status and transcription factor binding. These data are generated by the research community using high-throughput technologies like microarrays and, more recently, next-generation sequencing. The database has a flexible infrastructure that can capture fully annotated raw and processed data, enabling compliance with major community-derived scientific reporting standards such as 'Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment' (MIAME). In addition to serving as a centralized data storage hub, GEO offers many tools and features that allow users to effectively explore, analyze and download expression data from both gene-centric and experiment-centric perspectives. This article summarizes the GEO repository structure, content and operating procedures, as well as recently introduced data mining features. GEO is freely accessible at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/.

  13. High-throughput screening based on label-free detection of small molecule microarrays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Chenggang; Fei, Yiyan; Zhu, Xiangdong

    2017-02-01

    Based on small-molecule microarrays (SMMs) and oblique-incidence reflectivity difference (OI-RD) scanner, we have developed a novel high-throughput drug preliminary screening platform based on label-free monitoring of direct interactions between target proteins and immobilized small molecules. The screening platform is especially attractive for screening compounds against targets of unknown function and/or structure that are not compatible with functional assay development. In this screening platform, OI-RD scanner serves as a label-free detection instrument which is able to monitor about 15,000 biomolecular interactions in a single experiment without the need to label any biomolecule. Besides, SMMs serves as a novel format for high-throughput screening by immobilization of tens of thousands of different compounds on a single phenyl-isocyanate functionalized glass slide. Based on the high-throughput screening platform, we sequentially screened five target proteins (purified target proteins or cell lysate containing target protein) in high-throughput and label-free mode. We found hits for respective target protein and the inhibition effects for some hits were confirmed by following functional assays. Compared to traditional high-throughput screening assay, the novel high-throughput screening platform has many advantages, including minimal sample consumption, minimal distortion of interactions through label-free detection, multi-target screening analysis, which has a great potential to be a complementary screening platform in the field of drug discovery.

  14. High-Throughput Quantification of SH2 Domain-Phosphopeptide Interactions with Cellulose-Peptide Conjugate Microarrays.

    PubMed

    Engelmann, Brett W

    2017-01-01

    The Src Homology 2 (SH2) domain family primarily recognizes phosphorylated tyrosine (pY) containing peptide motifs. The relative affinity preferences among competing SH2 domains for phosphopeptide ligands define "specificity space," and underpins many functional pY mediated interactions within signaling networks. The degree of promiscuity exhibited and the dynamic range of affinities supported by individual domains or phosphopeptides is best resolved by a carefully executed and controlled quantitative high-throughput experiment. Here, I describe the fabrication and application of a cellulose-peptide conjugate microarray (CPCMA) platform to the quantitative analysis of SH2 domain specificity space. Included herein are instructions for optimal experimental design with special attention paid to common sources of systematic error, phosphopeptide SPOT synthesis, microarray fabrication, analyte titrations, data capture, and analysis.

  15. The Development of Protein Microarrays and Their Applications in DNA-Protein and Protein-Protein Interaction Analyses of Arabidopsis Transcription Factors

    PubMed Central

    Gong, Wei; He, Kun; Covington, Mike; Dinesh-Kumar, S. P.; Snyder, Michael; Harmer, Stacey L.; Zhu, Yu-Xian; Deng, Xing Wang

    2009-01-01

    We used our collection of Arabidopsis transcription factor (TF) ORFeome clones to construct protein microarrays containing as many as 802 TF proteins. These protein microarrays were used for both protein-DNA and protein-protein interaction analyses. For protein-DNA interaction studies, we examined AP2/ERF family TFs and their cognate cis-elements. By careful comparison of the DNA-binding specificity of 13 TFs on the protein microarray with previous non-microarray data, we showed that protein microarrays provide an efficient and high throughput tool for genome-wide analysis of TF-DNA interactions. This microarray protein-DNA interaction analysis allowed us to derive a comprehensive view of DNA-binding profiles of AP2/ERF family proteins in Arabidopsis. It also revealed four TFs that bound the EE (evening element) and had the expected phased gene expression under clock-regulation, thus providing a basis for further functional analysis of their roles in clock regulation of gene expression. We also developed procedures for detecting protein interactions using this TF protein microarray and discovered four novel partners that interact with HY5, which can be validated by yeast two-hybrid assays. Thus, plant TF protein microarrays offer an attractive high-throughput alternative to traditional techniques for TF functional characterization on a global scale. PMID:19802365

  16. Ontology-based meta-analysis of global collections of high-throughput public data.

    PubMed

    Kupershmidt, Ilya; Su, Qiaojuan Jane; Grewal, Anoop; Sundaresh, Suman; Halperin, Inbal; Flynn, James; Shekar, Mamatha; Wang, Helen; Park, Jenny; Cui, Wenwu; Wall, Gregory D; Wisotzkey, Robert; Alag, Satnam; Akhtari, Saeid; Ronaghi, Mostafa

    2010-09-29

    The investigation of the interconnections between the molecular and genetic events that govern biological systems is essential if we are to understand the development of disease and design effective novel treatments. Microarray and next-generation sequencing technologies have the potential to provide this information. However, taking full advantage of these approaches requires that biological connections be made across large quantities of highly heterogeneous genomic datasets. Leveraging the increasingly huge quantities of genomic data in the public domain is fast becoming one of the key challenges in the research community today. We have developed a novel data mining framework that enables researchers to use this growing collection of public high-throughput data to investigate any set of genes or proteins. The connectivity between molecular states across thousands of heterogeneous datasets from microarrays and other genomic platforms is determined through a combination of rank-based enrichment statistics, meta-analyses, and biomedical ontologies. We address data quality concerns through dataset replication and meta-analysis and ensure that the majority of the findings are derived using multiple lines of evidence. As an example of our strategy and the utility of this framework, we apply our data mining approach to explore the biology of brown fat within the context of the thousands of publicly available gene expression datasets. Our work presents a practical strategy for organizing, mining, and correlating global collections of large-scale genomic data to explore normal and disease biology. Using a hypothesis-free approach, we demonstrate how a data-driven analysis across very large collections of genomic data can reveal novel discoveries and evidence to support existing hypothesis.

  17. Rapid Spoligotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Bacteria by Use of a Microarray System with Automatic Data Processing and Assignment

    PubMed Central

    Ruettger, Anke; Nieter, Johanna; Skrypnyk, Artem; Engelmann, Ines; Ziegler, Albrecht; Moser, Irmgard; Monecke, Stefan; Ehricht, Ralf

    2012-01-01

    Membrane-based spoligotyping has been converted to DNA microarray format to qualify it for high-throughput testing. We have shown the assay's validity and suitability for direct typing from tissue and detecting new spoligotypes. Advantages of the microarray methodology include rapidity, ease of operation, automatic data processing, and affordability. PMID:22553239

  18. Rapid spoligotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex bacteria by use of a microarray system with automatic data processing and assignment.

    PubMed

    Ruettger, Anke; Nieter, Johanna; Skrypnyk, Artem; Engelmann, Ines; Ziegler, Albrecht; Moser, Irmgard; Monecke, Stefan; Ehricht, Ralf; Sachse, Konrad

    2012-07-01

    Membrane-based spoligotyping has been converted to DNA microarray format to qualify it for high-throughput testing. We have shown the assay's validity and suitability for direct typing from tissue and detecting new spoligotypes. Advantages of the microarray methodology include rapidity, ease of operation, automatic data processing, and affordability.

  19. Bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed gene profiles associated with systemic lupus erythematosus

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Chengjiang; Zhao, Yangjing; Lin, Yu; Yang, Xinxin; Yan, Meina; Min, Yujiao; Pan, Zihui; Xia, Sheng; Shao, Qixiang

    2018-01-01

    DNA microarray and high-throughput sequencing have been widely used to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the big data from gene microarrays are also challenging to work with in terms of analysis and processing. The presents study combined data from the microarray expression profile (GSE65391) and bioinformatics analysis to identify the key genes and cellular pathways in SLE. Gene ontology (GO) and cellular pathway enrichment analyses of DEGs were performed to investigate significantly enriched pathways. A protein-protein interaction network was constructed to determine the key genes in the occurrence and development of SLE. A total of 310 DEGs were identified in SLE, including 193 upregulated genes and 117 downregulated genes. GO analysis revealed that the most significant biological process of DEGs was immune system process. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathway analysis showed that these DEGs were enriched in signaling pathways associated with the immune system, including the RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, intestinal immune network for IgA production, antigen processing and presentation and the toll-like receptor signaling pathway. The current study screened the top 10 genes with higher degrees as hub genes, which included 2′-5′-oligoadenylate synthetase 1, MX dynamin like GTPase 2, interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1, interferon regulatory factor 7, interferon induced with helicase C domain 1, signal transducer and activator of transcription 1, ISG15 ubiquitin-like modifier, DExD/H-box helicase 58, interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3 and 2′-5′-oligoadenylate synthetase 2. Module analysis revealed that these hub genes were also involved in the RIG-I-like receptor signaling, cytosolic DNA-sensing, toll-like receptor signaling and ribosome biogenesis pathways. In addition, these hub genes, from different probe sets, exhibited significant co-expressed tendency in multi-experiment microarray datasets (P<0.01). In conclusion, these key genes and cellular pathways may improve the current understanding of the underlying mechanism of development of SLE. These key genes may be potential biomarkers of diagnosis, therapy and prognosis for SLE. PMID:29257335

  20. Microtiter plate-based antibody microarrays for bacteria and toxins

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Research has focused on the development of rapid biosensor-based, high-throughput, and multiplexed detection of pathogenic bacteria in foods. Specifically, antibody microarrays in 96-well microtiter plates have been generated for the purpose of selective detection of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (...

  1. Novel genetic tools for studying food-borne Salmonella.

    PubMed

    Andrews-Polymenis, Helene L; Santiviago, Carlos A; McClelland, Michael

    2009-04-01

    Nontyphoidal Salmonellae are highly prevalent food-borne pathogens. High-throughput sequencing of Salmonella genomes is expanding our knowledge of the evolution of serovars and epidemic isolates. Genome sequences have also allowed the creation of complete microarrays. Microarrays have improved the throughput of in vivo expression technology (IVET) used to uncover promoters active during infection. In another method, signature tagged mutagenesis (STM), pools of mutants are subjected to selection. Changes in the population are monitored on a microarray, revealing genes under selection. Complete genome sequences permit the construction of pools of targeted in-frame deletions that have improved STM by minimizing the number of clones and the polarity of each mutant. Together, genome sequences and the continuing development of new tools for functional genomics will drive a revolution in the understanding of Salmonellae in many different niches that are critical for food safety.

  2. Evaluation of high throughput gene expression platforms using a genomic biomarker signature for prediction of skin sensitization.

    PubMed

    Forreryd, Andy; Johansson, Henrik; Albrekt, Ann-Sofie; Lindstedt, Malin

    2014-05-16

    Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) develops upon exposure to certain chemical compounds termed skin sensitizers. To reduce the occurrence of skin sensitizers, chemicals are regularly screened for their capacity to induce sensitization. The recently developed Genomic Allergen Rapid Detection (GARD) assay is an in vitro alternative to animal testing for identification of skin sensitizers, classifying chemicals by evaluating transcriptional levels of a genomic biomarker signature. During assay development and biomarker identification, genome-wide expression analysis was applied using microarrays covering approximately 30,000 transcripts. However, the microarray platform suffers from drawbacks in terms of low sample throughput, high cost per sample and time consuming protocols and is a limiting factor for adaption of GARD into a routine assay for screening of potential sensitizers. With the purpose to simplify assay procedures, improve technical parameters and increase sample throughput, we assessed the performance of three high throughput gene expression platforms--nCounter®, BioMark HD™ and OpenArray®--and correlated their performance metrics against our previously generated microarray data. We measured the levels of 30 transcripts from the GARD biomarker signature across 48 samples. Detection sensitivity, reproducibility, correlations and overall structure of gene expression measurements were compared across platforms. Gene expression data from all of the evaluated platforms could be used to classify most of the sensitizers from non-sensitizers in the GARD assay. Results also showed high data quality and acceptable reproducibility for all platforms but only medium to poor correlations of expression measurements across platforms. In addition, evaluated platforms were superior to the microarray platform in terms of cost efficiency, simplicity of protocols and sample throughput. We evaluated the performance of three non-array based platforms using a limited set of transcripts from the GARD biomarker signature. We demonstrated that it was possible to achieve acceptable discriminatory power in terms of separation between sensitizers and non-sensitizers in the GARD assay while reducing assay costs, simplify assay procedures and increase sample throughput by using an alternative platform, providing a first step towards the goal to prepare GARD for formal validation and adaption of the assay for industrial screening of potential sensitizers.

  3. Resequencing of the common marmoset genome improves genome assemblies and gene-coding sequence analysis.

    PubMed

    Sato, Kengo; Kuroki, Yoko; Kumita, Wakako; Fujiyama, Asao; Toyoda, Atsushi; Kawai, Jun; Iriki, Atsushi; Sasaki, Erika; Okano, Hideyuki; Sakakibara, Yasubumi

    2015-11-20

    The first draft of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) genome was published by the Marmoset Genome Sequencing and Analysis Consortium. The draft was based on whole-genome shotgun sequencing, and the current assembly version is Callithrix_jacches-3.2.1, but there still exist 187,214 undetermined gap regions and supercontigs and relatively short contigs that are unmapped to chromosomes in the draft genome. We performed resequencing and assembly of the genome of common marmoset by deep sequencing with high-throughput sequencing technology. Several different sequence runs using Illumina sequencing platforms were executed, and 181 Gbp of high-quality bases including mate-pairs with long insert lengths of 3, 8, 20, and 40 Kbp were obtained, that is, approximately 60× coverage. The resequencing significantly improved the MGSAC draft genome sequence. The N50 of the contigs, which is a statistical measure used to evaluate assembly quality, doubled. As a result, 51% of the contigs (total length: 299 Mbp) that were unmapped to chromosomes in the MGSAC draft were merged with chromosomal contigs, and the improved genome sequence helped to detect 5,288 new genes that are homologous to human cDNAs and the gaps in 5,187 transcripts of the Ensembl gene annotations were completely filled.

  4. A High Throughput Protein Microarray Approach to Classify HIV Monoclonal Antibodies and Variant Antigens

    PubMed Central

    Dotsey, Emmanuel Y.; Gorlani, Andrea; Ingale, Sampat; Achenbach, Chad J.; Forthal, Donald N.; Felgner, Philip L.; Gach, Johannes S.

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, high throughput discovery of human recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has been applied to greatly advance our understanding of the specificity, and functional activity of antibodies against HIV. Thousands of antibodies have been generated and screened in functional neutralization assays, and antibodies associated with cross-strain neutralization and passive protection in primates, have been identified. To facilitate this type of discovery, a high throughput-screening tool is needed to accurately classify mAbs, and their antigen targets. In this study, we analyzed and evaluated a prototype microarray chip comprised of the HIV-1 recombinant proteins gp140, gp120, gp41, and several membrane proximal external region peptides. The protein microarray analysis of 11 HIV-1 envelope-specific mAbs revealed diverse binding affinities and specificities across clades. Half maximal effective concentrations, generated by our chip analysis, correlated significantly (P<0.0001) with concentrations from ELISA binding measurements. Polyclonal immune responses in plasma samples from HIV-1 infected subjects exhibited different binding patterns, and reactivity against printed proteins. Examining the totality of the specificity of the humoral response in this way reveals the exquisite diversity, and specificity of the humoral response to HIV. PMID:25938510

  5. Sandwich ELISA Microarrays: Generating Reliable and Reproducible Assays for High-Throughput Screens

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gonzalez, Rachel M.; Varnum, Susan M.; Zangar, Richard C.

    The sandwich ELISA microarray is a powerful screening tool in biomarker discovery and validation due to its ability to simultaneously probe for multiple proteins in a miniaturized assay. The technical challenges of generating and processing the arrays are numerous. However, careful attention to possible pitfalls in the development of your antibody microarray assay can overcome these challenges. In this chapter, we describe in detail the steps that are involved in generating a reliable and reproducible sandwich ELISA microarray assay.

  6. Evaluation of Quality Assessment Protocols for High Throughput Genome Resequencing Data

    PubMed Central

    Chiara, Matteo; Pavesi, Giulio

    2017-01-01

    Large-scale initiatives aiming to recover the complete sequence of thousands of human genomes are currently being undertaken worldwide, concurring to the generation of a comprehensive catalog of human genetic variation. The ultimate and most ambitious goal of human population scale genomics is the characterization of the so-called human “variome,” through the identification of causal mutations or haplotypes. Several research institutions worldwide currently use genotyping assays based on Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) for diagnostics and clinical screenings, and the widespread application of such technologies promises major revolutions in medical science. Bioinformatic analysis of human resequencing data is one of the main factors limiting the effectiveness and general applicability of NGS for clinical studies. The requirement for multiple tools, to be combined in dedicated protocols in order to accommodate different types of data (gene panels, exomes, or whole genomes) and the high variability of the data makes difficult the establishment of a ultimate strategy of general use. While there already exist several studies comparing sensitivity and accuracy of bioinformatic pipelines for the identification of single nucleotide variants from resequencing data, little is known about the impact of quality assessment and reads pre-processing strategies. In this work we discuss major strengths and limitations of the various genome resequencing protocols are currently used in molecular diagnostics and for the discovery of novel disease-causing mutations. By taking advantage of publicly available data we devise and suggest a series of best practices for the pre-processing of the data that consistently improve the outcome of genotyping with minimal impacts on computational costs. PMID:28736571

  7. An Evaluation of Different Target Enrichment Methods in Pooled Sequencing Designs for Complex Disease Association Studies

    PubMed Central

    Day-Williams, Aaron G.; McLay, Kirsten; Drury, Eleanor; Edkins, Sarah; Coffey, Alison J.; Palotie, Aarno; Zeggini, Eleftheria

    2011-01-01

    Pooled sequencing can be a cost-effective approach to disease variant discovery, but its applicability in association studies remains unclear. We compare sequence enrichment methods coupled to next-generation sequencing in non-indexed pools of 1, 2, 10, 20 and 50 individuals and assess their ability to discover variants and to estimate their allele frequencies. We find that pooled resequencing is most usefully applied as a variant discovery tool due to limitations in estimating allele frequency with high enough accuracy for association studies, and that in-solution hybrid-capture performs best among the enrichment methods examined regardless of pool size. PMID:22069447

  8. High-throughput identification of proteins with AMPylation using self-assembled human protein (NAPPA) microarrays.

    PubMed

    Yu, Xiaobo; LaBaer, Joshua

    2015-05-01

    AMPylation (adenylylation) has been recognized as an important post-translational modification that is used by pathogens to regulate host cellular proteins and their associated signaling pathways. AMPylation has potential functions in various cellular processes, and it is widely conserved across both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, despite the identification of many AMPylators, relatively few candidate substrates of AMPylation are known. This is changing with the recent development of a robust and reliable method for identifying new substrates using protein microarrays, which can markedly expand the list of potential substrates. Here we describe procedures for detecting AMPylated and auto-AMPylated proteins in a sensitive, high-throughput and nonradioactive manner. The approach uses high-density protein microarrays fabricated using nucleic acid programmable protein array (NAPPA) technology, which enables the highly successful display of fresh recombinant human proteins in situ. The modification of target proteins is determined via copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). The assay can be accomplished within 11 h.

  9. High-Throughput Sequencing, a Versatile Weapon to Support Genome-Based Diagnosis in Infectious Diseases: Applications to Clinical Bacteriology

    PubMed Central

    Caboche, Ségolène; Audebert, Christophe; Hot, David

    2014-01-01

    The recent progresses of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies enable easy and cost-reduced access to whole genome sequencing (WGS) or re-sequencing. HTS associated with adapted, automatic and fast bioinformatics solutions for sequencing applications promises an accurate and timely identification and characterization of pathogenic agents. Many studies have demonstrated that data obtained from HTS analysis have allowed genome-based diagnosis, which has been consistent with phenotypic observations. These proofs of concept are probably the first steps toward the future of clinical microbiology. From concept to routine use, many parameters need to be considered to promote HTS as a powerful tool to help physicians and clinicians in microbiological investigations. This review highlights the milestones to be completed toward this purpose. PMID:25437800

  10. Microengineering methods for cell-based microarrays and high-throughput drug-screening applications.

    PubMed

    Xu, Feng; Wu, JinHui; Wang, ShuQi; Durmus, Naside Gozde; Gurkan, Umut Atakan; Demirci, Utkan

    2011-09-01

    Screening for effective therapeutic agents from millions of drug candidates is costly, time consuming, and often faces concerns due to the extensive use of animals. To improve cost effectiveness, and to minimize animal testing in pharmaceutical research, in vitro monolayer cell microarrays with multiwell plate assays have been developed. Integration of cell microarrays with microfluidic systems has facilitated automated and controlled component loading, significantly reducing the consumption of the candidate compounds and the target cells. Even though these methods significantly increased the throughput compared to conventional in vitro testing systems and in vivo animal models, the cost associated with these platforms remains prohibitively high. Besides, there is a need for three-dimensional (3D) cell-based drug-screening models which can mimic the in vivo microenvironment and the functionality of the native tissues. Here, we present the state-of-the-art microengineering approaches that can be used to develop 3D cell-based drug-screening assays. We highlight the 3D in vitro cell culture systems with live cell-based arrays, microfluidic cell culture systems, and their application to high-throughput drug screening. We conclude that among the emerging microengineering approaches, bioprinting holds great potential to provide repeatable 3D cell-based constructs with high temporal, spatial control and versatility.

  11. Semantically enabled and statistically supported biological hypothesis testing with tissue microarray databases

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Although many biological databases are applying semantic web technologies, meaningful biological hypothesis testing cannot be easily achieved. Database-driven high throughput genomic hypothesis testing requires both of the capabilities of obtaining semantically relevant experimental data and of performing relevant statistical testing for the retrieved data. Tissue Microarray (TMA) data are semantically rich and contains many biologically important hypotheses waiting for high throughput conclusions. Methods An application-specific ontology was developed for managing TMA and DNA microarray databases by semantic web technologies. Data were represented as Resource Description Framework (RDF) according to the framework of the ontology. Applications for hypothesis testing (Xperanto-RDF) for TMA data were designed and implemented by (1) formulating the syntactic and semantic structures of the hypotheses derived from TMA experiments, (2) formulating SPARQLs to reflect the semantic structures of the hypotheses, and (3) performing statistical test with the result sets returned by the SPARQLs. Results When a user designs a hypothesis in Xperanto-RDF and submits it, the hypothesis can be tested against TMA experimental data stored in Xperanto-RDF. When we evaluated four previously validated hypotheses as an illustration, all the hypotheses were supported by Xperanto-RDF. Conclusions We demonstrated the utility of high throughput biological hypothesis testing. We believe that preliminary investigation before performing highly controlled experiment can be benefited. PMID:21342584

  12. Microengineering Methods for Cell Based Microarrays and High-Throughput Drug Screening Applications

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Feng; Wu, JinHui; Wang, ShuQi; Durmus, Naside Gozde; Gurkan, Umut Atakan; Demirci, Utkan

    2011-01-01

    Screening for effective therapeutic agents from millions of drug candidates is costly, time-consuming and often face ethical concerns due to extensive use of animals. To improve cost-effectiveness, and to minimize animal testing in pharmaceutical research, in vitro monolayer cell microarrays with multiwell plate assays have been developed. Integration of cell microarrays with microfluidic systems have facilitated automated and controlled component loading, significantly reducing the consumption of the candidate compounds and the target cells. Even though these methods significantly increased the throughput compared to conventional in vitro testing systems and in vivo animal models, the cost associated with these platforms remains prohibitively high. Besides, there is a need for three-dimensional (3D) cell based drug-screening models, which can mimic the in vivo microenvironment and the functionality of the native tissues. Here, we present the state-of-the-art microengineering approaches that can be used to develop 3D cell based drug screening assays. We highlight the 3D in vitro cell culture systems with live cell-based arrays, microfluidic cell culture systems, and their application to high-throughput drug screening. We conclude that among the emerging microengineering approaches, bioprinting holds a great potential to provide repeatable 3D cell based constructs with high temporal, spatial control and versatility. PMID:21725152

  13. Analysis of dust samples from the Middle East using high-density resequencing micro-array RPM-TEI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leski, T. A.; Gregory, M. J.; Malanoski, A. P.; Smith, J. P.; Glaven, R. H.; Wang, Z.; Stenger, D. A.; Lin, B.

    2010-04-01

    A previously developed resequencing microarray, "Tropical and Emerging Infections (RPM-TEI v.1.0 chip)", designed to identify and discriminate between tropical diseases and other potential biothreat agents, their near-neighbor species, and/or potential confounders, was used to characterize the microbes present in the silt/clay fraction of surface soils and airborne dust collected from the Middle East. Local populations and U.S. military personnel deployed to the Middle East are regularly subjected to high levels of airborne desert dust containing a significant fraction of inhalable particles and some portion require clinical aid. Not all of the clinical symptoms can be directly attributed to the physical action of material in the human respiratory tract. To better understand the potential health effects of the airborne dust, the composition of the microbial communities associated with surface soil and/or airborne dust (air filter) samples from 19 different sites in Iraq and Kuwait was identified using RPM-TEI v.1.0. Results indicated that several microorganisms including a class of rapidly growing Mycobacterium, Bacillus, Brucella, Clostridium and Coxiella burnetti, were present in the samples. The presence of these organisms in the surface soils and the inhalable fraction of airborne dust analyzed may pose a human health risk and warrants further investigation. Better understanding of the factors influencing the composition of these microbial communities is important to address questions related to human health and is critical to achieving Force Health Protection for the Warfighter operating in the Middle East, Afghanistan, North Africa and other arid regions.

  14. Chipster: user-friendly analysis software for microarray and other high-throughput data.

    PubMed

    Kallio, M Aleksi; Tuimala, Jarno T; Hupponen, Taavi; Klemelä, Petri; Gentile, Massimiliano; Scheinin, Ilari; Koski, Mikko; Käki, Janne; Korpelainen, Eija I

    2011-10-14

    The growth of high-throughput technologies such as microarrays and next generation sequencing has been accompanied by active research in data analysis methodology, producing new analysis methods at a rapid pace. While most of the newly developed methods are freely available, their use requires substantial computational skills. In order to enable non-programming biologists to benefit from the method development in a timely manner, we have created the Chipster software. Chipster (http://chipster.csc.fi/) brings a powerful collection of data analysis methods within the reach of bioscientists via its intuitive graphical user interface. Users can analyze and integrate different data types such as gene expression, miRNA and aCGH. The analysis functionality is complemented with rich interactive visualizations, allowing users to select datapoints and create new gene lists based on these selections. Importantly, users can save the performed analysis steps as reusable, automatic workflows, which can also be shared with other users. Being a versatile and easily extendable platform, Chipster can be used for microarray, proteomics and sequencing data. In this article we describe its comprehensive collection of analysis and visualization tools for microarray data using three case studies. Chipster is a user-friendly analysis software for high-throughput data. Its intuitive graphical user interface enables biologists to access a powerful collection of data analysis and integration tools, and to visualize data interactively. Users can collaborate by sharing analysis sessions and workflows. Chipster is open source, and the server installation package is freely available.

  15. Chipster: user-friendly analysis software for microarray and other high-throughput data

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background The growth of high-throughput technologies such as microarrays and next generation sequencing has been accompanied by active research in data analysis methodology, producing new analysis methods at a rapid pace. While most of the newly developed methods are freely available, their use requires substantial computational skills. In order to enable non-programming biologists to benefit from the method development in a timely manner, we have created the Chipster software. Results Chipster (http://chipster.csc.fi/) brings a powerful collection of data analysis methods within the reach of bioscientists via its intuitive graphical user interface. Users can analyze and integrate different data types such as gene expression, miRNA and aCGH. The analysis functionality is complemented with rich interactive visualizations, allowing users to select datapoints and create new gene lists based on these selections. Importantly, users can save the performed analysis steps as reusable, automatic workflows, which can also be shared with other users. Being a versatile and easily extendable platform, Chipster can be used for microarray, proteomics and sequencing data. In this article we describe its comprehensive collection of analysis and visualization tools for microarray data using three case studies. Conclusions Chipster is a user-friendly analysis software for high-throughput data. Its intuitive graphical user interface enables biologists to access a powerful collection of data analysis and integration tools, and to visualize data interactively. Users can collaborate by sharing analysis sessions and workflows. Chipster is open source, and the server installation package is freely available. PMID:21999641

  16. Towards High-throughput Immunomics for Infectious Diseases: Use of Next-generation Peptide Microarrays for Rapid Discovery and Mapping of Antigenic Determinants*

    PubMed Central

    Carmona, Santiago J.; Nielsen, Morten; Schafer-Nielsen, Claus; Mucci, Juan; Altcheh, Jaime; Balouz, Virginia; Tekiel, Valeria; Frasch, Alberto C.; Campetella, Oscar; Buscaglia, Carlos A.; Agüero, Fernán

    2015-01-01

    Complete characterization of antibody specificities associated to natural infections is expected to provide a rich source of serologic biomarkers with potential applications in molecular diagnosis, follow-up of chemotherapeutic treatments, and prioritization of targets for vaccine development. Here, we developed a highly-multiplexed platform based on next-generation high-density peptide microarrays to map these specificities in Chagas Disease, an exemplar of a human infectious disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. We designed a high-density peptide microarray containing more than 175,000 overlapping 15mer peptides derived from T. cruzi proteins. Peptides were synthesized in situ on microarray slides, spanning the complete length of 457 parasite proteins with fully overlapped 15mers (1 residue shift). Screening of these slides with antibodies purified from infected patients and healthy donors demonstrated both a high technical reproducibility as well as epitope mapping consistency when compared with earlier low-throughput technologies. Using a conservative signal threshold to classify positive (reactive) peptides we identified 2,031 disease-specific peptides and 97 novel parasite antigens, effectively doubling the number of known antigens and providing a 10-fold increase in the number of fine mapped antigenic determinants for this disease. Finally, further analysis of the chip data showed that optimizing the amount of sequence overlap of displayed peptides can increase the protein space covered in a single chip by at least ∼threefold without sacrificing sensitivity. In conclusion, we show the power of high-density peptide chips for the discovery of pathogen-specific linear B-cell epitopes from clinical samples, thus setting the stage for high-throughput biomarker discovery screenings and proteome-wide studies of immune responses against pathogens. PMID:25922409

  17. Towards High-throughput Immunomics for Infectious Diseases: Use of Next-generation Peptide Microarrays for Rapid Discovery and Mapping of Antigenic Determinants.

    PubMed

    Carmona, Santiago J; Nielsen, Morten; Schafer-Nielsen, Claus; Mucci, Juan; Altcheh, Jaime; Balouz, Virginia; Tekiel, Valeria; Frasch, Alberto C; Campetella, Oscar; Buscaglia, Carlos A; Agüero, Fernán

    2015-07-01

    Complete characterization of antibody specificities associated to natural infections is expected to provide a rich source of serologic biomarkers with potential applications in molecular diagnosis, follow-up of chemotherapeutic treatments, and prioritization of targets for vaccine development. Here, we developed a highly-multiplexed platform based on next-generation high-density peptide microarrays to map these specificities in Chagas Disease, an exemplar of a human infectious disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. We designed a high-density peptide microarray containing more than 175,000 overlapping 15 mer peptides derived from T. cruzi proteins. Peptides were synthesized in situ on microarray slides, spanning the complete length of 457 parasite proteins with fully overlapped 15 mers (1 residue shift). Screening of these slides with antibodies purified from infected patients and healthy donors demonstrated both a high technical reproducibility as well as epitope mapping consistency when compared with earlier low-throughput technologies. Using a conservative signal threshold to classify positive (reactive) peptides we identified 2,031 disease-specific peptides and 97 novel parasite antigens, effectively doubling the number of known antigens and providing a 10-fold increase in the number of fine mapped antigenic determinants for this disease. Finally, further analysis of the chip data showed that optimizing the amount of sequence overlap of displayed peptides can increase the protein space covered in a single chip by at least ∼ threefold without sacrificing sensitivity. In conclusion, we show the power of high-density peptide chips for the discovery of pathogen-specific linear B-cell epitopes from clinical samples, thus setting the stage for high-throughput biomarker discovery screenings and proteome-wide studies of immune responses against pathogens. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  18. Universal Detection and Identification of Avian Influenza Virus by Use of Resequencing Microarrays

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-04-01

    For the RT step, primer LN was replaced by primer NLN (a random 9-mer with a linker se- quence). One picogram each of two internal controls (NAC1...samples (data not shown). These data indicated that most of the avian H5N1 samples identified were presumably sensitive to neuraminidase inhibitors

  19. Building gene co-expression networks using transcriptomics data for systems biology investigations: Comparison of methods using microarray data

    PubMed Central

    Kadarmideen, Haja N; Watson-haigh, Nathan S

    2012-01-01

    Gene co-expression networks (GCN), built using high-throughput gene expression data are fundamental aspects of systems biology. The main aims of this study were to compare two popular approaches to building and analysing GCN. We use real ovine microarray transcriptomics datasets representing four different treatments with Metyrapone, an inhibitor of cortisol biosynthesis. We conducted several microarray quality control checks before applying GCN methods to filtered datasets. Then we compared the outputs of two methods using connectivity as a criterion, as it measures how well a node (gene) is connected within a network. The two GCN construction methods used were, Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) and Partial Correlation and Information Theory (PCIT) methods. Nodes were ranked based on their connectivity measures in each of the four different networks created by WGCNA and PCIT and node ranks in two methods were compared to identify those nodes which are highly differentially ranked (HDR). A total of 1,017 HDR nodes were identified across one or more of four networks. We investigated HDR nodes by gene enrichment analyses in relation to their biological relevance to phenotypes. We observed that, in contrast to WGCNA method, PCIT algorithm removes many of the edges of the most highly interconnected nodes. Removal of edges of most highly connected nodes or hub genes will have consequences for downstream analyses and biological interpretations. In general, for large GCN construction (with > 20000 genes) access to large computer clusters, particularly those with larger amounts of shared memory is recommended. PMID:23144540

  20. MMP21 is mutated in human heterotaxy and is required for normal left-right asymmetry in vertebrates.

    PubMed

    Guimier, Anne; Gabriel, George C; Bajolle, Fanny; Tsang, Michael; Liu, Hui; Noll, Aaron; Schwartz, Molly; El Malti, Rajae; Smith, Laurie D; Klena, Nikolai T; Jimenez, Gina; Miller, Neil A; Oufadem, Myriam; Moreau de Bellaing, Anne; Yagi, Hisato; Saunders, Carol J; Baker, Candice N; Di Filippo, Sylvie; Peterson, Kevin A; Thiffault, Isabelle; Bole-Feysot, Christine; Cooley, Linda D; Farrow, Emily G; Masson, Cécile; Schoen, Patric; Deleuze, Jean-François; Nitschké, Patrick; Lyonnet, Stanislas; de Pontual, Loic; Murray, Stephen A; Bonnet, Damien; Kingsmore, Stephen F; Amiel, Jeanne; Bouvagnet, Patrice; Lo, Cecilia W; Gordon, Christopher T

    2015-11-01

    Heterotaxy results from a failure to establish normal left-right asymmetry early in embryonic development. By whole-exome sequencing, whole-genome sequencing and high-throughput cohort resequencing, we identified recessive mutations in MMP21 (encoding matrix metallopeptidase 21) in nine index cases with heterotaxy. In addition, Mmp21-mutant mice and mmp21-morphant zebrafish displayed heterotaxy and abnormal cardiac looping, respectively, suggesting a new role for extracellular matrix remodeling in the establishment of laterality in vertebrates.

  1. MMP21 is mutated in human heterotaxy and is required for normal left-right asymmetry in vertebrates

    PubMed Central

    Guimier, Anne; Gabriel, George C.; Bajolle, Fanny; Tsang, Michael; Liu, Hui; Noll, Aaron; Schwartz, Molly; El Malti, Rajae; Smith, Laurie D.; Klena, Nikolai T.; Jimenez, Gina; Miller, Neil A.; Oufadem, Myriam; Moreau de Bellaing, Anne; Yagi, Hisato; Saunders, Carol J.; Baker, Candice N.; Di Filippo, Sylvie; Peterson, Kevin A.; Thiffault, Isabelle; Bole-Feysot, Christine; Cooley, Linda D.; Farrow, Emily G.; Masson, Cécile; Schoen, Patric; Deleuze, Jean-François; Nitschké, Patrick; Lyonnet, Stanislas; de Pontual, Loic; Murray, Stephen A.; Bonnet, Damien; Kingsmore, Stephen F.; Amiel, Jeanne; Bouvagnet, Patrice; Lo, Cecilia W.; Gordon, Christopher T.

    2017-01-01

    Heterotaxy results from a failure to establish normal left-right asymmetry early in embryonic development. By whole exome sequencing, whole genome sequencing and high-throughput cohort resequencing we identified recessive mutations in matrix metallopeptidase 21 (MMP21), in nine index cases with heterotaxy. In addition, Mmp21 mutant mice and morphant zebrafish display heterotaxy and abnormal cardiac looping, respectively, suggesting a novel role for extra-cellular remodeling in the establishment of laterality in vertebrates. PMID:26437028

  2. Evaluating reproducibility of differential expression discoveries in microarray studies by considering correlated molecular changes.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Min; Zhang, Lin; Zou, Jinfeng; Yao, Chen; Xiao, Hui; Liu, Qing; Wang, Jing; Wang, Dong; Wang, Chenguang; Guo, Zheng

    2009-07-01

    According to current consistency metrics such as percentage of overlapping genes (POG), lists of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) detected from different microarray studies for a complex disease are often highly inconsistent. This irreproducibility problem also exists in other high-throughput post-genomic areas such as proteomics and metabolism. A complex disease is often characterized with many coordinated molecular changes, which should be considered when evaluating the reproducibility of discovery lists from different studies. We proposed metrics percentage of overlapping genes-related (POGR) and normalized POGR (nPOGR) to evaluate the consistency between two DEG lists for a complex disease, considering correlated molecular changes rather than only counting gene overlaps between the lists. Based on microarray datasets of three diseases, we showed that though the POG scores for DEG lists from different studies for each disease are extremely low, the POGR and nPOGR scores can be rather high, suggesting that the apparently inconsistent DEG lists may be highly reproducible in the sense that they are actually significantly correlated. Observing different discovery results for a disease by the POGR and nPOGR scores will obviously reduce the uncertainty of the microarray studies. The proposed metrics could also be applicable in many other high-throughput post-genomic areas.

  3. Near-isogenic cotton germplasm lines that differ in fiber-bundle strength have temporal differences in fiber gene expression patterns as revealed by comparative high-throughput profiling.

    PubMed

    Hinchliffe, Doug J; Meredith, William R; Yeater, Kathleen M; Kim, Hee Jin; Woodward, Andrew W; Chen, Z Jeffrey; Triplett, Barbara A

    2010-05-01

    Gene expression profiles of developing cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fibers from two near-isogenic lines (NILs) that differ in fiber-bundle strength, short-fiber content, and in fewer than two genetic loci were compared using an oligonucleotide microarray. Fiber gene expression was compared at five time points spanning fiber elongation and secondary cell wall (SCW) biosynthesis. Fiber samples were collected from field plots in a randomized, complete block design, with three spatially distinct biological replications for each NIL at each time point. Microarray hybridizations were performed in a loop experimental design that allowed comparisons of fiber gene expression profiles as a function of time between the two NILs. Overall, developmental expression patterns revealed by the microarray experiment agreed with previously reported cotton fiber gene expression patterns for specific genes. Additionally, genes expressed coordinately with the onset of SCW biosynthesis in cotton fiber correlated with gene expression patterns of other SCW-producing plant tissues. Functional classification and enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes between the two NILs revealed that genes associated with SCW biosynthesis were significantly up-regulated in fibers of the high-fiber quality line at the transition stage of cotton fiber development. For independent corroboration of the microarray results, 15 genes were selected for quantitative reverse transcription PCR analysis of fiber gene expression. These analyses, conducted over multiple field years, confirmed the temporal difference in fiber gene expression between the two NILs. We hypothesize that the loci conferring temporal differences in fiber gene expression between the NILs are important regulatory sequences that offer the potential for more targeted manipulation of cotton fiber quality.

  4. Novel Informatic Approaches to Analyze Gene Expression Data with the ToxCast 320 Chemical Library in Cultures of Primary Human Hepatocytes

    EPA Science Inventory

    Prevailing methodologies in the analysis of gene expression data often neglect to incorporate full concentration and time response due to limitations in throughput and sensitivity with traditional microarray approaches. We have developed a high throughput assay suite using primar...

  5. Prediction of gene expression in embryonic structures of Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Samsonova, Anastasia A; Niranjan, Mahesan; Russell, Steven; Brazma, Alvis

    2007-07-01

    Understanding how sets of genes are coordinately regulated in space and time to generate the diversity of cell types that characterise complex metazoans is a major challenge in modern biology. The use of high-throughput approaches, such as large-scale in situ hybridisation and genome-wide expression profiling via DNA microarrays, is beginning to provide insights into the complexities of development. However, in many organisms the collection and annotation of comprehensive in situ localisation data is a difficult and time-consuming task. Here, we present a widely applicable computational approach, integrating developmental time-course microarray data with annotated in situ hybridisation studies, that facilitates the de novo prediction of tissue-specific expression for genes that have no in vivo gene expression localisation data available. Using a classification approach, trained with data from microarray and in situ hybridisation studies of gene expression during Drosophila embryonic development, we made a set of predictions on the tissue-specific expression of Drosophila genes that have not been systematically characterised by in situ hybridisation experiments. The reliability of our predictions is confirmed by literature-derived annotations in FlyBase, by overrepresentation of Gene Ontology biological process annotations, and, in a selected set, by detailed gene-specific studies from the literature. Our novel organism-independent method will be of considerable utility in enriching the annotation of gene function and expression in complex multicellular organisms.

  6. Prediction of Gene Expression in Embryonic Structures of Drosophila melanogaster

    PubMed Central

    Samsonova, Anastasia A; Niranjan, Mahesan; Russell, Steven; Brazma, Alvis

    2007-01-01

    Understanding how sets of genes are coordinately regulated in space and time to generate the diversity of cell types that characterise complex metazoans is a major challenge in modern biology. The use of high-throughput approaches, such as large-scale in situ hybridisation and genome-wide expression profiling via DNA microarrays, is beginning to provide insights into the complexities of development. However, in many organisms the collection and annotation of comprehensive in situ localisation data is a difficult and time-consuming task. Here, we present a widely applicable computational approach, integrating developmental time-course microarray data with annotated in situ hybridisation studies, that facilitates the de novo prediction of tissue-specific expression for genes that have no in vivo gene expression localisation data available. Using a classification approach, trained with data from microarray and in situ hybridisation studies of gene expression during Drosophila embryonic development, we made a set of predictions on the tissue-specific expression of Drosophila genes that have not been systematically characterised by in situ hybridisation experiments. The reliability of our predictions is confirmed by literature-derived annotations in FlyBase, by overrepresentation of Gene Ontology biological process annotations, and, in a selected set, by detailed gene-specific studies from the literature. Our novel organism-independent method will be of considerable utility in enriching the annotation of gene function and expression in complex multicellular organisms. PMID:17658945

  7. Research progress of plant population genomics based on high-throughput sequencing.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yun-sheng

    2016-08-01

    Population genomics, a new paradigm for population genetics, combine the concepts and techniques of genomics with the theoretical system of population genetics and improve our understanding of microevolution through identification of site-specific effect and genome-wide effects using genome-wide polymorphic sites genotypeing. With the appearance and improvement of the next generation high-throughput sequencing technology, the numbers of plant species with complete genome sequences increased rapidly and large scale resequencing has also been carried out in recent years. Parallel sequencing has also been done in some plant species without complete genome sequences. These studies have greatly promoted the development of population genomics and deepened our understanding of the genetic diversity, level of linking disequilibium, selection effect, demographical history and molecular mechanism of complex traits of relevant plant population at a genomic level. In this review, I briely introduced the concept and research methods of population genomics and summarized the research progress of plant population genomics based on high-throughput sequencing. I also discussed the prospect as well as existing problems of plant population genomics in order to provide references for related studies.

  8. Whole-Genome Resequencing of Experimental Populations Reveals Polygenic Basis of Egg-Size Variation in Drosophila melanogaster

    PubMed Central

    Jha, Aashish R.; Miles, Cecelia M.; Lippert, Nodia R.; Brown, Christopher D.; White, Kevin P.; Kreitman, Martin

    2015-01-01

    Complete genome resequencing of populations holds great promise in deconstructing complex polygenic traits to elucidate molecular and developmental mechanisms of adaptation. Egg size is a classic adaptive trait in insects, birds, and other taxa, but its highly polygenic architecture has prevented high-resolution genetic analysis. We used replicated experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster and whole-genome sequencing to identify consistent signatures of polygenic egg-size adaptation. A generalized linear-mixed model revealed reproducible allele frequency differences between replicated experimental populations selected for large and small egg volumes at approximately 4,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Several hundred distinct genomic regions contain clusters of these SNPs and have lower heterozygosity than the genomic background, consistent with selection acting on polymorphisms in these regions. These SNPs are also enriched among genes expressed in Drosophila ovaries and many of these genes have well-defined functions in Drosophila oogenesis. Additional genes regulating egg development, growth, and cell size show evidence of directional selection as genes regulating these biological processes are enriched for highly differentiated SNPs. Genetic crosses performed with a subset of candidate genes demonstrated that these genes influence egg size, at least in the large genetic background. These findings confirm the highly polygenic architecture of this adaptive trait, and suggest the involvement of many novel candidate genes in regulating egg size. PMID:26044351

  9. DOSE RESPONSE FROM HIGH THROUGHPUT GENE EXPRESSION STUDIES AND THE INFLUENCE OF TIME AND CELL LINE ON INFERRED MODE OF ACTION BY ONTOLOGIC ENRICHMENT (SOT)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Gene expression with ontologic enrichment and connectivity mapping tools is widely used to infer modes of action (MOA) for therapeutic drugs. Despite progress in high-throughput (HT) genomic systems, strategies suitable to identify industrial chemical MOA are needed. The L1000 is...

  10. Target enrichment and high-throughput sequencing of 80 ribosomal protein genes to identify mutations associated with Diamond-Blackfan anaemia.

    PubMed

    Gerrard, Gareth; Valgañón, Mikel; Foong, Hui En; Kasperaviciute, Dalia; Iskander, Deena; Game, Laurence; Müller, Michael; Aitman, Timothy J; Roberts, Irene; de la Fuente, Josu; Foroni, Letizia; Karadimitris, Anastasios

    2013-08-01

    Diamond-Blackfan anaemia (DBA) is caused by inactivating mutations in ribosomal protein (RP) genes, with mutations in 13 of the 80 RP genes accounting for 50-60% of cases. The remaining 40-50% cases may harbour mutations in one of the remaining RP genes, but the very low frequencies render conventional genetic screening as challenging. We, therefore, applied custom enrichment technology combined with high-throughput sequencing to screen all 80 RP genes. Using this approach, we identified and validated inactivating mutations in 15/17 (88%) DBA patients. Target enrichment combined with high-throughput sequencing is a robust and improved methodology for the genetic diagnosis of DBA. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Application of High-Density DNA Resequencing Microarray for Detection and Characterization of Botulinum Neurotoxin-Producing Clostridia

    PubMed Central

    Vanhomwegen, Jessica; Berthet, Nicolas; Mazuet, Christelle; Guigon, Ghislaine; Vallaeys, Tatiana; Stamboliyska, Rayna; Dubois, Philippe; Kennedy, Giulia C.; Cole, Stewart T.; Caro, Valérie; Manuguerra, Jean-Claude; Popoff, Michel-Robert

    2013-01-01

    Background Clostridium botulinum and related clostridia express extremely potent toxins known as botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) that cause severe, potentially lethal intoxications in humans. These BoNT-producing bacteria are categorized in seven major toxinotypes (A through G) and several subtypes. The high diversity in nucleotide sequence and genetic organization of the gene cluster encoding the BoNT components poses a great challenge for the screening and characterization of BoNT-producing strains. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study, we designed and evaluated the performances of a resequencing microarray (RMA), the PathogenId v2.0, combined with an automated data approach for the simultaneous detection and characterization of BoNT-producing clostridia. The unique design of the PathogenID v2.0 array allows the simultaneous detection and characterization of 48 sequences targeting the BoNT gene cluster components. This approach allowed successful identification and typing of representative strains of the different toxinotypes and subtypes, as well as the neurotoxin-producing C. botulinum strain in a naturally contaminated food sample. Moreover, the method allowed fine characterization of the different neurotoxin gene cluster components of all studied strains, including genomic regions exhibiting up to 24.65% divergence with the sequences tiled on the arrays. Conclusions/Significance The severity of the disease demands rapid and accurate means for performing risk assessments of BoNT-producing clostridia and for tracing potentials sources of contamination in outbreak situations. The RMA approach constitutes an essential higher echelon component in a diagnostics and surveillance pipeline. In addition, it is an important asset to characterise potential outbreak related strains, but also environment isolates, in order to obtain a better picture of the molecular epidemiology of BoNT-producing clostridia. PMID:23818983

  12. Transcriptome-Wide Mega-Analyses Reveal Joint Dysregulation of Immunologic Genes and Transcription Regulators in Brain and Blood in Schizophrenia

    PubMed Central

    Hess, Jonathan L.; Tylee, Daniel S.; Barve, Rahul; de Jong, Simone; Ophoff, Roel A.; Kumarasinghe, Nishantha; Tooney, Paul; Schall, Ulrich; Gardiner, Erin; Beveridge, Natalie Jane; Scott, Rodney J.; Yasawardene, Surangi; Perera, Antionette; Mendis, Jayan; Carr, Vaughan; Kelly, Brian; Cairns, Murray; Tsuang, Ming T.; Glatt, Stephen J.

    2016-01-01

    The application of microarray technology in schizophrenia research was heralded as paradigm-shifting, as it allowed for high-throughput assessment of cell and tissue function. This technology was widely adopted, initially in studies of postmortem brain tissue, and later in studies of peripheral blood. The collective body of schizophrenia microarray literature contains apparent inconsistencies between studies, with failures to replicate top hits, in part due to small sample sizes, cohort-specific effects, differences in array types, and other confounders. In an attempt to summarize existing studies of schizophrenia cases and non-related comparison subjects, we performed two mega-analyses of a combined set of microarray data from postmortem prefrontal cortices (n = 315) and from ex-vivo blood tissues (n = 578). We adjusted regression models per gene to remove non-significant covariates, providing best-estimates of transcripts dysregulated in schizophrenia. We also examined dysregulation of functionally related gene sets and gene co-expression modules, and assessed enrichment of cell types and genetic risk factors. The identities of the most significantly dysregulated genes were largely distinct for each tissue, but the findings indicated common emergent biological functions (e.g. immunity) and regulatory factors (e.g., predicted targets of transcription factors and miRNA species across tissues). Our network-based analyses converged upon similar patterns of heightened innate immune gene expression in both brain and blood in schizophrenia. We also constructed generalizable machine-learning classifiers using the blood-based microarray data. Our study provides an informative atlas for future pathophysiologic and biomarker studies of schizophrenia. PMID:27450777

  13. Transcriptome-wide mega-analyses reveal joint dysregulation of immunologic genes and transcription regulators in brain and blood in schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Hess, Jonathan L; Tylee, Daniel S; Barve, Rahul; de Jong, Simone; Ophoff, Roel A; Kumarasinghe, Nishantha; Tooney, Paul; Schall, Ulrich; Gardiner, Erin; Beveridge, Natalie Jane; Scott, Rodney J; Yasawardene, Surangi; Perera, Antionette; Mendis, Jayan; Carr, Vaughan; Kelly, Brian; Cairns, Murray; Tsuang, Ming T; Glatt, Stephen J

    2016-10-01

    The application of microarray technology in schizophrenia research was heralded as paradigm-shifting, as it allowed for high-throughput assessment of cell and tissue function. This technology was widely adopted, initially in studies of postmortem brain tissue, and later in studies of peripheral blood. The collective body of schizophrenia microarray literature contains apparent inconsistencies between studies, with failures to replicate top hits, in part due to small sample sizes, cohort-specific effects, differences in array types, and other confounders. In an attempt to summarize existing studies of schizophrenia cases and non-related comparison subjects, we performed two mega-analyses of a combined set of microarray data from postmortem prefrontal cortices (n=315) and from ex-vivo blood tissues (n=578). We adjusted regression models per gene to remove non-significant covariates, providing best-estimates of transcripts dysregulated in schizophrenia. We also examined dysregulation of functionally related gene sets and gene co-expression modules, and assessed enrichment of cell types and genetic risk factors. The identities of the most significantly dysregulated genes were largely distinct for each tissue, but the findings indicated common emergent biological functions (e.g. immunity) and regulatory factors (e.g., predicted targets of transcription factors and miRNA species across tissues). Our network-based analyses converged upon similar patterns of heightened innate immune gene expression in both brain and blood in schizophrenia. We also constructed generalizable machine-learning classifiers using the blood-based microarray data. Our study provides an informative atlas for future pathophysiologic and biomarker studies of schizophrenia. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  14. Development of a Digital Microarray with Interferometric Reflectance Imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sevenler, Derin

    This dissertation describes a new type of molecular assay for nucleic acids and proteins. We call this technique a digital microarray since it is conceptually similar to conventional fluorescence microarrays, yet it performs enumerative ('digital') counting of the number captured molecules. Digital microarrays are approximately 10,000-fold more sensitive than fluorescence microarrays, yet maintain all of the strengths of the platform including low cost and high multiplexing (i.e., many different tests on the same sample simultaneously). Digital microarrays use gold nanorods to label the captured target molecules. Each gold nanorod on the array is individually detected based on its light scattering, with an interferometric microscopy technique called SP-IRIS. Our optimized high-throughput version of SP-IRIS is able to scan a typical array of 500 spots in less than 10 minutes. Digital DNA microarrays may have utility in applications where sequencing is prohibitively expensive or slow. As an example, we describe a digital microarray assay for gene expression markers of bacterial drug resistance.

  15. NCBI GEO: archive for functional genomics data sets--10 years on.

    PubMed

    Barrett, Tanya; Troup, Dennis B; Wilhite, Stephen E; Ledoux, Pierre; Evangelista, Carlos; Kim, Irene F; Tomashevsky, Maxim; Marshall, Kimberly A; Phillippy, Katherine H; Sherman, Patti M; Muertter, Rolf N; Holko, Michelle; Ayanbule, Oluwabukunmi; Yefanov, Andrey; Soboleva, Alexandra

    2011-01-01

    A decade ago, the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was established at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The original objective of GEO was to serve as a public repository for high-throughput gene expression data generated mostly by microarray technology. However, the research community quickly applied microarrays to non-gene-expression studies, including examination of genome copy number variation and genome-wide profiling of DNA-binding proteins. Because the GEO database was designed with a flexible structure, it was possible to quickly adapt the repository to store these data types. More recently, as the microarray community switches to next-generation sequencing technologies, GEO has again adapted to host these data sets. Today, GEO stores over 20,000 microarray- and sequence-based functional genomics studies, and continues to handle the majority of direct high-throughput data submissions from the research community. Multiple mechanisms are provided to help users effectively search, browse, download and visualize the data at the level of individual genes or entire studies. This paper describes recent database enhancements, including new search and data representation tools, as well as a brief review of how the community uses GEO data. GEO is freely accessible at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/.

  16. Flow-pattern Guided Fabrication of High-density Barcode Antibody Microarray

    PubMed Central

    Ramirez, Lisa S.; Wang, Jun

    2016-01-01

    Antibody microarray as a well-developed technology is currently challenged by a few other established or emerging high-throughput technologies. In this report, we renovate the antibody microarray technology by using a novel approach for manufacturing and by introducing new features. The fabrication of our high-density antibody microarray is accomplished through perpendicularly oriented flow-patterning of single stranded DNAs and subsequent conversion mediated by DNA-antibody conjugates. This protocol outlines the critical steps in flow-patterning DNA, producing and purifying DNA-antibody conjugates, and assessing the quality of the fabricated microarray. The uniformity and sensitivity are comparable with conventional microarrays, while our microarray fabrication does not require the assistance of an array printer and can be performed in most research laboratories. The other major advantage is that the size of our microarray units is 10 times smaller than that of printed arrays, offering the unique capability of analyzing functional proteins from single cells when interfacing with generic microchip designs. This barcode technology can be widely employed in biomarker detection, cell signaling studies, tissue engineering, and a variety of clinical applications. PMID:26780370

  17. High-throughput microarray mapping of cell wall polymers in roots and tubers during the viscosity-reducing process.

    PubMed

    Huang, Yuhong; Willats, William G; Lange, Lene; Jin, Yanling; Fang, Yang; Salmeán, Armando A; Pedersen, Henriette L; Busk, Peter Kamp; Zhao, Hai

    2016-01-01

    Viscosity reduction has a great impact on the efficiency of ethanol production when using roots and tubers as feedstock. Plant cell wall-degrading enzymes have been successfully applied to overcome the challenges posed by high viscosity. However, the changes in cell wall polymers during the viscosity-reducing process are poorly characterized. Comprehensive microarray polymer profiling, which is a high-throughput microarray, was used for the first time to map changes in the cell wall polymers of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), cassava (Manihot esculenta), and Canna edulis Ker. over the entire viscosity-reducing process. The results indicated that the composition of cell wall polymers among these three roots and tubers was markedly different. The gel-like matrix and glycoprotein network in the C. edulis Ker. cell wall caused difficulty in viscosity reduction. The obvious viscosity reduction of the sweet potato and the cassava was attributed to the degradation of homogalacturonan and the released 1,4-β-d-galactan and 1,5-α-l-arabinan. © 2015 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  18. Development of a high-throughput microfluidic integrated microarray for the detection of chimeric bioweapons.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sheppod, Timothy; Satterfield, Brent; Hukari, Kyle W.

    2006-10-01

    The advancement of DNA cloning has significantly augmented the potential threat of a focused bioweapon assault, such as a terrorist attack. With current DNA cloning techniques, toxin genes from the most dangerous (but environmentally labile) bacterial or viral organism can now be selected and inserted into robust organism to produce an infinite number of deadly chimeric bioweapons. In order to neutralize such a threat, accurate detection of the expressed toxin genes, rather than classification on strain or genealogical decent of these organisms, is critical. The development of a high-throughput microarray approach will enable the detection of unknowns chimeric bioweapons. Themore » development of a high-throughput microarray approach will enable the detection of unknown bioweapons. We have developed a unique microfluidic approach to capture and concentrate these threat genes (mRNA's) upto a 30 fold concentration. These captured oligonucleotides can then be used to synthesize in situ oligonucleotide copies (cDNA probes) of the captured genes. An integrated microfluidic architecture will enable us to control flows of reagents, perform clean-up steps and finally elute nanoliter volumes of synthesized oligonucleotides probes. The integrated approach has enabled a process where chimeric or conventional bioweapons can rapidly be identified based on their toxic function, rather than being restricted to information that may not identify the critical nature of the threat.« less

  19. Microarray-Based Gene Expression Analysis for Veterinary Pathologists: A Review.

    PubMed

    Raddatz, Barbara B; Spitzbarth, Ingo; Matheis, Katja A; Kalkuhl, Arno; Deschl, Ulrich; Baumgärtner, Wolfgang; Ulrich, Reiner

    2017-09-01

    High-throughput, genome-wide transcriptome analysis is now commonly used in all fields of life science research and is on the cusp of medical and veterinary diagnostic application. Transcriptomic methods such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing generate enormous amounts of data. The pathogenetic expertise acquired from understanding of general pathology provides veterinary pathologists with a profound background, which is essential in translating transcriptomic data into meaningful biological knowledge, thereby leading to a better understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. The scientific literature concerning high-throughput data-mining techniques usually addresses mathematicians or computer scientists as the target audience. In contrast, the present review provides the reader with a clear and systematic basis from a veterinary pathologist's perspective. Therefore, the aims are (1) to introduce the reader to the necessary methodological background; (2) to introduce the sequential steps commonly performed in a microarray analysis including quality control, annotation, normalization, selection of differentially expressed genes, clustering, gene ontology and pathway analysis, analysis of manually selected genes, and biomarker discovery; and (3) to provide references to publically available and user-friendly software suites. In summary, the data analysis methods presented within this review will enable veterinary pathologists to analyze high-throughput transcriptome data obtained from their own experiments, supplemental data that accompany scientific publications, or public repositories in order to obtain a more in-depth insight into underlying disease mechanisms.

  20. The Peach v2.0 release: high-resolution linkage mapping and deep resequencing improve chromosome-scale assembly and contiguity.

    PubMed

    Verde, Ignazio; Jenkins, Jerry; Dondini, Luca; Micali, Sabrina; Pagliarani, Giulia; Vendramin, Elisa; Paris, Roberta; Aramini, Valeria; Gazza, Laura; Rossini, Laura; Bassi, Daniele; Troggio, Michela; Shu, Shengqiang; Grimwood, Jane; Tartarini, Stefano; Dettori, Maria Teresa; Schmutz, Jeremy

    2017-03-11

    The availability of the peach genome sequence has fostered relevant research in peach and related Prunus species enabling the identification of genes underlying important horticultural traits as well as the development of advanced tools for genetic and genomic analyses. The first release of the peach genome (Peach v1.0) represented a high-quality WGS (Whole Genome Shotgun) chromosome-scale assembly with high contiguity (contig L50 214.2 kb), large portions of mapped sequences (96%) and high base accuracy (99.96%). The aim of this work was to improve the quality of the first assembly by increasing the portion of mapped and oriented sequences, correcting misassemblies and improving the contiguity and base accuracy using high-throughput linkage mapping and deep resequencing approaches. Four linkage maps with 3,576 molecular markers were used to improve the portion of mapped and oriented sequences (from 96.0% and 85.6% of Peach v1.0 to 99.2% and 98.2% of v2.0, respectively) and enabled a more detailed identification of discernible misassemblies (10.4 Mb in total). The deep resequencing approach fixed 859 homozygous SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) and 1347 homozygous indels. Moreover, the assembled NGS contigs enabled the closing of 212 gaps with an improvement in the contig L50 of 19.2%. The improved high quality peach genome assembly (Peach v2.0) represents a valuable tool for the analysis of the genetic diversity, domestication, and as a vehicle for genetic improvement of peach and related Prunus species. Moreover, the important phylogenetic position of peach and the absence of recent whole genome duplication (WGD) events make peach a pivotal species for comparative genomics studies aiming at elucidating plant speciation and diversification processes.

  1. Report for the NGFA-5 project.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jaing, C; Jackson, P; Thissen, J

    The objective of this project is to provide DHS a comprehensive evaluation of the current genomic technologies including genotyping, TaqMan PCR, multiple locus variable tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), microarray and high-throughput DNA sequencing in the analysis of biothreat agents from complex environmental samples. To effectively compare the sensitivity and specificity of the different genomic technologies, we used SNP TaqMan PCR, MLVA, microarray and high-throughput illumine and 454 sequencing to test various strains from B. anthracis, B. thuringiensis, BioWatch aerosol filter extracts or soil samples that were spiked with B. anthracis, and samples that were previously collected during DHS and EPAmore » environmental release exercises that were known to contain B. thuringiensis spores. The results of all the samples against the various assays are discussed in this report.« less

  2. Nanoelectrospray ion generation for high-throughput mass spectrometry using a micromachined ultrasonic ejector array

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Aderogba, S.; Meacham, J.M.; Degertekin, F.L.

    2005-05-16

    Ultrasonic electrospray ionization (ESI) for high-throughput mass spectrometry is demonstrated using a silicon micromachined microarray. The device uses a micromachined ultrasonic atomizer operating in the 900 kHz-2.5 MHz range for droplet generation and a metal electrode in the fluid cavity for ionization. Since the atomization and ionization processes are separated, the ultrasonic ESI source shows the potential for operation at low voltages with a wide range of solvents in contrast with conventional capillary ESI technology. This is demonstrated using the ultrasonic ESI microarray to obtain the mass spectrum of a 10 {mu}M reserpine sample on a time of flight massmore » spectrometer with 197:1 signal-to-noise ratio at an ionization potential of 200 V.« less

  3. Droplet Microarray Based on Patterned Superhydrophobic Surfaces Prevents Stem Cell Differentiation and Enables High-Throughput Stem Cell Screening.

    PubMed

    Tronser, Tina; Popova, Anna A; Jaggy, Mona; Bastmeyer, Martin; Levkin, Pavel A

    2017-12-01

    Over the past decades, stem cells have attracted growing interest in fundamental biological and biomedical research as well as in regenerative medicine, due to their unique ability to self-renew and differentiate into various cell types. Long-term maintenance of the self-renewal ability and inhibition of spontaneous differentiation, however, still remain challenging and are not fully understood. Uncontrolled spontaneous differentiation of stem cells makes high-throughput screening of stem cells also difficult. This further hinders investigation of the underlying mechanisms of stem cell differentiation and the factors that might affect it. In this work, a dual functionality of nanoporous superhydrophobic-hydrophilic micropatterns is demonstrated in their ability to inhibit differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and at the same time enable formation of arrays of microdroplets (droplet microarray) via the effect of discontinuous dewetting. Such combination makes high-throughput screening of undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cells possible. The droplet microarray is used to investigate the development, differentiation, and maintenance of stemness of mESC, revealing the dependence of stem cell behavior on droplet volume in nano- and microliter scale. The inhibition of spontaneous differentiation of mESCs cultured on the droplet microarray for up to 72 h is observed. In addition, up to fourfold increased cell growth rate of mESCs cultured on our platform has been observed. The difference in the behavior of mESCs is attributed to the porosity and roughness of the polymer surface. This work demonstrates that the droplet microarray possesses the potential for the screening of mESCs under conditions of prolonged inhibition of stem cells' spontaneous differentiation. Such a platform can be useful for applications in the field of stem cell research, pharmacological testing of drug efficacy and toxicity, biomedical research as well as in the field of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. High-Throughput Tabular Data Processor - Platform independent graphical tool for processing large data sets.

    PubMed

    Madanecki, Piotr; Bałut, Magdalena; Buckley, Patrick G; Ochocka, J Renata; Bartoszewski, Rafał; Crossman, David K; Messiaen, Ludwine M; Piotrowski, Arkadiusz

    2018-01-01

    High-throughput technologies generate considerable amount of data which often requires bioinformatic expertise to analyze. Here we present High-Throughput Tabular Data Processor (HTDP), a platform independent Java program. HTDP works on any character-delimited column data (e.g. BED, GFF, GTF, PSL, WIG, VCF) from multiple text files and supports merging, filtering and converting of data that is produced in the course of high-throughput experiments. HTDP can also utilize itemized sets of conditions from external files for complex or repetitive filtering/merging tasks. The program is intended to aid global, real-time processing of large data sets using a graphical user interface (GUI). Therefore, no prior expertise in programming, regular expression, or command line usage is required of the user. Additionally, no a priori assumptions are imposed on the internal file composition. We demonstrate the flexibility and potential of HTDP in real-life research tasks including microarray and massively parallel sequencing, i.e. identification of disease predisposing variants in the next generation sequencing data as well as comprehensive concurrent analysis of microarray and sequencing results. We also show the utility of HTDP in technical tasks including data merge, reduction and filtering with external criteria files. HTDP was developed to address functionality that is missing or rudimentary in other GUI software for processing character-delimited column data from high-throughput technologies. Flexibility, in terms of input file handling, provides long term potential functionality in high-throughput analysis pipelines, as the program is not limited by the currently existing applications and data formats. HTDP is available as the Open Source software (https://github.com/pmadanecki/htdp).

  5. High-Throughput Tabular Data Processor – Platform independent graphical tool for processing large data sets

    PubMed Central

    Bałut, Magdalena; Buckley, Patrick G.; Ochocka, J. Renata; Bartoszewski, Rafał; Crossman, David K.; Messiaen, Ludwine M.; Piotrowski, Arkadiusz

    2018-01-01

    High-throughput technologies generate considerable amount of data which often requires bioinformatic expertise to analyze. Here we present High-Throughput Tabular Data Processor (HTDP), a platform independent Java program. HTDP works on any character-delimited column data (e.g. BED, GFF, GTF, PSL, WIG, VCF) from multiple text files and supports merging, filtering and converting of data that is produced in the course of high-throughput experiments. HTDP can also utilize itemized sets of conditions from external files for complex or repetitive filtering/merging tasks. The program is intended to aid global, real-time processing of large data sets using a graphical user interface (GUI). Therefore, no prior expertise in programming, regular expression, or command line usage is required of the user. Additionally, no a priori assumptions are imposed on the internal file composition. We demonstrate the flexibility and potential of HTDP in real-life research tasks including microarray and massively parallel sequencing, i.e. identification of disease predisposing variants in the next generation sequencing data as well as comprehensive concurrent analysis of microarray and sequencing results. We also show the utility of HTDP in technical tasks including data merge, reduction and filtering with external criteria files. HTDP was developed to address functionality that is missing or rudimentary in other GUI software for processing character-delimited column data from high-throughput technologies. Flexibility, in terms of input file handling, provides long term potential functionality in high-throughput analysis pipelines, as the program is not limited by the currently existing applications and data formats. HTDP is available as the Open Source software (https://github.com/pmadanecki/htdp). PMID:29432475

  6. Quantitative characterization of conformational-specific protein-DNA binding using a dual-spectral interferometric imaging biosensor.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xirui; Daaboul, George G; Spuhler, Philipp S; Dröge, Peter; Ünlü, M Selim

    2016-03-14

    DNA-binding proteins play crucial roles in the maintenance and functions of the genome and yet, their specific binding mechanisms are not fully understood. Recently, it was discovered that DNA-binding proteins recognize specific binding sites to carry out their functions through an indirect readout mechanism by recognizing and capturing DNA conformational flexibility and deformation. High-throughput DNA microarray-based methods that provide large-scale protein-DNA binding information have shown effective and comprehensive analysis of protein-DNA binding affinities, but do not provide information of DNA conformational changes in specific protein-DNA complexes. Building on the high-throughput capability of DNA microarrays, we demonstrate a quantitative approach that simultaneously measures the amount of protein binding to DNA and nanometer-scale DNA conformational change induced by protein binding in a microarray format. Both measurements rely on spectral interferometry on a layered substrate using a single optical instrument in two distinct modalities. In the first modality, we quantitate the amount of binding of protein to surface-immobilized DNA in each DNA spot using a label-free spectral reflectivity technique that accurately measures the surface densities of protein and DNA accumulated on the substrate. In the second modality, for each DNA spot, we simultaneously measure DNA conformational change using a fluorescence vertical sectioning technique that determines average axial height of fluorophores tagged to specific nucleotides of the surface-immobilized DNA. The approach presented in this paper, when combined with current high-throughput DNA microarray-based technologies, has the potential to serve as a rapid and simple method for quantitative and large-scale characterization of conformational specific protein-DNA interactions.

  7. Moving Toward Integrating Gene Expression Profiling Into High-Throughput Testing: A Gene Expression Biomarker Accurately Predicts Estrogen Receptor α Modulation in a Microarray Compendium

    PubMed Central

    Ryan, Natalia; Chorley, Brian; Tice, Raymond R.; Judson, Richard; Corton, J. Christopher

    2016-01-01

    Microarray profiling of chemical-induced effects is being increasingly used in medium- and high-throughput formats. Computational methods are described here to identify molecular targets from whole-genome microarray data using as an example the estrogen receptor α (ERα), often modulated by potential endocrine disrupting chemicals. ERα biomarker genes were identified by their consistent expression after exposure to 7 structurally diverse ERα agonists and 3 ERα antagonists in ERα-positive MCF-7 cells. Most of the biomarker genes were shown to be directly regulated by ERα as determined by ESR1 gene knockdown using siRNA as well as through chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with DNA sequencing analysis of ERα-DNA interactions. The biomarker was evaluated as a predictive tool using the fold-change rank-based Running Fisher algorithm by comparison to annotated gene expression datasets from experiments using MCF-7 cells, including those evaluating the transcriptional effects of hormones and chemicals. Using 141 comparisons from chemical- and hormone-treated cells, the biomarker gave a balanced accuracy for prediction of ERα activation or suppression of 94% and 93%, respectively. The biomarker was able to correctly classify 18 out of 21 (86%) ER reference chemicals including “very weak” agonists. Importantly, the biomarker predictions accurately replicated predictions based on 18 in vitro high-throughput screening assays that queried different steps in ERα signaling. For 114 chemicals, the balanced accuracies were 95% and 98% for activation or suppression, respectively. These results demonstrate that the ERα gene expression biomarker can accurately identify ERα modulators in large collections of microarray data derived from MCF-7 cells. PMID:26865669

  8. GoGene: gene annotation in the fast lane.

    PubMed

    Plake, Conrad; Royer, Loic; Winnenburg, Rainer; Hakenberg, Jörg; Schroeder, Michael

    2009-07-01

    High-throughput screens such as microarrays and RNAi screens produce huge amounts of data. They typically result in hundreds of genes, which are often further explored and clustered via enriched GeneOntology terms. The strength of such analyses is that they build on high-quality manual annotations provided with the GeneOntology. However, the weakness is that annotations are restricted to process, function and location and that they do not cover all known genes in model organisms. GoGene addresses this weakness by complementing high-quality manual annotation with high-throughput text mining extracting co-occurrences of genes and ontology terms from literature. GoGene contains over 4,000,000 associations between genes and gene-related terms for 10 model organisms extracted from more than 18,000,000 PubMed entries. It does not cover only process, function and location of genes, but also biomedical categories such as diseases, compounds, techniques and mutations. By bringing it all together, GoGene provides the most recent and most complete facts about genes and can rank them according to novelty and importance. GoGene accepts keywords, gene lists, gene sequences and protein sequences as input and supports search for genes in PubMed, EntrezGene and via BLAST. Since all associations of genes to terms are supported by evidence in the literature, the results are transparent and can be verified by the user. GoGene is available at http://gopubmed.org/gogene.

  9. Deciphering the glycosaminoglycan code with the help of microarrays.

    PubMed

    de Paz, Jose L; Seeberger, Peter H

    2008-07-01

    Carbohydrate microarrays have become a powerful tool to elucidate the biological role of complex sugars. Microarrays are particularly useful for the study of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), a key class of carbohydrates. The high-throughput chip format enables rapid screening of large numbers of potential GAG sequences produced via a complex biosynthesis while consuming very little sample. Here, we briefly highlight the most recent advances involving GAG microarrays built with synthetic or naturally derived oligosaccharides. These chips are powerful tools for characterizing GAG-protein interactions and determining structure-activity relationships for specific sequences. Thereby, they contribute to decoding the information contained in specific GAG sequences.

  10. High-throughput sequence alignment using Graphics Processing Units

    PubMed Central

    Schatz, Michael C; Trapnell, Cole; Delcher, Arthur L; Varshney, Amitabh

    2007-01-01

    Background The recent availability of new, less expensive high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies has yielded a dramatic increase in the volume of sequence data that must be analyzed. These data are being generated for several purposes, including genotyping, genome resequencing, metagenomics, and de novo genome assembly projects. Sequence alignment programs such as MUMmer have proven essential for analysis of these data, but researchers will need ever faster, high-throughput alignment tools running on inexpensive hardware to keep up with new sequence technologies. Results This paper describes MUMmerGPU, an open-source high-throughput parallel pairwise local sequence alignment program that runs on commodity Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) in common workstations. MUMmerGPU uses the new Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) from nVidia to align multiple query sequences against a single reference sequence stored as a suffix tree. By processing the queries in parallel on the highly parallel graphics card, MUMmerGPU achieves more than a 10-fold speedup over a serial CPU version of the sequence alignment kernel, and outperforms the exact alignment component of MUMmer on a high end CPU by 3.5-fold in total application time when aligning reads from recent sequencing projects using Solexa/Illumina, 454, and Sanger sequencing technologies. Conclusion MUMmerGPU is a low cost, ultra-fast sequence alignment program designed to handle the increasing volume of data produced by new, high-throughput sequencing technologies. MUMmerGPU demonstrates that even memory-intensive applications can run significantly faster on the relatively low-cost GPU than on the CPU. PMID:18070356

  11. An evaluation of two-channel ChIP-on-chip and DNA methylation microarray normalization strategies

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation with two-channel microarray technology enables genome-wide mapping of binding sites of DNA-interacting proteins (ChIP-on-chip) or sites with methylated CpG di-nucleotides (DNA methylation microarray). These powerful tools are the gateway to understanding gene transcription regulation. Since the goals of such studies, the sample preparation procedures, the microarray content and study design are all different from transcriptomics microarrays, the data pre-processing strategies traditionally applied to transcriptomics microarrays may not be appropriate. Particularly, the main challenge of the normalization of "regulation microarrays" is (i) to make the data of individual microarrays quantitatively comparable and (ii) to keep the signals of the enriched probes, representing DNA sequences from the precipitate, as distinguishable as possible from the signals of the un-enriched probes, representing DNA sequences largely absent from the precipitate. Results We compare several widely used normalization approaches (VSN, LOWESS, quantile, T-quantile, Tukey's biweight scaling, Peng's method) applied to a selection of regulation microarray datasets, ranging from DNA methylation to transcription factor binding and histone modification studies. Through comparison of the data distributions of control probes and gene promoter probes before and after normalization, and assessment of the power to identify known enriched genomic regions after normalization, we demonstrate that there are clear differences in performance between normalization procedures. Conclusion T-quantile normalization applied separately on the channels and Tukey's biweight scaling outperform other methods in terms of the conservation of enriched and un-enriched signal separation, as well as in identification of genomic regions known to be enriched. T-quantile normalization is preferable as it additionally improves comparability between microarrays. In contrast, popular normalization approaches like quantile, LOWESS, Peng's method and VSN normalization alter the data distributions of regulation microarrays to such an extent that using these approaches will impact the reliability of the downstream analysis substantially. PMID:22276688

  12. Whole-Genome Resequencing of Experimental Populations Reveals Polygenic Basis of Egg-Size Variation in Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Jha, Aashish R; Miles, Cecelia M; Lippert, Nodia R; Brown, Christopher D; White, Kevin P; Kreitman, Martin

    2015-10-01

    Complete genome resequencing of populations holds great promise in deconstructing complex polygenic traits to elucidate molecular and developmental mechanisms of adaptation. Egg size is a classic adaptive trait in insects, birds, and other taxa, but its highly polygenic architecture has prevented high-resolution genetic analysis. We used replicated experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster and whole-genome sequencing to identify consistent signatures of polygenic egg-size adaptation. A generalized linear-mixed model revealed reproducible allele frequency differences between replicated experimental populations selected for large and small egg volumes at approximately 4,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Several hundred distinct genomic regions contain clusters of these SNPs and have lower heterozygosity than the genomic background, consistent with selection acting on polymorphisms in these regions. These SNPs are also enriched among genes expressed in Drosophila ovaries and many of these genes have well-defined functions in Drosophila oogenesis. Additional genes regulating egg development, growth, and cell size show evidence of directional selection as genes regulating these biological processes are enriched for highly differentiated SNPs. Genetic crosses performed with a subset of candidate genes demonstrated that these genes influence egg size, at least in the large genetic background. These findings confirm the highly polygenic architecture of this adaptive trait, and suggest the involvement of many novel candidate genes in regulating egg size. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

  13. NCBI GEO: archive for functional genomics data sets—10 years on

    PubMed Central

    Barrett, Tanya; Troup, Dennis B.; Wilhite, Stephen E.; Ledoux, Pierre; Evangelista, Carlos; Kim, Irene F.; Tomashevsky, Maxim; Marshall, Kimberly A.; Phillippy, Katherine H.; Sherman, Patti M.; Muertter, Rolf N.; Holko, Michelle; Ayanbule, Oluwabukunmi; Yefanov, Andrey; Soboleva, Alexandra

    2011-01-01

    A decade ago, the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was established at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The original objective of GEO was to serve as a public repository for high-throughput gene expression data generated mostly by microarray technology. However, the research community quickly applied microarrays to non-gene-expression studies, including examination of genome copy number variation and genome-wide profiling of DNA-binding proteins. Because the GEO database was designed with a flexible structure, it was possible to quickly adapt the repository to store these data types. More recently, as the microarray community switches to next-generation sequencing technologies, GEO has again adapted to host these data sets. Today, GEO stores over 20 000 microarray- and sequence-based functional genomics studies, and continues to handle the majority of direct high-throughput data submissions from the research community. Multiple mechanisms are provided to help users effectively search, browse, download and visualize the data at the level of individual genes or entire studies. This paper describes recent database enhancements, including new search and data representation tools, as well as a brief review of how the community uses GEO data. GEO is freely accessible at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/. PMID:21097893

  14. Development of cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence markers and a CAPS-based genetic linkage map in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus [Thunb.] Matsum. and Nakai) constructed using whole-genome re-sequencing data

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Shi; Gao, Peng; Zhu, Qianglong; Luan, Feishi; Davis, Angela R.; Wang, Xiaolu

    2016-01-01

    Cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers are useful tools for detecting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This study detected and converted SNP sites into CAPS markers based on high-throughput re-sequencing data in watermelon, for linkage map construction and quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis. Two inbred lines, Cream of Saskatchewan (COS) and LSW-177 had been re-sequenced and analyzed by Perl self-compiled script for CAPS marker development. 88.7% and 78.5% of the assembled sequences of the two parental materials could map to the reference watermelon genome, respectively. Comparative assembled genome data analysis provided 225,693 and 19,268 SNPs and indels between the two materials. 532 pairs of CAPS markers were designed with 16 restriction enzymes, among which 271 pairs of primers gave distinct bands of the expected length and polymorphic bands, via PCR and enzyme digestion, with a polymorphic rate of 50.94%. Using the new CAPS markers, an initial CAPS-based genetic linkage map was constructed with the F2 population, spanning 1836.51 cM with 11 linkage groups and 301 markers. 12 QTLs were detected related to fruit flesh color, length, width, shape index, and brix content. These newly CAPS markers will be a valuable resource for breeding programs and genetic studies of watermelon. PMID:27162496

  15. CNV-ROC: A cost effective, computer-aided analytical performance evaluator of chromosomal microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Goodman, Corey W.; Major, Heather J.; Walls, William D.; Sheffield, Val C.; Casavant, Thomas L.; Darbro, Benjamin W.

    2016-01-01

    Chromosomal microarrays (CMAs) are routinely used in both research and clinical laboratories; yet, little attention has been given to the estimation of genome-wide true and false negatives during the assessment of these assays and how such information could be used to calibrate various algorithmic metrics to improve performance. Low-throughput, locus-specific methods such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), quantitative PCR (qPCR), or multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) preclude rigorous calibration of various metrics used by copy number variant (CNV) detection algorithms. To aid this task, we have established a comparative methodology, CNV-ROC, which is capable of performing a high throughput, low cost, analysis of CMAs that takes into consideration genome-wide true and false negatives. CNV-ROC uses a higher resolution microarray to confirm calls from a lower resolution microarray and provides for a true measure of genome-wide performance metrics at the resolution offered by microarray testing. CNV-ROC also provides for a very precise comparison of CNV calls between two microarray platforms without the need to establish an arbitrary degree of overlap. Comparison of CNVs across microarrays is done on a per-probe basis and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis is used to calibrate algorithmic metrics, such as log2 ratio threshold, to enhance CNV calling performance. CNV-ROC addresses a critical and consistently overlooked aspect of analytical assessments of genome-wide techniques like CMAs which is the measurement and use of genome-wide true and false negative data for the calculation of performance metrics and comparison of CNV profiles between different microarray experiments. PMID:25595567

  16. Microelectroporation device for genomic screening

    DOEpatents

    Perroud, Thomas D.; Renzi, Ronald F.; Negrete, Oscar; Claudnic, Mark R.

    2014-09-09

    We have developed an microelectroporation device that combines microarrays of oligonucleotides, microfluidic channels, and electroporation for cell transfection and high-throughput screening applications (e.g. RNA interference screens). Microarrays allow the deposition of thousands of different oligonucleotides in microscopic spots. Microfluidic channels and microwells enable efficient loading of cells into the device and prevent cross-contamination between different oligonucleotides spots. Electroporation allows optimal transfection of nucleic acids into cells (especially hard-to-transfect cells such as primary cells) by minimizing cell death while maximizing transfection efficiency. This invention has the advantage of a higher throughput and lower cost, while preventing cross-contamination compared to conventional screening technologies. Moreover, this device does not require bulky robotic liquid handling equipment and is inherently safer given that it is a closed system.

  17. Evaluation of second-generation sequencing of 19 dilated cardiomyopathy genes for clinical applications.

    PubMed

    Gowrisankar, Sivakumar; Lerner-Ellis, Jordan P; Cox, Stephanie; White, Emily T; Manion, Megan; LeVan, Kevin; Liu, Jonathan; Farwell, Lisa M; Iartchouk, Oleg; Rehm, Heidi L; Funke, Birgit H

    2010-11-01

    Medical sequencing for diseases with locus and allelic heterogeneities has been limited by the high cost and low throughput of traditional sequencing technologies. "Second-generation" sequencing (SGS) technologies allow the parallel processing of a large number of genes and, therefore, offer great promise for medical sequencing; however, their use in clinical laboratories is still in its infancy. Our laboratory offers clinical resequencing for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) using an array-based platform that interrogates 19 of more than 30 genes known to cause DCM. We explored both the feasibility and cost effectiveness of using PCR amplification followed by SGS technology for sequencing these 19 genes in a set of five samples enriched for known sequence alterations (109 unique substitutions and 27 insertions and deletions). While the analytical sensitivity for substitutions was comparable to that of the DCM array (98%), SGS technology performed better than the DCM array for insertions and deletions (90.6% versus 58%). Overall, SGS performed substantially better than did the current array-based testing platform; however, the operational cost and projected turnaround time do not meet our current standards. Therefore, efficient capture methods and/or sample pooling strategies that shorten the turnaround time and decrease reagent and labor costs are needed before implementing this platform into routine clinical applications.

  18. Investigating the epigenetic effects of a prototype smoke-derived carcinogen in human cells.

    PubMed

    Tommasi, Stella; Kim, Sang-in; Zhong, Xueyan; Wu, Xiwei; Pfeifer, Gerd P; Besaratinia, Ahmad

    2010-05-12

    Global loss of DNA methylation and locus/gene-specific gain of DNA methylation are two distinct hallmarks of carcinogenesis. Aberrant DNA methylation is implicated in smoking-related lung cancer. In this study, we have comprehensively investigated the modulation of DNA methylation consequent to chronic exposure to a prototype smoke-derived carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (B[a]PDE), in genomic regions of significance in lung cancer, in normal human cells. We have used a pulldown assay for enrichment of the CpG methylated fraction of cellular DNA combined with microarray platforms, followed by extensive validation through conventional bisulfite-based analysis. Here, we demonstrate strikingly similar patterns of DNA methylation in non-transformed B[a]PDE-treated cells vs control using high-throughput microarray-based DNA methylation profiling confirmed by conventional bisulfite-based DNA methylation analysis. The absence of aberrant DNA methylation in our model system within a timeframe that precedes cellular transformation suggests that following carcinogen exposure, other as yet unknown factors (secondary to carcinogen treatment) may help initiate global loss of DNA methylation and region-specific gain of DNA methylation, which can, in turn, contribute to lung cancer development. Unveiling the initiating events that cause aberrant DNA methylation in lung cancer has tremendous public health relevance, as it can help define future strategies for early detection and prevention of this highly lethal disease.

  19. Investigating the Epigenetic Effects of a Prototype Smoke-Derived Carcinogen in Human Cells

    PubMed Central

    Tommasi, Stella; Kim, Sang-in; Zhong, Xueyan; Wu, Xiwei; Pfeifer, Gerd P.; Besaratinia, Ahmad

    2010-01-01

    Global loss of DNA methylation and locus/gene-specific gain of DNA methylation are two distinct hallmarks of carcinogenesis. Aberrant DNA methylation is implicated in smoking-related lung cancer. In this study, we have comprehensively investigated the modulation of DNA methylation consequent to chronic exposure to a prototype smoke-derived carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (B[a]PDE), in genomic regions of significance in lung cancer, in normal human cells. We have used a pulldown assay for enrichment of the CpG methylated fraction of cellular DNA combined with microarray platforms, followed by extensive validation through conventional bisulfite-based analysis. Here, we demonstrate strikingly similar patterns of DNA methylation in non-transformed B[a]PDE-treated cells vs control using high-throughput microarray-based DNA methylation profiling confirmed by conventional bisulfite-based DNA methylation analysis. The absence of aberrant DNA methylation in our model system within a timeframe that precedes cellular transformation suggests that following carcinogen exposure, other as yet unknown factors (secondary to carcinogen treatment) may help initiate global loss of DNA methylation and region-specific gain of DNA methylation, which can, in turn, contribute to lung cancer development. Unveiling the initiating events that cause aberrant DNA methylation in lung cancer has tremendous public health relevance, as it can help define future strategies for early detection and prevention of this highly lethal disease. PMID:20485678

  20. BubbleGUM: automatic extraction of phenotype molecular signatures and comprehensive visualization of multiple Gene Set Enrichment Analyses.

    PubMed

    Spinelli, Lionel; Carpentier, Sabrina; Montañana Sanchis, Frédéric; Dalod, Marc; Vu Manh, Thien-Phong

    2015-10-19

    Recent advances in the analysis of high-throughput expression data have led to the development of tools that scaled-up their focus from single-gene to gene set level. For example, the popular Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) algorithm can detect moderate but coordinated expression changes of groups of presumably related genes between pairs of experimental conditions. This considerably improves extraction of information from high-throughput gene expression data. However, although many gene sets covering a large panel of biological fields are available in public databases, the ability to generate home-made gene sets relevant to one's biological question is crucial but remains a substantial challenge to most biologists lacking statistic or bioinformatic expertise. This is all the more the case when attempting to define a gene set specific of one condition compared to many other ones. Thus, there is a crucial need for an easy-to-use software for generation of relevant home-made gene sets from complex datasets, their use in GSEA, and the correction of the results when applied to multiple comparisons of many experimental conditions. We developed BubbleGUM (GSEA Unlimited Map), a tool that allows to automatically extract molecular signatures from transcriptomic data and perform exhaustive GSEA with multiple testing correction. One original feature of BubbleGUM notably resides in its capacity to integrate and compare numerous GSEA results into an easy-to-grasp graphical representation. We applied our method to generate transcriptomic fingerprints for murine cell types and to assess their enrichments in human cell types. This analysis allowed us to confirm homologies between mouse and human immunocytes. BubbleGUM is an open-source software that allows to automatically generate molecular signatures out of complex expression datasets and to assess directly their enrichment by GSEA on independent datasets. Enrichments are displayed in a graphical output that helps interpreting the results. This innovative methodology has recently been used to answer important questions in functional genomics, such as the degree of similarities between microarray datasets from different laboratories or with different experimental models or clinical cohorts. BubbleGUM is executable through an intuitive interface so that both bioinformaticians and biologists can use it. It is available at http://www.ciml.univ-mrs.fr/applications/BubbleGUM/index.html .

  1. A remark on copy number variation detection methods.

    PubMed

    Li, Shuo; Dou, Xialiang; Gao, Ruiqi; Ge, Xinzhou; Qian, Minping; Wan, Lin

    2018-01-01

    Copy number variations (CNVs) are gain and loss of DNA sequence of a genome. High throughput platforms such as microarrays and next generation sequencing technologies (NGS) have been applied for genome wide copy number losses. Although progress has been made in both approaches, the accuracy and consistency of CNV calling from the two platforms remain in dispute. In this study, we perform a deep analysis on copy number losses on 254 human DNA samples, which have both SNP microarray data and NGS data publicly available from Hapmap Project and 1000 Genomes Project respectively. We show that the copy number losses reported from Hapmap Project and 1000 Genome Project only have < 30% overlap, while these reports are required to have cross-platform (e.g. PCR, microarray and high-throughput sequencing) experimental supporting by their corresponding projects, even though state-of-art calling methods were employed. On the other hand, copy number losses are found directly from HapMap microarray data by an accurate algorithm, i.e. CNVhac, almost all of which have lower read mapping depth in NGS data; furthermore, 88% of which can be supported by the sequences with breakpoint in NGS data. Our results suggest the ability of microarray calling CNVs and the possible introduction of false negatives from the unessential requirement of the additional cross-platform supporting. The inconsistency of CNV reports from Hapmap Project and 1000 Genomes Project might result from the inadequate information containing in microarray data, the inconsistent detection criteria, or the filtration effect of cross-platform supporting. The statistical test on CNVs called from CNVhac show that the microarray data can offer reliable CNV reports, and majority of CNV candidates can be confirmed by raw sequences. Therefore, the CNV candidates given by a good caller could be highly reliable without cross-platform supporting, so additional experimental information should be applied in need instead of necessarily.

  2. [Research progress of probe design software of oligonucleotide microarrays].

    PubMed

    Chen, Xi; Wu, Zaoquan; Liu, Zhengchun

    2014-02-01

    DNA microarray has become an essential medical genetic diagnostic tool for its high-throughput, miniaturization and automation. The design and selection of oligonucleotide probes are critical for preparing gene chips with high quality. Several sets of probe design software have been developed and are available to perform this work now. Every set of the software aims to different target sequences and shows different advantages and limitations. In this article, the research and development of these sets of software are reviewed in line with three main criteria, including specificity, sensitivity and melting temperature (Tm). In addition, based on the experimental results from literatures, these sets of software are classified according to their applications. This review will be helpful for users to choose an appropriate probe-design software. It will also reduce the costs of microarrays, improve the application efficiency of microarrays, and promote both the research and development (R&D) and commercialization of high-performance probe design software.

  3. Quantitative characterization of conformational-specific protein-DNA binding using a dual-spectral interferometric imaging biosensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Xirui; Daaboul, George G.; Spuhler, Philipp S.; Dröge, Peter; Ünlü, M. Selim

    2016-03-01

    DNA-binding proteins play crucial roles in the maintenance and functions of the genome and yet, their specific binding mechanisms are not fully understood. Recently, it was discovered that DNA-binding proteins recognize specific binding sites to carry out their functions through an indirect readout mechanism by recognizing and capturing DNA conformational flexibility and deformation. High-throughput DNA microarray-based methods that provide large-scale protein-DNA binding information have shown effective and comprehensive analysis of protein-DNA binding affinities, but do not provide information of DNA conformational changes in specific protein-DNA complexes. Building on the high-throughput capability of DNA microarrays, we demonstrate a quantitative approach that simultaneously measures the amount of protein binding to DNA and nanometer-scale DNA conformational change induced by protein binding in a microarray format. Both measurements rely on spectral interferometry on a layered substrate using a single optical instrument in two distinct modalities. In the first modality, we quantitate the amount of binding of protein to surface-immobilized DNA in each DNA spot using a label-free spectral reflectivity technique that accurately measures the surface densities of protein and DNA accumulated on the substrate. In the second modality, for each DNA spot, we simultaneously measure DNA conformational change using a fluorescence vertical sectioning technique that determines average axial height of fluorophores tagged to specific nucleotides of the surface-immobilized DNA. The approach presented in this paper, when combined with current high-throughput DNA microarray-based technologies, has the potential to serve as a rapid and simple method for quantitative and large-scale characterization of conformational specific protein-DNA interactions.DNA-binding proteins play crucial roles in the maintenance and functions of the genome and yet, their specific binding mechanisms are not fully understood. Recently, it was discovered that DNA-binding proteins recognize specific binding sites to carry out their functions through an indirect readout mechanism by recognizing and capturing DNA conformational flexibility and deformation. High-throughput DNA microarray-based methods that provide large-scale protein-DNA binding information have shown effective and comprehensive analysis of protein-DNA binding affinities, but do not provide information of DNA conformational changes in specific protein-DNA complexes. Building on the high-throughput capability of DNA microarrays, we demonstrate a quantitative approach that simultaneously measures the amount of protein binding to DNA and nanometer-scale DNA conformational change induced by protein binding in a microarray format. Both measurements rely on spectral interferometry on a layered substrate using a single optical instrument in two distinct modalities. In the first modality, we quantitate the amount of binding of protein to surface-immobilized DNA in each DNA spot using a label-free spectral reflectivity technique that accurately measures the surface densities of protein and DNA accumulated on the substrate. In the second modality, for each DNA spot, we simultaneously measure DNA conformational change using a fluorescence vertical sectioning technique that determines average axial height of fluorophores tagged to specific nucleotides of the surface-immobilized DNA. The approach presented in this paper, when combined with current high-throughput DNA microarray-based technologies, has the potential to serve as a rapid and simple method for quantitative and large-scale characterization of conformational specific protein-DNA interactions. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: DNA sequences and nomenclature (Table 1S); SDS-PAGE assay of IHF stock solution (Fig. 1S); determination of the concentration of IHF stock solution by Bradford assay (Fig. 2S); equilibrium binding isotherm fitting results of other DNA sequences (Table 2S); calculation of dissociation constants (Fig. 3S, 4S; Table 2S); geometric model for quantitation of DNA bending angle induced by specific IHF binding (Fig. 4S); customized flow cell assembly (Fig. 5S); real-time measurement of average fluorophore height change by SSFM (Fig. 6S); summary of binding parameters obtained from additive isotherm model fitting (Table 3S); average surface densities of 10 dsDNA spots and bound IHF at equilibrium (Table 4S); effects of surface densities on the binding and bending of dsDNA (Tables 5S, 6S and Fig. 7S-10S). See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr06785e

  4. Identification and validation of vesicant therapeutic targets using a high, throughput siRNA screening approach

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-12-24

    toxlet.2011.04.007 Rogers JV, Choi YW, Kiser RC et al (2004) Microarray analysis of gene expression in murine skin exposed to sulfur mustard. J Bio...Chemotactic factors released in culture by intact developing and healing skin lesions produced in rabbits by the irritant sulfur mustard. Inflam- mation 21(2...Project ID Number CBM.CUTOC.04.10. RC 00114. ABSTRACT See reprint. 15. SUBJECT TERMS sulfur mustard, cutaneous injury, siRNA, high-throughput screening

  5. GOTree Machine (GOTM): a web-based platform for interpreting sets of interesting genes using Gene Ontology hierarchies

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Bing; Schmoyer, Denise; Kirov, Stefan; Snoddy, Jay

    2004-01-01

    Background Microarray and other high-throughput technologies are producing large sets of interesting genes that are difficult to analyze directly. Bioinformatics tools are needed to interpret the functional information in the gene sets. Results We have created a web-based tool for data analysis and data visualization for sets of genes called GOTree Machine (GOTM). This tool was originally intended to analyze sets of co-regulated genes identified from microarray analysis but is adaptable for use with other gene sets from other high-throughput analyses. GOTree Machine generates a GOTree, a tree-like structure to navigate the Gene Ontology Directed Acyclic Graph for input gene sets. This system provides user friendly data navigation and visualization. Statistical analysis helps users to identify the most important Gene Ontology categories for the input gene sets and suggests biological areas that warrant further study. GOTree Machine is available online at . Conclusion GOTree Machine has a broad application in functional genomic, proteomic and other high-throughput methods that generate large sets of interesting genes; its primary purpose is to help users sort for interesting patterns in gene sets. PMID:14975175

  6. Genome Resequencing Identifies Unique Adaptations of Tibetan Chickens to Hypoxia and High-Dose Ultraviolet Radiation in High-Altitude Environments

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Qian; Gou, Wenyu; Wang, Xiaotong; Zhang, Yawen; Ma, Jun; Zhang, Hongliang; Zhang, Ying; Zhang, Hao

    2016-01-01

    Tibetan chicken, unlike their lowland counterparts, exhibit specific adaptations to high-altitude conditions. The genetic mechanisms of such adaptations in highland chickens were determined by resequencing the genomes of four highland (Tibetan and Lhasa White) and four lowland (White Leghorn, Lindian, and Chahua) chicken populations. Our results showed an evident genetic admixture in Tibetan chickens, suggesting a history of introgression from lowland gene pools. Genes showing positive selection in highland populations were related to cardiovascular and respiratory system development, DNA repair, response to radiation, inflammation, and immune responses, indicating a strong adaptation to oxygen scarcity and high-intensity solar radiation. The distribution of allele frequencies of nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms between highland and lowland populations was analyzed using chi-square test, which showed that several differentially distributed genes with missense mutations were enriched in several functional categories, especially in blood vessel development and adaptations to hypoxia and intense radiation. RNA sequencing revealed that several differentially expressed genes were enriched in gene ontology terms related to blood vessel and respiratory system development. Several candidate genes involved in the development of cardiorespiratory system (FGFR1, CTGF, ADAM9, JPH2, SATB1, BMP4, LOX, LPR, ANGPTL4, and HYAL1), inflammation and immune responses (AIRE, MYO1F, ZAP70, DDX60, CCL19, CD47, JSC, and FAS), DNA repair, and responses to radiation (VCP, ASH2L, and FANCG) were identified to play key roles in the adaptation to high-altitude conditions. Our data provide new insights into the unique adaptations of highland animals to extreme environments. PMID:26907498

  7. The high throughput biomedicine unit at the institute for molecular medicine Finland: high throughput screening meets precision medicine.

    PubMed

    Pietiainen, Vilja; Saarela, Jani; von Schantz, Carina; Turunen, Laura; Ostling, Paivi; Wennerberg, Krister

    2014-05-01

    The High Throughput Biomedicine (HTB) unit at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM was established in 2010 to serve as a national and international academic screening unit providing access to state of the art instrumentation for chemical and RNAi-based high throughput screening. The initial focus of the unit was multiwell plate based chemical screening and high content microarray-based siRNA screening. However, over the first four years of operation, the unit has moved to a more flexible service platform where both chemical and siRNA screening is performed at different scales primarily in multiwell plate-based assays with a wide range of readout possibilities with a focus on ultraminiaturization to allow for affordable screening for the academic users. In addition to high throughput screening, the equipment of the unit is also used to support miniaturized, multiplexed and high throughput applications for other types of research such as genomics, sequencing and biobanking operations. Importantly, with the translational research goals at FIMM, an increasing part of the operations at the HTB unit is being focused on high throughput systems biological platforms for functional profiling of patient cells in personalized and precision medicine projects.

  8. Enrichment of target sequences for next-generation sequencing applications in research and diagnostics.

    PubMed

    Altmüller, Janine; Budde, Birgit S; Nürnberg, Peter

    2014-02-01

    Abstract Targeted re-sequencing such as gene panel sequencing (GPS) has become very popular in medical genetics, both for research projects and in diagnostic settings. The technical principles of the different enrichment methods have been reviewed several times before; however, new enrichment products are constantly entering the market, and researchers are often puzzled about the requirement to take decisions about long-term commitments, both for the enrichment product and the sequencing technology. This review summarizes important considerations for the experimental design and provides helpful recommendations in choosing the best sequencing strategy for various research projects and diagnostic applications.

  9. CNV-ROC: A cost effective, computer-aided analytical performance evaluator of chromosomal microarrays.

    PubMed

    Goodman, Corey W; Major, Heather J; Walls, William D; Sheffield, Val C; Casavant, Thomas L; Darbro, Benjamin W

    2015-04-01

    Chromosomal microarrays (CMAs) are routinely used in both research and clinical laboratories; yet, little attention has been given to the estimation of genome-wide true and false negatives during the assessment of these assays and how such information could be used to calibrate various algorithmic metrics to improve performance. Low-throughput, locus-specific methods such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), quantitative PCR (qPCR), or multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) preclude rigorous calibration of various metrics used by copy number variant (CNV) detection algorithms. To aid this task, we have established a comparative methodology, CNV-ROC, which is capable of performing a high throughput, low cost, analysis of CMAs that takes into consideration genome-wide true and false negatives. CNV-ROC uses a higher resolution microarray to confirm calls from a lower resolution microarray and provides for a true measure of genome-wide performance metrics at the resolution offered by microarray testing. CNV-ROC also provides for a very precise comparison of CNV calls between two microarray platforms without the need to establish an arbitrary degree of overlap. Comparison of CNVs across microarrays is done on a per-probe basis and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis is used to calibrate algorithmic metrics, such as log2 ratio threshold, to enhance CNV calling performance. CNV-ROC addresses a critical and consistently overlooked aspect of analytical assessments of genome-wide techniques like CMAs which is the measurement and use of genome-wide true and false negative data for the calculation of performance metrics and comparison of CNV profiles between different microarray experiments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. High throughput gene expression profiling: a molecular approach to integrative physiology

    PubMed Central

    Liang, Mingyu; Cowley, Allen W; Greene, Andrew S

    2004-01-01

    Integrative physiology emphasizes the importance of understanding multiple pathways with overlapping, complementary, or opposing effects and their interactions in the context of intact organisms. The DNA microarray technology, the most commonly used method for high-throughput gene expression profiling, has been touted as an integrative tool that provides insights into regulatory pathways. However, the physiology community has been slow in acceptance of these techniques because of early failure in generating useful data and the lack of a cohesive theoretical framework in which experiments can be analysed. With recent advances in both technology and analysis, we propose a concept of multidimensional integration of physiology that incorporates data generated by DNA microarray and other functional, genomic, and proteomic approaches to achieve a truly integrative understanding of physiology. Analysis of several studies performed in simpler organisms or in mammalian model animals supports the feasibility of such multidimensional integration and demonstrates the power of DNA microarray as an indispensable molecular tool for such integration. Evaluation of DNA microarray techniques indicates that these techniques, despite limitations, have advanced to a point where the question-driven profiling research has become a feasible complement to the conventional, hypothesis-driven research. With a keen sense of homeostasis, global regulation, and quantitative analysis, integrative physiologists are uniquely positioned to apply these techniques to enhance the understanding of complex physiological functions. PMID:14678487

  11. Microbial forensics: fiber optic microarray subtyping of Bacillus anthracis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shepard, Jason R. E.

    2009-05-01

    The past decade has seen increased development and subsequent adoption of rapid molecular techniques involving DNA analysis for detection of pathogenic microorganisms, also termed microbial forensics. The continued accumulation of microbial sequence information in genomic databases now better positions the field of high-throughput DNA analysis to proceed in a more manageable fashion. The potential to build off of these databases exists as technology continues to develop, which will enable more rapid, cost effective analyses. This wealth of genetic information, along with new technologies, has the potential to better address some of the current problems and solve the key issues involved in DNA analysis of pathogenic microorganisms. To this end, a high density fiber optic microarray has been employed, housing numerous DNA sequences simultaneously for detection of various pathogenic microorganisms, including Bacillus anthracis, among others. Each organism is analyzed with multiple sequences and can be sub-typed against other closely related organisms. For public health labs, real-time PCR methods have been developed as an initial preliminary screen, but culture and growth are still considered the gold standard. Technologies employing higher throughput than these standard methods are better suited to capitalize on the limitless potential garnered from the sequence information. Microarray analyses are one such format positioned to exploit this potential, and our array platform is reusable, allowing repetitive tests on a single array, providing an increase in throughput and decrease in cost, along with a certainty of detection, down to the individual strain level.

  12. Microarray-based Resequencing of Multiple Bacillus anthracis Isolates

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-12-17

    generated an Unweighted Pair Group Method Arithmetic Mean ( UPGMA ) tree (see methods [56]; Figure 3). The strains group together in a manner broadly similar...was created using DNADIST, plotted as a UPGMA tree using NEIGHBOR and the tree plotted using DRAWGRAM [56]. The B1 strain A0465 was used as an...distance matrix was created using DNADIST, plotted as a UPGMA tree using NEIGHBOR and the tree plotted using DRAWGRAM [57]. Additional data files The

  13. Moving Toward Integrating Gene Expression Profiling Into High-Throughput Testing: A Gene Expression Biomarker Accurately Predicts Estrogen Receptor α Modulation in a Microarray Compendium.

    PubMed

    Ryan, Natalia; Chorley, Brian; Tice, Raymond R; Judson, Richard; Corton, J Christopher

    2016-05-01

    Microarray profiling of chemical-induced effects is being increasingly used in medium- and high-throughput formats. Computational methods are described here to identify molecular targets from whole-genome microarray data using as an example the estrogen receptor α (ERα), often modulated by potential endocrine disrupting chemicals. ERα biomarker genes were identified by their consistent expression after exposure to 7 structurally diverse ERα agonists and 3 ERα antagonists in ERα-positive MCF-7 cells. Most of the biomarker genes were shown to be directly regulated by ERα as determined by ESR1 gene knockdown using siRNA as well as through chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with DNA sequencing analysis of ERα-DNA interactions. The biomarker was evaluated as a predictive tool using the fold-change rank-based Running Fisher algorithm by comparison to annotated gene expression datasets from experiments using MCF-7 cells, including those evaluating the transcriptional effects of hormones and chemicals. Using 141 comparisons from chemical- and hormone-treated cells, the biomarker gave a balanced accuracy for prediction of ERα activation or suppression of 94% and 93%, respectively. The biomarker was able to correctly classify 18 out of 21 (86%) ER reference chemicals including "very weak" agonists. Importantly, the biomarker predictions accurately replicated predictions based on 18 in vitro high-throughput screening assays that queried different steps in ERα signaling. For 114 chemicals, the balanced accuracies were 95% and 98% for activation or suppression, respectively. These results demonstrate that the ERα gene expression biomarker can accurately identify ERα modulators in large collections of microarray data derived from MCF-7 cells. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology 2016. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

  14. The genomic response of skeletal muscle to methylprednisolone using microarrays: tailoring data mining to the structure of the pharmacogenomic time series

    PubMed Central

    DuBois, Debra C; Piel, William H; Jusko, William J

    2008-01-01

    High-throughput data collection using gene microarrays has great potential as a method for addressing the pharmacogenomics of complex biological systems. Similarly, mechanism-based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling provides a tool for formulating quantitative testable hypotheses concerning the responses of complex biological systems. As the response of such systems to drugs generally entails cascades of molecular events in time, a time series design provides the best approach to capturing the full scope of drug effects. A major problem in using microarrays for high-throughput data collection is sorting through the massive amount of data in order to identify probe sets and genes of interest. Due to its inherent redundancy, a rich time series containing many time points and multiple samples per time point allows for the use of less stringent criteria of expression, expression change and data quality for initial filtering of unwanted probe sets. The remaining probe sets can then become the focus of more intense scrutiny by other methods, including temporal clustering, functional clustering and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling, which provide additional ways of identifying the probes and genes of pharmacological interest. PMID:15212590

  15. ELISA microarray technology as a high-throughput system for cancer biomarker validation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zangar, Richard C.; Daly, Don S.; White, Amanda M.

    A large gap currently exists between the ability to discover potential biomarkers and the ability to assess the real value of these proteins for cancer screening. One major challenge in biomarker validation is the inherent variability in biomarker levels. This variability stems from the diversity across the human population and the considerable molecular heterogeneity between individual tumors, even those that originate from a single tissue. Another major challenge with cancer screening is that most cancers are rare in the general population, meaning that the specificity of an assay must be very high if the number of false positive is notmore » going to be much greater than the number of true positives. Because of these challenges with biomarker validation, it is necessary to analysis of thousands of samples before a clear idea of the utility of a screening assay can be determined. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) microarray technology can simultaneously quantify levels of multiple proteins and has the potential to accelerate biomarker validation. In this review, we discuss current ELISA microarray technology and the enabling advances needed to achieve the reproducibility and throughput that are required to evaluate cancer biomarkers.« less

  16. Microarrays for the evaluation of cell-biomaterial surface interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thissen, H.; Johnson, G.; McFarland, G.; Verbiest, B. C. H.; Gengenbach, T.; Voelcker, N. H.

    2007-01-01

    The evaluation of cell-material surface interactions is important for the design of novel biomaterials which are used in a variety of biomedical applications. While traditional in vitro test methods have routinely used samples of relatively large size, microarrays representing different biomaterials offer many advantages, including high throughput and reduced sample handling. Here, we describe the simultaneous cell-based testing of matrices of polymeric biomaterials, arrayed on glass slides with a low cell-attachment background coating. Arrays were constructed using a microarray robot at 6 fold redundancy with solid pins having a diameter of 375 μm. Printed solutions contained at least one monomer, an initiator and a bifunctional crosslinker. After subsequent UV polymerisation, the arrays were washed and characterised by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Cell culture experiments were carried out over 24 hours using HeLa cells. After labelling with CellTracker ® Green for the final hour of incubation and subsequent fixation, the arrays were scanned. In addition, individual spots were also viewed by fluorescence microscopy. The evaluation of cell-surface interactions in high-throughput assays as demonstrated here is a key enabling technology for the effective development of future biomaterials.

  17. MACRO: a combined microchip-PCR and microarray system for high-throughput monitoring of genetically modified organisms.

    PubMed

    Shao, Ning; Jiang, Shi-Meng; Zhang, Miao; Wang, Jing; Guo, Shu-Juan; Li, Yang; Jiang, He-Wei; Liu, Cheng-Xi; Zhang, Da-Bing; Yang, Li-Tao; Tao, Sheng-Ce

    2014-01-21

    The monitoring of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a primary step of GMO regulation. However, there is presently a lack of effective and high-throughput methodologies for specifically and sensitively monitoring most of the commercialized GMOs. Herein, we developed a multiplex amplification on a chip with readout on an oligo microarray (MACRO) system specifically for convenient GMO monitoring. This system is composed of a microchip for multiplex amplification and an oligo microarray for the readout of multiple amplicons, containing a total of 91 targets (18 universal elements, 20 exogenous genes, 45 events, and 8 endogenous reference genes) that covers 97.1% of all GM events that have been commercialized up to 2012. We demonstrate that the specificity of MACRO is ~100%, with a limit of detection (LOD) that is suitable for real-world applications. Moreover, the results obtained of simulated complex samples and blind samples with MACRO were 100% consistent with expectations and the results of independently performed real-time PCRs, respectively. Thus, we believe MACRO is the first system that can be applied for effectively monitoring the majority of the commercialized GMOs in a single test.

  18. High throughput SNP discovery and genotyping in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) by combining a re-sequencing approach and SNPlex technology

    PubMed Central

    Lijavetzky, Diego; Cabezas, José Antonio; Ibáñez, Ana; Rodríguez, Virginia; Martínez-Zapater, José M

    2007-01-01

    Background Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most abundant type of DNA sequence polymorphisms. Their higher availability and stability when compared to simple sequence repeats (SSRs) provide enhanced possibilities for genetic and breeding applications such as cultivar identification, construction of genetic maps, the assessment of genetic diversity, the detection of genotype/phenotype associations, or marker-assisted breeding. In addition, the efficiency of these activities can be improved thanks to the ease with which SNP genotyping can be automated. Expressed sequence tags (EST) sequencing projects in grapevine are allowing for the in silico detection of multiple putative sequence polymorphisms within and among a reduced number of cultivars. In parallel, the sequence of the grapevine cultivar Pinot Noir is also providing thousands of polymorphisms present in this highly heterozygous genome. Still the general application of those SNPs requires further validation since their use could be restricted to those specific genotypes. Results In order to develop a large SNP set of wide application in grapevine we followed a systematic re-sequencing approach in a group of 11 grape genotypes corresponding to ancient unrelated cultivars as well as wild plants. Using this approach, we have sequenced 230 gene fragments, what represents the analysis of over 1 Mb of grape DNA sequence. This analysis has allowed the discovery of 1573 SNPs with an average of one SNP every 64 bp (one SNP every 47 bp in non-coding regions and every 69 bp in coding regions). Nucleotide diversity in grape (π = 0.0051) was found to be similar to values observed in highly polymorphic plant species such as maize. The average number of haplotypes per gene sequence was estimated as six, with three haplotypes representing over 83% of the analyzed sequences. Short-range linkage disequilibrium (LD) studies within the analyzed sequences indicate the existence of a rapid decay of LD within the selected grapevine genotypes. To validate the use of the detected polymorphisms in genetic mapping, cultivar identification and genetic diversity studies we have used the SNPlex™ genotyping technology in a sample of grapevine genotypes and segregating progenies. Conclusion These results provide accurate values for nucleotide diversity in coding sequences and a first estimate of short-range LD in grapevine. Using SNPlex™ genotyping we have shown the application of a set of discovered SNPs as molecular markers for cultivar identification, linkage mapping and genetic diversity studies. Thus, the combination a highly efficient re-sequencing approach and the SNPlex™ high throughput genotyping technology provide a powerful tool for grapevine genetic analysis. PMID:18021442

  19. Microfluidics for cell-based high throughput screening platforms - A review.

    PubMed

    Du, Guansheng; Fang, Qun; den Toonder, Jaap M J

    2016-01-15

    In the last decades, the basic techniques of microfluidics for the study of cells such as cell culture, cell separation, and cell lysis, have been well developed. Based on cell handling techniques, microfluidics has been widely applied in the field of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), immunoassays, organ-on-chip, stem cell research, and analysis and identification of circulating tumor cells. As a major step in drug discovery, high-throughput screening allows rapid analysis of thousands of chemical, biochemical, genetic or pharmacological tests in parallel. In this review, we summarize the application of microfluidics in cell-based high throughput screening. The screening methods mentioned in this paper include approaches using the perfusion flow mode, the droplet mode, and the microarray mode. We also discuss the future development of microfluidic based high throughput screening platform for drug discovery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. A survey of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms through genome resequencing in the Périgord black truffle (Tuber melanosporum Vittad.).

    PubMed

    Payen, Thibaut; Murat, Claude; Gigant, Anaïs; Morin, Emmanuelle; De Mita, Stéphane; Martin, Francis

    2015-09-01

    The Périgord black truffle (Tuber melanosporum Vittad.), considered a gastronomic delicacy worldwide, is an ectomycorrhizal filamentous fungus that is ecologically important in Mediterranean French, Italian and Spanish woodlands. In this study, we developed a novel resource of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for T. melanosporum using Illumina high-throughput resequencing. The genome from six T. melanosporum geographical accessions was sequenced to a depth of approximately 20×. These geographical accessions were selected from different populations within the northern and southern regions of the geographical species distribution. Approximately 80% of the reads for each of the six resequenced geographical accessions mapped against the reference T. melanosporum genome assembly, estimating the core genome size of this organism to be approximately 110 Mbp. A total of 442 326 SNPs corresponding to 3540 SNPs/Mbps were identified as being included in all seven genomes. The SNPs occurred more frequently in repeated sequences (85%), although 4501 SNPs were also identified in the coding regions of 2587 genes. Using the ratio of nonsynonymous mutations per nonsynonymous site (pN) to synonymous mutations per synonymous site (pS) and Tajima's D index scanning the whole genome, we were able to identify genomic regions and genes potentially subjected to positive or purifying selection. The SNPs identified represent a valuable resource for future population genetics and genomics studies. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Application of chemical arrays in screening elastase inhibitors.

    PubMed

    Gao, Feng; Du, Guan-Hua

    2006-06-01

    Protein chip technology provides a new and useful tool for high-throughput screening of drugs because of its high performance and low sample consumption. In order to screen elastase inhibitors on a large scale, we designed a composite microarray integrating enzyme chip containing chemical arrays on glass slides to screen for enzymatic inhibitors. The composite microarray includes an active proteinase film, screened chemical arrays distributed on the film, and substrate microarrays to demonstrate change of color. The detection principle is that elastase hydrolyzes synthetic colorless substrates and turns them into yellow products. Because yellow is difficult to detect, bromochlorophenol blue (BPB) was added into substrate solutions to facilitate the detection process. After the enzyme had catalyzed reactions for 2 h, effects of samples on enzymatic activity could be determined by detecting color change of the spots. When chemical samples inhibited enzymatic activity, substrates were blue instead of yellow products. If the enzyme retained its activity, the yellow color of the products combined with blue of BPB to make the spots green. Chromogenic differences demonstrated whether chemicals inhibited enzymatic activity or not. In this assay, 11,680 compounds were screened, and two valuable chemical hits were identified, which demonstrates that this assay is effective, sensitive and applicable for high-throughput screening (HTS).

  2. Fabrication of Carbohydrate Microarrays by Boronate Formation.

    PubMed

    Adak, Avijit K; Lin, Ting-Wei; Li, Ben-Yuan; Lin, Chun-Cheng

    2017-01-01

    The interactions between soluble carbohydrates and/or surface displayed glycans and protein receptors are essential to many biological processes and cellular recognition events. Carbohydrate microarrays provide opportunities for high-throughput quantitative analysis of carbohydrate-protein interactions. Over the past decade, various techniques have been implemented for immobilizing glycans on solid surfaces in a microarray format. Herein, we describe a detailed protocol for fabricating carbohydrate microarrays that capitalizes on the intrinsic reactivity of boronic acid toward carbohydrates to form stable boronate diesters. A large variety of unprotected carbohydrates ranging in structure from simple disaccharides and trisaccharides to considerably more complex human milk and blood group (oligo)saccharides have been covalently immobilized in a single step on glass slides, which were derivatized with high-affinity boronic acid ligands. The immobilized ligands in these microarrays maintain the receptor-binding activities including those of lectins and antibodies according to the structures of their pendant carbohydrates for rapid analysis of a number of carbohydrate-recognition events within 30 h. This method facilitates the direct construction of otherwise difficult to obtain carbohydrate microarrays from underivatized glycans.

  3. Identification of Potential Chemical Carcinogens in Compendia of Gene Expression Profiles

    EPA Science Inventory

    Chemicals induce cancer through partially characterized adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) that include molecular initiating events (MIEs) and downstream key events (KEs). Microarray profiling of chemical-induced effects is being increasingly used in medium- and high-throughput form...

  4. A Protein Microarray for the Rapid Screening of Patients Suspected of Infection with Various Food-Borne Helminthiases

    PubMed Central

    Ai, Lin; Chen, Jun-Hu; Chen, Shao-Hong; Zhang, Yong-Nian; Cai, Yu-Chun; Zhu, Xing-Quan; Zhou, Xiao-Nong

    2012-01-01

    Background Food-borne helminthiases (FBHs) have become increasingly important due to frequent occurrence and worldwide distribution. There is increasing demand for developing more sensitive, high-throughput techniques for the simultaneous detection of multiple parasitic diseases due to limitations in differential clinical diagnosis of FBHs with similar symptoms. These infections are difficult to diagnose correctly by conventional diagnostic approaches including serological approaches. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, antigens obtained from 5 parasite species, namely Cysticercus cellulosae, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, Paragonimus westermani, Trichinella spiralis and Spirometra sp., were semi-purified after immunoblotting. Sera from 365 human cases of helminthiasis and 80 healthy individuals were assayed with semi-purified antigens by both a protein microarray and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The sensitivity, specificity and simplicity of each test for the end-user were evaluated. The specificity of the tests ranged from 97.0% (95% confidence interval (CI): 95.3–98.7%) to 100.0% (95% CI: 100.0%) in the protein microarray and from 97.7% (95% CI: 96.2–99.2%) to 100.0% (95% CI: 100.0%) in ELISA. The sensitivity varied from 85.7% (95% CI: 75.1–96.3%) to 92.1% (95% CI: 83.5–100.0%) in the protein microarray, while the corresponding values for ELISA were 82.0% (95% CI: 71.4–92.6%) to 92.1% (95% CI: 83.5–100.0%). Furthermore, the Youden index spanned from 0.83 to 0.92 in the protein microarray and from 0.80 to 0.92 in ELISA. For each parasite, the Youden index from the protein microarray was often slightly higher than the one from ELISA even though the same antigen was used. Conclusions/Significance The protein microarray platform is a convenient, versatile, high-throughput method that can easily be adapted to massive FBH screening. PMID:23209851

  5. High-throughput microarray technology in diagnostics of enterobacteria based on genome-wide probe selection and regression analysis.

    PubMed

    Friedrich, Torben; Rahmann, Sven; Weigel, Wilfried; Rabsch, Wolfgang; Fruth, Angelika; Ron, Eliora; Gunzer, Florian; Dandekar, Thomas; Hacker, Jörg; Müller, Tobias; Dobrindt, Ulrich

    2010-10-21

    The Enterobacteriaceae comprise a large number of clinically relevant species with several individual subspecies. Overlapping virulence-associated gene pools and the high overall genome plasticity often interferes with correct enterobacterial strain typing and risk assessment. Array technology offers a fast, reproducible and standardisable means for bacterial typing and thus provides many advantages for bacterial diagnostics, risk assessment and surveillance. The development of highly discriminative broad-range microbial diagnostic microarrays remains a challenge, because of marked genome plasticity of many bacterial pathogens. We developed a DNA microarray for strain typing and detection of major antimicrobial resistance genes of clinically relevant enterobacteria. For this purpose, we applied a global genome-wide probe selection strategy on 32 available complete enterobacterial genomes combined with a regression model for pathogen classification. The discriminative power of the probe set was further tested in silico on 15 additional complete enterobacterial genome sequences. DNA microarrays based on the selected probes were used to type 92 clinical enterobacterial isolates. Phenotypic tests confirmed the array-based typing results and corroborate that the selected probes allowed correct typing and prediction of major antibiotic resistances of clinically relevant Enterobacteriaceae, including the subspecies level, e.g. the reliable distinction of different E. coli pathotypes. Our results demonstrate that the global probe selection approach based on longest common factor statistics as well as the design of a DNA microarray with a restricted set of discriminative probes enables robust discrimination of different enterobacterial variants and represents a proof of concept that can be adopted for diagnostics of a wide range of microbial pathogens. Our approach circumvents misclassifications arising from the application of virulence markers, which are highly affected by horizontal gene transfer. Moreover, a broad range of pathogens have been covered by an efficient probe set size enabling the design of high-throughput diagnostics.

  6. EDGE 2017 R&D 100 Entry with Appendix

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chain, Patrick Sam Guy; Davenport, Karen Walston; Li, Po-E

    Diabetes, infertility, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease—the key to one day preventing or even curing such afflictions and diseases (both infectious and genetically driven) may be locked in our own genetic code and the code of microorganisms that inhabit our bodies. The study of this code, known as genomics, has recently become much more promising as a result of two things: (1) vast improvements in high-throughput, nextgeneration sequencing (NSG), and (2) an exponential decrease in the cost of such sequencing. For example, it originally cost approximately $3 billion to sequence the human genome; today, this genome could be resequenced for lessmore » than $1,000.« less

  7. Genome Resequencing Identifies Unique Adaptations of Tibetan Chickens to Hypoxia and High-Dose Ultraviolet Radiation in High-Altitude Environments.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Qian; Gou, Wenyu; Wang, Xiaotong; Zhang, Yawen; Ma, Jun; Zhang, Hongliang; Zhang, Ying; Zhang, Hao

    2016-02-23

    Tibetan chicken, unlike their lowland counterparts, exhibit specific adaptations to high-altitude conditions. The genetic mechanisms of such adaptations in highland chickens were determined by resequencing the genomes of four highland (Tibetan and Lhasa White) and four lowland (White Leghorn, Lindian, and Chahua) chicken populations. Our results showed an evident genetic admixture in Tibetan chickens, suggesting a history of introgression from lowland gene pools. Genes showing positive selection in highland populations were related to cardiovascular and respiratory system development, DNA repair, response to radiation, inflammation, and immune responses, indicating a strong adaptation to oxygen scarcity and high-intensity solar radiation. The distribution of allele frequencies of nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms between highland and lowland populations was analyzed using chi-square test, which showed that several differentially distributed genes with missense mutations were enriched in several functional categories, especially in blood vessel development and adaptations to hypoxia and intense radiation. RNA sequencing revealed that several differentially expressed genes were enriched in gene ontology terms related to blood vessel and respiratory system development. Several candidate genes involved in the development of cardiorespiratory system (FGFR1, CTGF, ADAM9, JPH2, SATB1, BMP4, LOX, LPR, ANGPTL4, and HYAL1), inflammation and immune responses (AIRE, MYO1F, ZAP70, DDX60, CCL19, CD47, JSC, and FAS), DNA repair, and responses to radiation (VCP, ASH2L, and FANCG) were identified to play key roles in the adaptation to high-altitude conditions. Our data provide new insights into the unique adaptations of highland animals to extreme environments. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

  8. Rapid genotyping by low-coverage resequencing to construct genetic linkage maps of fungi: a case study in Lentinula edodes

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Genetic linkage maps are important tools in breeding programmes and quantitative trait analyses. Traditional molecular markers used for genotyping are limited in throughput and efficiency. The advent of next-generation sequencing technologies has facilitated progeny genotyping and genetic linkage map construction in the major grains. However, the applicability of the approach remains untested in the fungal system. Findings Shiitake mushroom, Lentinula edodes, is a basidiomycetous fungus that represents one of the most popular cultivated edible mushrooms. Here, we developed a rapid genotyping method based on low-coverage (~0.5 to 1.5-fold) whole-genome resequencing. We used the approach to genotype 20 single-spore isolates derived from L. edodes strain L54 and constructed the first high-density sequence-based genetic linkage map of L. edodes. The accuracy of the proposed genotyping method was verified experimentally with results from mating compatibility tests and PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism on a few known genes. The linkage map spanned a total genetic distance of 637.1 cM and contained 13 linkage groups. Two hundred sequence-based markers were placed on the map, with an average marker spacing of 3.4 cM. The accuracy of the map was confirmed by comparing with previous maps the locations of known genes such as matA and matB. Conclusions We used the shiitake mushroom as an example to provide a proof-of-principle that low-coverage resequencing could allow rapid genotyping of basidiospore-derived progenies, which could in turn facilitate the construction of high-density genetic linkage maps of basidiomycetous fungi for quantitative trait analyses and improvement of genome assembly. PMID:23915543

  9. Hybridization chain reaction amplification for highly sensitive fluorescence detection of DNA with dextran coated microarrays.

    PubMed

    Chao, Jie; Li, Zhenhua; Li, Jing; Peng, Hongzhen; Su, Shao; Li, Qian; Zhu, Changfeng; Zuo, Xiaolei; Song, Shiping; Wang, Lianhui; Wang, Lihua

    2016-07-15

    Microarrays of biomolecules hold great promise in the fields of genomics, proteomics, and clinical assays on account of their remarkably parallel and high-throughput assay capability. However, the fluorescence detection used in most conventional DNA microarrays is still limited by sensitivity. In this study, we have demonstrated a novel universal and highly sensitive platform for fluorescent detection of sequence specific DNA at the femtomolar level by combining dextran-coated microarrays with hybridization chain reaction (HCR) signal amplification. Three-dimensional dextran matrix was covalently coated on glass surface as the scaffold to immobilize DNA recognition probes to increase the surface binding capacity and accessibility. DNA nanowire tentacles were formed on the matrix surface for efficient signal amplification by capturing multiple fluorescent molecules in a highly ordered way. By quantifying microscopic fluorescent signals, the synergetic effects of dextran and HCR greatly improved sensitivity of DNA microarrays, with a detection limit of 10fM (1×10(5) molecules). This detection assay could recognize one-base mismatch with fluorescence signals dropped down to ~20%. This cost-effective microarray platform also worked well with samples in serum and thus shows great potential for clinical diagnosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Next generation diagnostics of cystic fibrosis and CFTR-related disorders by targeted multiplex high-coverage resequencing of CFTR.

    PubMed

    Trujillano, D; Ramos, M D; González, J; Tornador, C; Sotillo, F; Escaramis, G; Ossowski, S; Armengol, L; Casals, T; Estivill, X

    2013-07-01

    Here we have developed a novel and much more efficient strategy for the complete molecular characterisation of the cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene, based on multiplexed targeted resequencing. We have tested this approach in a cohort of 92 samples with previously characterised CFTR mutations and polymorphisms. After enrichment of the pooled barcoded DNA libraries with a custom NimbleGen SeqCap EZ Choice array (Roche) and sequencing with a HiSeq2000 (Illumina) sequencer, we applied several bioinformatics tools to call mutations and polymorphisms in CFTR. The combination of several bioinformatics tools allowed us to detect all known pathogenic variants (point mutations, short insertions/deletions, and large genomic rearrangements) and polymorphisms (including the poly-T and poly-thymidine-guanine polymorphic tracts) in the 92 samples. In addition, we report the precise characterisation of the breakpoints of seven genomic rearrangements in CFTR, including those of a novel deletion of exon 22 and a complex 85 kb inversion which includes two large deletions affecting exons 4-8 and 12-21, respectively. This work is a proof-of-principle that targeted resequencing is an accurate and cost-effective approach for the genetic testing of CF and CFTR-related disorders (ie, male infertility) amenable to the routine clinical practice, and ready to substitute classical molecular methods in medical genetics.

  11. Synthesis of high-quality libraries of long (150mer) oligonucleotides by a novel depurination controlled process

    PubMed Central

    LeProust, Emily M.; Peck, Bill J.; Spirin, Konstantin; McCuen, Heather Brummel; Moore, Bridget; Namsaraev, Eugeni; Caruthers, Marvin H.

    2010-01-01

    We have achieved the ability to synthesize thousands of unique, long oligonucleotides (150mers) in fmol amounts using parallel synthesis of DNA on microarrays. The sequence accuracy of the oligonucleotides in such large-scale syntheses has been limited by the yields and side reactions of the DNA synthesis process used. While there has been significant demand for libraries of long oligos (150mer and more), the yields in conventional DNA synthesis and the associated side reactions have previously limited the availability of oligonucleotide pools to lengths <100 nt. Using novel array based depurination assays, we show that the depurination side reaction is the limiting factor for the synthesis of libraries of long oligonucleotides on Agilent Technologies’ SurePrint® DNA microarray platform. We also demonstrate how depurination can be controlled and reduced by a novel detritylation process to enable the synthesis of high quality, long (150mer) oligonucleotide libraries and we report the characterization of synthesis efficiency for such libraries. Oligonucleotide libraries prepared with this method have changed the economics and availability of several existing applications (e.g. targeted resequencing, preparation of shRNA libraries, site-directed mutagenesis), and have the potential to enable even more novel applications (e.g. high-complexity synthetic biology). PMID:20308161

  12. Genomic paradigms for food-borne enteric pathogen analysis at the USFDA: case studies highlighting method utility, integration and resolution.

    PubMed

    Elkins, C A; Kotewicz, M L; Jackson, S A; Lacher, D W; Abu-Ali, G S; Patel, I R

    2013-01-01

    Modern risk control and food safety practices involving food-borne bacterial pathogens are benefiting from new genomic technologies for rapid, yet highly specific, strain characterisations. Within the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), optical genome mapping and DNA microarray genotyping have been used for several years to quickly assess genomic architecture and gene content, respectively, for outbreak strain subtyping and to enhance retrospective trace-back analyses. The application and relative utility of each method varies with outbreak scenario and the suspect pathogen, with comparative analytical power enhanced by database scale and depth. Integration of these two technologies allows high-resolution scrutiny of the genomic landscapes of enteric food-borne pathogens with notable examples including Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella enterica serovars from a variety of food commodities. Moreover, the recent application of whole genome sequencing technologies to food-borne pathogen outbreaks and surveillance has enhanced resolution to the single nucleotide scale. This new wealth of sequence data will support more refined next-generation custom microarray designs, targeted re-sequencing and "genomic signature recognition" approaches involving a combination of genes and single nucleotide polymorphism detection to distil strain-specific fingerprinting to a minimised scale. This paper examines the utility of microarrays and optical mapping in analysing outbreaks, reviews best practices and the limits of these technologies for pathogen differentiation, and it considers future integration with whole genome sequencing efforts.

  13. How Can We Use Bioinformatics to Predict Which Agents Will Cause Birth Defects?

    EPA Science Inventory

    The availability of genomic sequences from a growing number of human and model organisms has provided an explosion of data, information, and knowledge regarding biological systems and disease processes. High-throughput technologies such as DNA and protein microarray biochips are ...

  14. Droplet Microarray Based on Superhydrophobic-Superhydrophilic Patterns for Single Cell Analysis.

    PubMed

    Jogia, Gabriella E; Tronser, Tina; Popova, Anna A; Levkin, Pavel A

    2016-12-09

    Single-cell analysis provides fundamental information on individual cell response to different environmental cues and is a growing interest in cancer and stem cell research. However, current existing methods are still facing challenges in performing such analysis in a high-throughput manner whilst being cost-effective. Here we established the Droplet Microarray (DMA) as a miniaturized screening platform for high-throughput single-cell analysis. Using the method of limited dilution and varying cell density and seeding time, we optimized the distribution of single cells on the DMA. We established culturing conditions for single cells in individual droplets on DMA obtaining the survival of nearly 100% of single cells and doubling time of single cells comparable with that of cells cultured in bulk cell population using conventional methods. Our results demonstrate that the DMA is a suitable platform for single-cell analysis, which carries a number of advantages compared with existing technologies allowing for treatment, staining and spot-to-spot analysis of single cells over time using conventional analysis methods such as microscopy.

  15. Strategies for cell manipulation and skeletal tissue engineering using high-throughput polymer blend formulation and microarray techniques.

    PubMed

    Khan, Ferdous; Tare, Rahul S; Kanczler, Janos M; Oreffo, Richard O C; Bradley, Mark

    2010-03-01

    A combination of high-throughput material formulation and microarray techniques were synergistically applied for the efficient analysis of the biological functionality of 135 binary polymer blends. This allowed the identification of cell-compatible biopolymers permissive for human skeletal stem cell growth in both in vitro and in vivo applications. The blended polymeric materials were developed from commercially available, inexpensive and well characterised biodegradable polymers, which on their own lacked both the structural requirements of a scaffold material and, critically, the ability to facilitate cell growth. Blends identified here proved excellent templates for cell attachment, and in addition, a number of blends displayed remarkable bone-like architecture and facilitated bone regeneration by providing 3D biomimetic scaffolds for skeletal cell growth and osteogenic differentiation. This study demonstrates a unique strategy to generate and identify innovative materials with widespread application in cell biology as well as offering a new reparative platform strategy applicable to skeletal tissues. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Physico-chemical foundations underpinning microarray and next-generation sequencing experiments

    PubMed Central

    Harrison, Andrew; Binder, Hans; Buhot, Arnaud; Burden, Conrad J.; Carlon, Enrico; Gibas, Cynthia; Gamble, Lara J.; Halperin, Avraham; Hooyberghs, Jef; Kreil, David P.; Levicky, Rastislav; Noble, Peter A.; Ott, Albrecht; Pettitt, B. Montgomery; Tautz, Diethard; Pozhitkov, Alexander E.

    2013-01-01

    Hybridization of nucleic acids on solid surfaces is a key process involved in high-throughput technologies such as microarrays and, in some cases, next-generation sequencing (NGS). A physical understanding of the hybridization process helps to determine the accuracy of these technologies. The goal of a widespread research program is to develop reliable transformations between the raw signals reported by the technologies and individual molecular concentrations from an ensemble of nucleic acids. This research has inputs from many areas, from bioinformatics and biostatistics, to theoretical and experimental biochemistry and biophysics, to computer simulations. A group of leading researchers met in Ploen Germany in 2011 to discuss present knowledge and limitations of our physico-chemical understanding of high-throughput nucleic acid technologies. This meeting inspired us to write this summary, which provides an overview of the state-of-the-art approaches based on physico-chemical foundation to modeling of the nucleic acids hybridization process on solid surfaces. In addition, practical application of current knowledge is emphasized. PMID:23307556

  17. A New Versatile Microarray-based Method for High Throughput Screening of Carbohydrate-active Enzymes*

    PubMed Central

    Vidal-Melgosa, Silvia; Pedersen, Henriette L.; Schückel, Julia; Arnal, Grégory; Dumon, Claire; Amby, Daniel B.; Monrad, Rune Nygaard; Westereng, Bjørge; Willats, William G. T.

    2015-01-01

    Carbohydrate-active enzymes have multiple biological roles and industrial applications. Advances in genome and transcriptome sequencing together with associated bioinformatics tools have identified vast numbers of putative carbohydrate-degrading and -modifying enzymes including glycoside hydrolases and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases. However, there is a paucity of methods for rapidly screening the activities of these enzymes. By combining the multiplexing capacity of carbohydrate microarrays with the specificity of molecular probes, we have developed a sensitive, high throughput, and versatile semiquantitative enzyme screening technique that requires low amounts of enzyme and substrate. The method can be used to assess the activities of single enzymes, enzyme mixtures, and crude culture broths against single substrates, substrate mixtures, and biomass samples. Moreover, we show that the technique can be used to analyze both endo-acting and exo-acting glycoside hydrolases, polysaccharide lyases, carbohydrate esterases, and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases. We demonstrate the potential of the technique by identifying the substrate specificities of purified uncharacterized enzymes and by screening enzyme activities from fungal culture broths. PMID:25657012

  18. Building biochips: a protein production pipeline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Carvalho-Kavanagh, Marianne G. S.; Albala, Joanna S.

    2004-06-01

    Protein arrays are emerging as a practical format in which to study proteins in high-throughput using many of the same techniques as that of the DNA microarray. The key advantage to array-based methods for protein study is the potential for parallel analysis of thousands of samples in an automated, high-throughput fashion. Building protein arrays capable of this analysis capacity requires a robust expression and purification system capable of generating hundreds to thousands of purified recombinant proteins. We have developed a method to utilize LLNL-I.M.A.G.E. cDNAs to generate recombinant protein libraries using a baculovirus-insect cell expression system. We have used this strategy to produce proteins for analysis of protein/DNA and protein/protein interactions using protein microarrays in order to understand the complex interactions of proteins involved in homologous recombination and DNA repair. Using protein array techniques, a novel interaction between the DNA repair protein, Rad51B, and histones has been identified.

  19. Analysis of Protein Expression in Cell Microarrays: A Tool for Antibody-based Proteomics

    PubMed Central

    Andersson, Ann-Catrin; Strömberg, Sara; Bäckvall, Helena; Kampf, Caroline; Uhlen, Mathias; Wester, Kenneth; Pontén, Fredrik

    2006-01-01

    Tissue microarray (TMA) technology provides a possibility to explore protein expression patterns in a multitude of normal and disease tissues in a high-throughput setting. Although TMAs have been used for analysis of tissue samples, robust methods for studying in vitro cultured cell lines and cell aspirates in a TMA format have been lacking. We have adopted a technique to homogeneously distribute cells in an agarose gel matrix, creating an artificial tissue. This enables simultaneous profiling of protein expression in suspension- and adherent-grown cell samples assembled in a microarray. In addition, the present study provides an optimized strategy for the basic laboratory steps to efficiently produce TMAs. Presented modifications resulted in an improved quality of specimens and a higher section yield compared with standard TMA production protocols. Sections from the generated cell TMAs were tested for immunohistochemical staining properties using 20 well-characterized antibodies. Comparison of immunoreactivity in cultured dispersed cells and corresponding cells in tissue samples showed congruent results for all tested antibodies. We conclude that a modified TMA technique, including cell samples, provides a valuable tool for high-throughput analysis of protein expression, and that this technique can be used for global approaches to explore the human proteome. PMID:16957166

  20. Polymer surface functionalities that control human embryoid body cell adhesion revealed by high throughput surface characterization of combinatorial material microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Jing; Mei, Ying; Hook, Andrew L.; Taylor, Michael; Urquhart, Andrew J.; Bogatyrev, Said R.; Langer, Robert; Anderson, Daniel G.; Davies, Martyn C.; Alexander, Morgan R.

    2010-01-01

    High throughput materials discovery using combinatorial polymer microarrays to screen for new biomaterials with new and improved function is established as a powerful strategy. Here we combine this screening approach with high throughput surface characterisation (HT-SC) to identify surface structure-function relationships. We explore how this combination can help to identify surface chemical moieties that control protein adsorption and subsequent cellular response. The adhesion of human embryoid body (hEB) cells to a large number (496) of different acrylate polymers synthesized in a microarray format is screened using a high throughput procedure. To determine the role of the polymer surface properties on hEB cell adhesion, detailed HT-SC of these acrylate polymers is carried out using time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF SIMS), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), pico litre drop sessile water contact angle (WCA) measurement and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A structure-function relationship is identified between the ToF SIMS analysis of the surface chemistry after a fibronectin (Fn) pre-conditioning step and the cell adhesion to each spot using the multivariate analysis technique partial least squares (PLS) regression. Secondary ions indicative of the adsorbed Fn correlate with increased cell adhesion whereas glycol and other functionalities from the polymers are identified that reduce cell adhesion. Furthermore, a strong relationship between the ToF SIMS spectra of bare polymers and the cell adhesion to each spot is identified using PLS regression. This identifies a role for both the surface chemistry of the bare polymer and the pre-adsorbed Fn, as-represented in the ToF SIMS spectra, in controlling cellular adhesion. In contrast, no relationship is found between cell adhesion and wettability, surface roughness, elemental or functional surface composition. The correlation between ToF SIMS data of the surfaces and the cell adhesion demonstrates the ability of identifying surface moieties that control protein adsorption and subsequent cell adhesion using ToF SIMS and multivariate analysis. PMID:20832108

  1. Long Noncoding RNAs and mRNA Regulation in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Weijia; Xu, Dan

    2018-01-01

    Background Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We evaluated the lncRNA and mRNA expression profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy nonsmokers, smokers without airflow limitation, and COPD patients. Methods lncRNA and mRNA profiling of PBMCs from 17 smokers and 14 COPD subjects was detected by high-throughput microarray. The expression of dysregulated lncRNAs was validated by qPCR. The lncRNA targets in dysregulated mRNAs were predicted and the GO enrichment was analyzed. The regulatory role of lncRNA ENST00000502883.1 on CXCL16 expression and consequently the effect on PBMC recruitment were investigated by siRNA knockdown and chemotaxis analysis. Results We identified 158 differentially expressed lncRNAs in PBMCs from COPD subjects compared with smokers. The dysregulated expression of 5 selected lncRNAs NR_026891.1 (FLJ10038), ENST00000502883.1 (RP11-499E18.1), HIT000648516, XR_429541.1, and ENST00000597550.1 (CTD-2245F17.3), was validated. The GO enrichment showed that leukocyte migration, immune response, and apoptosis are the main enriched processes that previously reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of COPD. The regulatory role of ENST00000502883.1 on CXCL16 expression and consequently the effect on PBMC recruitment was confirmed. Conclusion This study may provide clues for further studies targeting lncRNAs to control inflammation in COPD. PMID:29725270

  2. Solanum torvum responses to the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Solanum torvum Sw is worldwide employed as rootstock for eggplant cultivation because of its vigour and resistance/tolerance to the most serious soil-borne diseases as bacterial, fungal wilts and root-knot nematodes. The little information on Solanum torvum (hereafter Torvum) resistance mechanisms, is mostly attributable to the lack of genomic tools (e.g. dedicated microarray) as well as to the paucity of database information limiting high-throughput expression studies in Torvum. Results As a first step towards transcriptome profiling of Torvum inoculated with the nematode M. incognita, we built a Torvum 3’ transcript catalogue. One-quarter of a 454 full run resulted in 205,591 quality-filtered reads. De novo assembly yielded 24,922 contigs and 11,875 singletons. Similarity searches of the S. torvum transcript tags catalogue produced 12,344 annotations. A 30,0000 features custom combimatrix chip was then designed and microarray hybridizations were conducted for both control and 14 dpi (day post inoculation) with Meloidogyne incognita-infected roots samples resulting in 390 differentially expressed genes (DEG). We also tested the chip with samples from the phylogenetically-related nematode-susceptible eggplant species Solanum melongena. An in-silico validation strategy was developed based on assessment of sequence similarity among Torvum probes and eggplant expressed sequences available in public repositories. GO term enrichment analyses with the 390 Torvum DEG revealed enhancement of several processes as chitin catabolism and sesquiterpenoids biosynthesis, while no GO term enrichment was found with eggplant DEG. The genes identified from S. torvum catalogue, bearing high similarity to known nematode resistance genes, were further investigated in view of their potential role in the nematode resistance mechanism. Conclusions By combining 454 pyrosequencing and microarray technology we were able to conduct a cost-effective global transcriptome profiling in a non-model species. In addition, the development of an in silico validation strategy allowed to further extend the use of the custom chip to a related species and to assess by comparison the expression of selected genes without major concerns of artifacts. The expression profiling of S. torvum responses to nematode infection points to sesquiterpenoids and chitinases as major effectors of nematode resistance. The availability of the long sequence tags in S. torvum catalogue will allow precise identification of active nematocide/nematostatic compounds and associated enzymes posing the basis for exploitation of these resistance mechanisms in other species. PMID:23937585

  3. High-throughput simultaneous determination of plasma water deuterium and 18-oxygen enrichment using a high-temperature conversion elemental analyzer with isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Richelle, M; Darimont, C; Piguet-Welsch, C; Fay, L B

    2004-01-01

    This paper presents a high-throughput method for the simultaneous determination of deuterium and oxygen-18 (18O) enrichment of water samples isolated from blood. This analytical method enables rapid and simple determination of these enrichments of microgram quantities of water. Water is converted into hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases by the use of a high-temperature conversion elemental analyzer (TC-EA), that are then transferred on-line into the isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Accuracy determined with the standard light Antartic precipitation (SLAP) and Greenland ice sheet precipitation (GISP) is reliable for deuterium and 18O enrichments. The range of linearity is from 0 up to 0.09 atom percent excess (APE, i.e. -78 up to 5725 delta per mil (dpm)) for deuterium enrichment and from 0 up to 0.17 APE (-11 up to 890 dpm) for 18O enrichment. Memory effects do exist but can be avoided by analyzing the biological samples in quintuplet. This method allows the determination of 1440 samples per week, i.e. 288 biological samples per week. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. A technological update of molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Yu-Tsueng

    2008-01-01

    Identification of a causative pathogen is essential for the choice of treatment for most infectious diseases. Many FDA approved molecular assays; usually more sensitive and specific compared to traditional tests, have been developed in the last decade. A new trend of high throughput and multiplexing assays are emerging thanks to technological developments for the human genome sequencing project. The applications of microarray and ultra high throughput sequencing technologies for diagnostic microbiology are reviewed. The race for the $1000 genome technology by 2014 will have a profound impact in diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases in the near future. PMID:18782035

  5. High-Throughput Cloning and Expression Library Creation for Functional Proteomics

    PubMed Central

    Festa, Fernanda; Steel, Jason; Bian, Xiaofang; Labaer, Joshua

    2013-01-01

    The study of protein function usually requires the use of a cloned version of the gene for protein expression and functional assays. This strategy is particular important when the information available regarding function is limited. The functional characterization of the thousands of newly identified proteins revealed by genomics requires faster methods than traditional single gene experiments, creating the need for fast, flexible and reliable cloning systems. These collections of open reading frame (ORF) clones can be coupled with high-throughput proteomics platforms, such as protein microarrays and cell-based assays, to answer biological questions. In this tutorial we provide the background for DNA cloning, discuss the major high-throughput cloning systems (Gateway® Technology, Flexi® Vector Systems, and Creator™ DNA Cloning System) and compare them side-by-side. We also report an example of high-throughput cloning study and its application in functional proteomics. This Tutorial is part of the International Proteomics Tutorial Programme (IPTP12). Details can be found at http://www.proteomicstutorials.org. PMID:23457047

  6. High-throughput cloning and expression library creation for functional proteomics.

    PubMed

    Festa, Fernanda; Steel, Jason; Bian, Xiaofang; Labaer, Joshua

    2013-05-01

    The study of protein function usually requires the use of a cloned version of the gene for protein expression and functional assays. This strategy is particularly important when the information available regarding function is limited. The functional characterization of the thousands of newly identified proteins revealed by genomics requires faster methods than traditional single-gene experiments, creating the need for fast, flexible, and reliable cloning systems. These collections of ORF clones can be coupled with high-throughput proteomics platforms, such as protein microarrays and cell-based assays, to answer biological questions. In this tutorial, we provide the background for DNA cloning, discuss the major high-throughput cloning systems (Gateway® Technology, Flexi® Vector Systems, and Creator(TM) DNA Cloning System) and compare them side-by-side. We also report an example of high-throughput cloning study and its application in functional proteomics. This tutorial is part of the International Proteomics Tutorial Programme (IPTP12). © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Enrichment analysis in high-throughput genomics - accounting for dependency in the NULL.

    PubMed

    Gold, David L; Coombes, Kevin R; Wang, Jing; Mallick, Bani

    2007-03-01

    Translating the overwhelming amount of data generated in high-throughput genomics experiments into biologically meaningful evidence, which may for example point to a series of biomarkers or hint at a relevant pathway, is a matter of great interest in bioinformatics these days. Genes showing similar experimental profiles, it is hypothesized, share biological mechanisms that if understood could provide clues to the molecular processes leading to pathological events. It is the topic of further study to learn if or how a priori information about the known genes may serve to explain coexpression. One popular method of knowledge discovery in high-throughput genomics experiments, enrichment analysis (EA), seeks to infer if an interesting collection of genes is 'enriched' for a Consortium particular set of a priori Gene Ontology Consortium (GO) classes. For the purposes of statistical testing, the conventional methods offered in EA software implicitly assume independence between the GO classes. Genes may be annotated for more than one biological classification, and therefore the resulting test statistics of enrichment between GO classes can be highly dependent if the overlapping gene sets are relatively large. There is a need to formally determine if conventional EA results are robust to the independence assumption. We derive the exact null distribution for testing enrichment of GO classes by relaxing the independence assumption using well-known statistical theory. In applications with publicly available data sets, our test results are similar to the conventional approach which assumes independence. We argue that the independence assumption is not detrimental.

  8. Identification of differentially expressed genes and false discovery rate in microarray studies.

    PubMed

    Gusnanto, Arief; Calza, Stefano; Pawitan, Yudi

    2007-04-01

    To highlight the development in microarray data analysis for the identification of differentially expressed genes, particularly via control of false discovery rate. The emergence of high-throughput technology such as microarrays raises two fundamental statistical issues: multiplicity and sensitivity. We focus on the biological problem of identifying differentially expressed genes. First, multiplicity arises due to testing tens of thousands of hypotheses, rendering the standard P value meaningless. Second, known optimal single-test procedures such as the t-test perform poorly in the context of highly multiple tests. The standard approach of dealing with multiplicity is too conservative in the microarray context. The false discovery rate concept is fast becoming the key statistical assessment tool replacing the P value. We review the false discovery rate approach and argue that it is more sensible for microarray data. We also discuss some methods to take into account additional information from the microarrays to improve the false discovery rate. There is growing consensus on how to analyse microarray data using the false discovery rate framework in place of the classical P value. Further research is needed on the preprocessing of the raw data, such as the normalization step and filtering, and on finding the most sensitive test procedure.

  9. Refining the Results of a Classical SELEX Experiment by Expanding the Sequence Data Set of an Aptamer Pool Selected for Protein A

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    New, as yet undiscovered aptamers for Protein A were identified by applying next generation sequencing (NGS) to a previously selected aptamer pool. This pool was obtained in a classical SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) experiment using the FluMag-SELEX procedure followed by cloning and Sanger sequencing. PA#2/8 was identified as the only Protein A-binding aptamer from the Sanger sequence pool, and was shown to be able to bind intact cells of Staphylococcus aureus. In this study, we show the extension of the SELEX results by re-sequencing of the same aptamer pool using a medium throughput NGS approach and data analysis. Both data pools were compared. They confirm the selection of a highly complex and heterogeneous oligonucleotide pool and show consistently a high content of orphans as well as a similar relative frequency of certain sequence groups. But in contrast to the Sanger data pool, the NGS pool was clearly dominated by one sequence group containing the known Protein A-binding aptamer PA#2/8 as the most frequent sequence in this group. In addition, we found two new sequence groups in the NGS pool represented by PA-C10 and PA-C8, respectively, which also have high specificity for Protein A. Comparative affinity studies reveal differences between the aptamers and confirm that PA#2/8 remains the most potent sequence within the selected aptamer pool reaching affinities in the low nanomolar range of KD = 20 ± 1 nM. PMID:29495282

  10. Refining the Results of a Classical SELEX Experiment by Expanding the Sequence Data Set of an Aptamer Pool Selected for Protein A.

    PubMed

    Stoltenburg, Regina; Strehlitz, Beate

    2018-02-24

    New, as yet undiscovered aptamers for Protein A were identified by applying next generation sequencing (NGS) to a previously selected aptamer pool. This pool was obtained in a classical SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) experiment using the FluMag-SELEX procedure followed by cloning and Sanger sequencing. PA#2/8 was identified as the only Protein A-binding aptamer from the Sanger sequence pool, and was shown to be able to bind intact cells of Staphylococcus aureus . In this study, we show the extension of the SELEX results by re-sequencing of the same aptamer pool using a medium throughput NGS approach and data analysis. Both data pools were compared. They confirm the selection of a highly complex and heterogeneous oligonucleotide pool and show consistently a high content of orphans as well as a similar relative frequency of certain sequence groups. But in contrast to the Sanger data pool, the NGS pool was clearly dominated by one sequence group containing the known Protein A-binding aptamer PA#2/8 as the most frequent sequence in this group. In addition, we found two new sequence groups in the NGS pool represented by PA-C10 and PA-C8, respectively, which also have high specificity for Protein A. Comparative affinity studies reveal differences between the aptamers and confirm that PA#2/8 remains the most potent sequence within the selected aptamer pool reaching affinities in the low nanomolar range of K D = 20 ± 1 nM.

  11. Mapping the affinity landscape of Thrombin-binding aptamers on 2΄F-ANA/DNA chimeric G-Quadruplex microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Abou Assi, Hala; Gómez-Pinto, Irene; González, Carlos

    2017-01-01

    Abstract In situ fabricated nucleic acids microarrays are versatile and very high-throughput platforms for aptamer optimization and discovery, but the chemical space that can be probed against a given target has largely been confined to DNA, while RNA and non-natural nucleic acid microarrays are still an essentially uncharted territory. 2΄-Fluoroarabinonucleic acid (2΄F-ANA) is a prime candidate for such use in microarrays. Indeed, 2΄F-ANA chemistry is readily amenable to photolithographic microarray synthesis and its potential in high affinity aptamers has been recently discovered. We thus synthesized the first microarrays containing 2΄F-ANA and 2΄F-ANA/DNA chimeric sequences to fully map the binding affinity landscape of the TBA1 thrombin-binding G-quadruplex aptamer containing all 32 768 possible DNA-to-2΄F-ANA mutations. The resulting microarray was screened against thrombin to identify a series of promising 2΄F-ANA-modified aptamer candidates with Kds significantly lower than that of the unmodified control and which were found to adopt highly stable, antiparallel-folded G-quadruplex structures. The solution structure of the TBA1 aptamer modified with 2΄F-ANA at position T3 shows that fluorine substitution preorganizes the dinucleotide loop into the proper conformation for interaction with thrombin. Overall, our work strengthens the potential of 2΄F-ANA in aptamer research and further expands non-genomic applications of nucleic acids microarrays. PMID:28100695

  12. Sequence specificity of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins: a novel DNA microarray approach

    PubMed Central

    Morgan, Hugh P.; Estibeiro, Peter; Wear, Martin A.; Max, Klaas E.A.; Heinemann, Udo; Cubeddu, Liza; Gallagher, Maurice P.; Sadler, Peter J.; Walkinshaw, Malcolm D.

    2007-01-01

    We have developed a novel DNA microarray-based approach for identification of the sequence-specificity of single-stranded nucleic-acid-binding proteins (SNABPs). For verification, we have shown that the major cold shock protein (CspB) from Bacillus subtilis binds with high affinity to pyrimidine-rich sequences, with a binding preference for the consensus sequence, 5′-GTCTTTG/T-3′. The sequence was modelled onto the known structure of CspB and a cytosine-binding pocket was identified, which explains the strong preference for a cytosine base at position 3. This microarray method offers a rapid high-throughput approach for determining the specificity and strength of ss DNA–protein interactions. Further screening of this newly emerging family of transcription factors will help provide an insight into their cellular function. PMID:17488853

  13. Living-Cell Microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Yarmush, Martin L.; King, Kevin R.

    2011-01-01

    Living cells are remarkably complex. To unravel this complexity, living-cell assays have been developed that allow delivery of experimental stimuli and measurement of the resulting cellular responses. High-throughput adaptations of these assays, known as living-cell microarrays, which are based on microtiter plates, high-density spotting, microfabrication, and microfluidics technologies, are being developed for two general applications: (a) to screen large-scale chemical and genomic libraries and (b) to systematically investigate the local cellular microenvironment. These emerging experimental platforms offer exciting opportunities to rapidly identify genetic determinants of disease, to discover modulators of cellular function, and to probe the complex and dynamic relationships between cells and their local environment. PMID:19413510

  14. Chromosomal Microarray Testing in 42 Korean Patients with Unexplained Developmental Delay, Intellectual Disability, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Multiple Congenital Anomalies.

    PubMed

    Lee, Sun Ho; Song, Wung Joo

    2017-09-01

    Chromosomal microarray (CMA) is a high-resolution, high-throughput method of identifying submicroscopic genomic copy number variations (CNVs). CMA has been established as the first-line diagnostic test for individuals with developmental delay (DD), intellectual disability (ID), autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and multiple congenital anomalies (MCAs). CMA analysis was performed in 42 Korean patients who had been diagnosed with unexplained DD, ID, ASDs, and MCAs. Clinically relevant CNVs were discovered in 28 patients. Variants of unknown significance were detected in 13 patients. The diagnostic yield was high (66.7%). CMA is a superior diagnostic tool compared with conventional karyotyping and fluorescent in situ hybridization.

  15. Strong and oriented immobilization of single domain antibodies from crude bacterial lysates for high-throughput compatible cost-effective antibody array generation

    PubMed Central

    Even-Desrumeaux, Klervi; Baty, Daniel; Chames, Patrick

    2010-01-01

    Antibodies microarrays are among the novel class of rapidly emerging proteomic technologies that will allow us to efficiently perform specific diagnosis and proteome analysis. Recombinant antibody fragments are especially suited for this approach but their stability is often a limiting factor. Camelids produce functional antibodies devoid of light chains (HCAbs) of which the single N-terminal domain is fully capable of antigen binding. When produced as an independent domain, these so-called single domain antibody fragments (sdAbs) have several advantages for biotechnological applications thanks to their unique properties of size (15 kDa), stability, solubility, and expression yield. These features should allow sdAbs to outperform other antibody formats in a number of applications, notably as capture molecule for antibody arrays. In this study, we have produced antibody microarrays using direct and oriented immobilization of sdAbs produced in crude bacterial lysates to generate proof-of-principle of a high-throughput compatible array design. Several sdAb immobilization strategies have been explored. Immobilization of in vivo biotinylated sdAbs by direct spotting of bacterial lysate on streptavidin and sandwich detection was developed to achieve high sensitivity and specificity, whereas immobilization of “multi-tagged” sdAbs via anti-tag antibodies and direct labeled sample detection strategy was optimized for the design of high-density antibody arrays for high-throughput proteomics and identification of potential biomarkers. PMID:20859568

  16. Advanced colorectal adenoma related gene expression signature may predict prognostic for colorectal cancer patients with adenoma-carcinoma sequence.

    PubMed

    Li, Bing; Shi, Xiao-Yu; Liao, Dai-Xiang; Cao, Bang-Rong; Luo, Cheng-Hua; Cheng, Shu-Jun

    2015-01-01

    There are still no absolute parameters predicting progression of adenoma into cancer. The present study aimed to characterize functional differences on the multistep carcinogenetic process from the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. All samples were collected and mRNA expression profiling was performed by using Agilent Microarray high-throughput gene-chip technology. Then, the characteristics of mRNA expression profiles of adenoma-carcinoma sequence were described with bioinformatics software, and we analyzed the relationship between gene expression profiles of adenoma-adenocarcinoma sequence and clinical prognosis of colorectal cancer. The mRNA expressions of adenoma-carcinoma sequence were significantly different between high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia group and adenocarcinoma group. The biological process of gene ontology function enrichment analysis on differentially expressed genes between high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia group and adenocarcinoma group showed that genes enriched in the extracellular structure organization, skeletal system development, biological adhesion and itself regulated growth regulation, with the P value after FDR correction of less than 0.05. In addition, IPR-related protein mainly focused on the insulin-like growth factor binding proteins. The variable trends of gene expression profiles for adenoma-carcinoma sequence were mainly concentrated in high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and adenocarcinoma. The differentially expressed genes are significantly correlated between high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia group and adenocarcinoma group. Bioinformatics analysis is an effective way to study the gene expression profiles in the adenoma-carcinoma sequence, and may provide an effective tool to involve colorectal cancer research strategy into colorectal adenoma or advanced adenoma.

  17. Comparison of L1000 and Affymetrix Microarray for In Vitro Concentration-Response Gene Expression Profiling (SOT)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Advances in high-throughput screening technologies and in vitro systems have opened doors for cost-efficient evaluation of chemical effects on a diversity of biological endpoints. However, toxicogenomics platforms remain too costly to evaluate large libraries of chemicals in conc...

  18. Effects of dietary plant-derived phytonutrients on the genome-wide profiles and coccidiosis resistance in the broiler chickens

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary plant-derived phytonutrients, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and Capsicum oleoresin, on the translational regulation of genes associated with immunology, physiology and metabolism using high-throughput microarray analysis and in vivo d...

  19. Analysis of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in MDR bacteria by microarray and high-throughput sequencing

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Antimicrobial resistance in pathogenic bacteria is a major concern in human and animal health. The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) was designed by the CDC, FDA, and USDA to monitor antimicrobial resistance in the U.S. The Bacterial Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistanc...

  20. PageMan: an interactive ontology tool to generate, display, and annotate overview graphs for profiling experiments.

    PubMed

    Usadel, Björn; Nagel, Axel; Steinhauser, Dirk; Gibon, Yves; Bläsing, Oliver E; Redestig, Henning; Sreenivasulu, Nese; Krall, Leonard; Hannah, Matthew A; Poree, Fabien; Fernie, Alisdair R; Stitt, Mark

    2006-12-18

    Microarray technology has become a widely accepted and standardized tool in biology. The first microarray data analysis programs were developed to support pair-wise comparison. However, as microarray experiments have become more routine, large scale experiments have become more common, which investigate multiple time points or sets of mutants or transgenics. To extract biological information from such high-throughput expression data, it is necessary to develop efficient analytical platforms, which combine manually curated gene ontologies with efficient visualization and navigation tools. Currently, most tools focus on a few limited biological aspects, rather than offering a holistic, integrated analysis. Here we introduce PageMan, a multiplatform, user-friendly, and stand-alone software tool that annotates, investigates, and condenses high-throughput microarray data in the context of functional ontologies. It includes a GUI tool to transform different ontologies into a suitable format, enabling the user to compare and choose between different ontologies. It is equipped with several statistical modules for data analysis, including over-representation analysis and Wilcoxon statistical testing. Results are exported in a graphical format for direct use, or for further editing in graphics programs.PageMan provides a fast overview of single treatments, allows genome-level responses to be compared across several microarray experiments covering, for example, stress responses at multiple time points. This aids in searching for trait-specific changes in pathways using mutants or transgenics, analyzing development time-courses, and comparison between species. In a case study, we analyze the results of publicly available microarrays of multiple cold stress experiments using PageMan, and compare the results to a previously published meta-analysis.PageMan offers a complete user's guide, a web-based over-representation analysis as well as a tutorial, and is freely available at http://mapman.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/pageman/. PageMan allows multiple microarray experiments to be efficiently condensed into a single page graphical display. The flexible interface allows data to be quickly and easily visualized, facilitating comparisons within experiments and to published experiments, thus enabling researchers to gain a rapid overview of the biological responses in the experiments.

  1. High-throughput investigation of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transformation (EndMT) with combinatorial cellular microarrays.

    PubMed

    Wang, Zongjie; Calpe, Blaise; Zerdani, Jalil; Lee, Youngsang; Oh, Jonghyun; Bae, Hojae; Khademhosseini, Ali; Kim, Keekyoung

    2016-07-01

    In the developing heart, a specific subset of endocardium undergoes an endothelial-to-mesenchymal transformation (EndMT) thus forming nascent valve leaflets. Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and growth factors (GFs) play important roles in regulating EndMT but the combinatorial effect of GFs with ECM proteins is less well understood. Here we use microscale engineering techniques to create single, binary, and tertiary component microenvironments to investigate the combinatorial effects of ECM proteins and GFs on the attachment and transformation of adult ovine mitral valve endothelial cells to a mesenchymal phenotype. With the combinatorial microenvironment microarrays, we utilized 60 different combinations of ECM proteins (Fibronectin, Collagen I, II, IV, Laminin) and GFs (TGF-β1, bFGF, VEGF) and were able to identify new microenvironmental conditions capable of modulating EndMT in MVECs. Experimental results indicated that TGF-β1 significantly upregulated the EndMT while either bFGF or VEGF downregulated EndMT process markedly. Also, ECM proteins could influence both the attachment of MVECs and the response of MVECs to GFs. In terms of attachment, fibronectin is significantly better for the adhesion of MVECs among the five tested proteins. Overall collagen IV and fibronectin appeared to play important roles in promoting EndMT process. Great consistency between macroscale and microarrayed experiments and present studies demonstrates that high-throughput cellular microarrays are a promising approach to study the regulation of EndMT in valvular endothelium. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1403-1412. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. Principles of gene microarray data analysis.

    PubMed

    Mocellin, Simone; Rossi, Carlo Riccardo

    2007-01-01

    The development of several gene expression profiling methods, such as comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), differential display, serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE), and gene microarray, together with the sequencing of the human genome, has provided an opportunity to monitor and investigate the complex cascade of molecular events leading to tumor development and progression. The availability of such large amounts of information has shifted the attention of scientists towards a nonreductionist approach to biological phenomena. High throughput technologies can be used to follow changing patterns of gene expression over time. Among them, gene microarray has become prominent because it is easier to use, does not require large-scale DNA sequencing, and allows for the parallel quantification of thousands of genes from multiple samples. Gene microarray technology is rapidly spreading worldwide and has the potential to drastically change the therapeutic approach to patients affected with tumor. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for both researchers and clinicians to know the principles underlying the analysis of the huge amount of data generated with microarray technology.

  3. Glycan microarray screening assay for glycosyltransferase specificities.

    PubMed

    Peng, Wenjie; Nycholat, Corwin M; Razi, Nahid

    2013-01-01

    Glycan microarrays represent a high-throughput approach to determining the specificity of glycan-binding proteins against a large set of glycans in a single format. This chapter describes the use of a glycan microarray platform for evaluating the activity and substrate specificity of glycosyltransferases (GTs). The methodology allows simultaneous screening of hundreds of immobilized glycan acceptor substrates by in situ incubation of a GT and its appropriate donor substrate on the microarray surface. Using biotin-conjugated donor substrate enables direct detection of the incorporated sugar residues on acceptor substrates on the array. In addition, the feasibility of the method has been validated using label-free donor substrate combined with lectin-based detection of product to assess enzyme activity. Here, we describe the application of both procedures to assess the specificity of a recombinant human α2-6 sialyltransferase. This technique is readily adaptable to studying other glycosyltransferases.

  4. From Genes to Protein Mechanics on a Chip

    PubMed Central

    Milles, Lukas F.; Verdorfer, Tobias; Pippig, Diana A.; Nash, Michael A.; Gaub, Hermann E.

    2014-01-01

    Single-molecule force spectroscopy enables mechanical testing of individual proteins, however low experimental throughput limits the ability to screen constructs in parallel. We describe a microfluidic platform for on-chip protein expression and measurement of single-molecule mechanical properties. We constructed microarrays of proteins covalently attached to a chip surface, and found that a single cohesin-modified cantilever that bound to the terminal dockerin-tag of each protein remained stable over thousands of pulling cycles. The ability to synthesize and mechanically probe protein libraries presents new opportunities for high-throughput mechanical phenotyping. PMID:25194847

  5. Differential Expression and Functional Analysis of High-Throughput -Omics Data Using Open Source Tools.

    PubMed

    Kebschull, Moritz; Fittler, Melanie Julia; Demmer, Ryan T; Papapanou, Panos N

    2017-01-01

    Today, -omics analyses, including the systematic cataloging of messenger RNA and microRNA sequences or DNA methylation patterns in a cell population, organ, or tissue sample, allow for an unbiased, comprehensive genome-level analysis of complex diseases, offering a large advantage over earlier "candidate" gene or pathway analyses. A primary goal in the analysis of these high-throughput assays is the detection of those features among several thousand that differ between different groups of samples. In the context of oral biology, our group has successfully utilized -omics technology to identify key molecules and pathways in different diagnostic entities of periodontal disease.A major issue when inferring biological information from high-throughput -omics studies is the fact that the sheer volume of high-dimensional data generated by contemporary technology is not appropriately analyzed using common statistical methods employed in the biomedical sciences.In this chapter, we outline a robust and well-accepted bioinformatics workflow for the initial analysis of -omics data generated using microarrays or next-generation sequencing technology using open-source tools. Starting with quality control measures and necessary preprocessing steps for data originating from different -omics technologies, we next outline a differential expression analysis pipeline that can be used for data from both microarray and sequencing experiments, and offers the possibility to account for random or fixed effects. Finally, we present an overview of the possibilities for a functional analysis of the obtained data.

  6. Identification of functional modules using network topology and high-throughput data.

    PubMed

    Ulitsky, Igor; Shamir, Ron

    2007-01-26

    With the advent of systems biology, biological knowledge is often represented today by networks. These include regulatory and metabolic networks, protein-protein interaction networks, and many others. At the same time, high-throughput genomics and proteomics techniques generate very large data sets, which require sophisticated computational analysis. Usually, separate and different analysis methodologies are applied to each of the two data types. An integrated investigation of network and high-throughput information together can improve the quality of the analysis by accounting simultaneously for topological network properties alongside intrinsic features of the high-throughput data. We describe a novel algorithmic framework for this challenge. We first transform the high-throughput data into similarity values, (e.g., by computing pairwise similarity of gene expression patterns from microarray data). Then, given a network of genes or proteins and similarity values between some of them, we seek connected sub-networks (or modules) that manifest high similarity. We develop algorithms for this problem and evaluate their performance on the osmotic shock response network in S. cerevisiae and on the human cell cycle network. We demonstrate that focused, biologically meaningful and relevant functional modules are obtained. In comparison with extant algorithms, our approach has higher sensitivity and higher specificity. We have demonstrated that our method can accurately identify functional modules. Hence, it carries the promise to be highly useful in analysis of high throughput data.

  7. A High-Throughput, Precipitating Colorimetric Sandwich ELISA Microarray for Shiga Toxins

    PubMed Central

    Gehring, Andrew; He, Xiaohua; Fratamico, Pina; Lee, Joseph; Bagi, Lori; Brewster, Jeffrey; Paoli, George; He, Yiping; Xie, Yanping; Skinner, Craig; Barnett, Charlie; Harris, Douglas

    2014-01-01

    Shiga toxins 1 and 2 (Stx1 and Stx2) from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) bacteria were simultaneously detected with a newly developed, high-throughput antibody microarray platform. The proteinaceous toxins were immobilized and sandwiched between biorecognition elements (monoclonal antibodies) and pooled horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated monoclonal antibodies. Following the reaction of HRP with the precipitating chromogenic substrate (metal enhanced 3,3-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride or DAB), the formation of a colored product was quantitatively measured with an inexpensive flatbed page scanner. The colorimetric ELISA microarray was demonstrated to detect Stx1 and Stx2 at levels as low as ~4.5 ng/mL within ~2 h of total assay time with a narrow linear dynamic range of ~1–2 orders of magnitude and saturation levels well above background. Stx1 and/or Stx2 produced by various strains of STEC were also detected following the treatment of cultured cells with mitomycin C (a toxin-inducing antibiotic) and/or B-PER (a cell-disrupting, protein extraction reagent). Semi-quantitative detection of Shiga toxins was demonstrated to be sporadic among various STEC strains following incubation with mitomycin C; however, further reaction with B-PER generally resulted in the detection of or increased detection of Stx1, relative to Stx2, produced by STECs inoculated into either axenic broth culture or culture broth containing ground beef. PMID:24921195

  8. Finding Groups in Gene Expression Data

    PubMed Central

    2005-01-01

    The vast potential of the genomic insight offered by microarray technologies has led to their widespread use since they were introduced a decade ago. Application areas include gene function discovery, disease diagnosis, and inferring regulatory networks. Microarray experiments enable large-scale, high-throughput investigations of gene activity and have thus provided the data analyst with a distinctive, high-dimensional field of study. Many questions in this field relate to finding subgroups of data profiles which are very similar. A popular type of exploratory tool for finding subgroups is cluster analysis, and many different flavors of algorithms have been used and indeed tailored for microarray data. Cluster analysis, however, implies a partitioning of the entire data set, and this does not always match the objective. Sometimes pattern discovery or bump hunting tools are more appropriate. This paper reviews these various tools for finding interesting subgroups. PMID:16046827

  9. Rapid and Facile Microwave-Assisted Surface Chemistry for Functionalized Microarray Slides

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Jeong Heon; Hyun, Hoon; Cross, Conor J.; Henary, Maged; Nasr, Khaled A.; Oketokoun, Rafiou; Choi, Hak Soo; Frangioni, John V.

    2011-01-01

    We describe a rapid and facile method for surface functionalization and ligand patterning of glass slides based on microwave-assisted synthesis and a microarraying robot. Our optimized reaction enables surface modification 42-times faster than conventional techniques and includes a carboxylated self-assembled monolayer, polyethylene glycol linkers of varying length, and stable amide bonds to small molecule, peptide, or protein ligands to be screened for binding to living cells. We also describe customized slide racks that permit functionalization of 100 slides at a time to produce a cost-efficient, highly reproducible batch process. Ligand spots can be positioned on the glass slides precisely using a microarraying robot, and spot size adjusted for any desired application. Using this system, we demonstrate live cell binding to a variety of ligands and optimize PEG linker length. Taken together, the technology we describe should enable high-throughput screening of disease-specific ligands that bind to living cells. PMID:23467787

  10. Evaluating concentration estimation errors in ELISA microarray experiments

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Daly, Don S.; White, Amanda M.; Varnum, Susan M.

    Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a standard immunoassay to predict a protein concentration in a sample. Deploying ELISA in a microarray format permits simultaneous prediction of the concentrations of numerous proteins in a small sample. These predictions, however, are uncertain due to processing error and biological variability. Evaluating prediction error is critical to interpreting biological significance and improving the ELISA microarray process. Evaluating prediction error must be automated to realize a reliable high-throughput ELISA microarray system. Methods: In this paper, we present a statistical method based on propagation of error to evaluate prediction errors in the ELISA microarray process. Althoughmore » propagation of error is central to this method, it is effective only when comparable data are available. Therefore, we briefly discuss the roles of experimental design, data screening, normalization and statistical diagnostics when evaluating ELISA microarray prediction errors. We use an ELISA microarray investigation of breast cancer biomarkers to illustrate the evaluation of prediction errors. The illustration begins with a description of the design and resulting data, followed by a brief discussion of data screening and normalization. In our illustration, we fit a standard curve to the screened and normalized data, review the modeling diagnostics, and apply propagation of error.« less

  11. Microarray data mining using Bioconductor packages.

    PubMed

    Nie, Haisheng; Neerincx, Pieter B T; van der Poel, Jan; Ferrari, Francesco; Bicciato, Silvio; Leunissen, Jack A M; Groenen, Martien A M

    2009-07-16

    This paper describes the results of a Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis of chicken microarray data using the Bioconductor packages. By checking the enriched GO terms in three contrasts, MM8-PM8, MM8-MA8, and MM8-MM24, of the provided microarray data during this workshop, this analysis aimed to investigate the host reactions in chickens occurring shortly after a secondary challenge with either a homologous or heterologous species of Eimeria. The results of GO enrichment analysis using GO terms annotated to chicken genes and GO terms annotated to chicken-human orthologous genes were also compared. Furthermore, a locally adaptive statistical procedure (LAP) was performed to test differentially expressed chromosomal regions, rather than individual genes, in the chicken genome after Eimeria challenge. GO enrichment analysis identified significant (raw p-value < 0.05) GO terms for all three contrasts included in the analysis. Some of the GO terms linked to, generally, primary immune responses or secondary immune responses indicating the GO enrichment analysis is a useful approach to analyze microarray data. The comparisons of GO enrichment results using chicken gene information and chicken-human orthologous gene information showed more refined GO terms related to immune responses when using chicken-human orthologous gene information, this suggests that using chicken-human orthologous gene information has higher power to detect significant GO terms with more refined functionality. Furthermore, three chromosome regions were identified to be significantly up-regulated in contrast MM8-PM8 (q-value < 0.01). Overall, this paper describes a practical approach to analyze microarray data in farm animals where the genome information is still incomplete. For farm animals, such as chicken, with currently limited gene annotation, borrowing gene annotation information from orthologous genes in well-annotated species, such as human, will help improve the pathway analysis results substantially. Furthermore, LAP analysis approach is a relatively new and very useful way to be applied in microarray analysis.

  12. Prunus transcription factors: breeding perspectives

    PubMed Central

    Bianchi, Valmor J.; Rubio, Manuel; Trainotti, Livio; Verde, Ignazio; Bonghi, Claudio; Martínez-Gómez, Pedro

    2015-01-01

    Many plant processes depend on differential gene expression, which is generally controlled by complex proteins called transcription factors (TFs). In peach, 1533 TFs have been identified, accounting for about 5.5% of the 27,852 protein-coding genes. These TFs are the reference for the rest of the Prunus species. TF studies in Prunus have been performed on the gene expression analysis of different agronomic traits, including control of the flowering process, fruit quality, and biotic and abiotic stress resistance. These studies, using quantitative RT-PCR, have mainly been performed in peach, and to a lesser extent in other species, including almond, apricot, black cherry, Fuji cherry, Japanese apricot, plum, and sour and sweet cherry. Other tools have also been used in TF studies, including cDNA-AFLP, LC-ESI-MS, RNA, and DNA blotting or mapping. More recently, new tools assayed include microarray and high-throughput DNA sequencing (DNA-Seq) and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). New functional genomics opportunities include genome resequencing and the well-known synteny among Prunus genomes and transcriptomes. These new functional studies should be applied in breeding programs in the development of molecular markers. With the genome sequences available, some strategies that have been used in model systems (such as SNP genotyping assays and genotyping-by-sequencing) may be applicable in the functional analysis of Prunus TFs as well. In addition, the knowledge of the gene functions and position in the peach reference genome of the TFs represents an additional advantage. These facts could greatly facilitate the isolation of genes via QTL (quantitative trait loci) map-based cloning in the different Prunus species, following the association of these TFs with the identified QTLs using the peach reference genome. PMID:26124770

  13. Next Generation Sequencing at the University of Chicago Genomics Core

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Faber, Pieter

    2013-04-24

    The University of Chicago Genomics Core provides University of Chicago investigators (and external clients) access to State-of-the-Art genomics capabilities: next generation sequencing, Sanger sequencing / genotyping and micro-arrays (gene expression, genotyping, and methylation). The current presentation will highlight our capabilities in the area of ultra-high throughput sequencing analysis.

  14. Sensitive genotyping of foodborne-associated human noroviruses and hepatitis A virus using an array-based platform

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The viral pathogens, human norovirus (NoV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV), are significant contributors of foodborne associated outbreaks. To develop a typing tool for foodborne viruses, a focused, low-density DNA microarray was developed in conjunction with a rapid and high-throughput fluorescent meth...

  15. Digital One-Disc-One-Compound Method for High-Throughput Discovery of Prostate Cancer-Targeting Ligands

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-10-01

    substrate ( microchip ), from which the chemical identity of each compound can be directly recognized by recording its location on the microarray...a Laser Printer”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 47, 7132-7135 (2008). (6) S. P. Fodor, J. L. Read, M. C. Pirrung, L. Stryer, A. T. Lu and

  16. High Throughput, Label-free Screening Small Molecule Compound Libraries for Protein-Ligands using Combination of Small Molecule Microarrays and a Special Ellipsometry-based Optical Scanner.

    PubMed

    Landry, James P; Fei, Yiyan; Zhu, X D

    2011-12-01

    Small-molecule compounds remain the major source of therapeutic and preventative drugs. Developing new drugs against a protein target often requires screening large collections of compounds with diverse structures for ligands or ligand fragments that exhibit sufficiently affinity and desirable inhibition effect on the target before further optimization and development. Since the number of small molecule compounds is large, high-throughput screening (HTS) methods are needed. Small-molecule microarrays (SMM) on a solid support in combination with a suitable binding assay form a viable HTS platform. We demonstrate that by combining an oblique-incidence reflectivity difference optical scanner with SMM we can screen 10,000 small-molecule compounds on a single glass slide for protein ligands without fluorescence labeling. Furthermore using such a label-free assay platform we can simultaneously acquire binding curves of a solution-phase protein to over 10,000 immobilized compounds, thus enabling full characterization of protein-ligand interactions over a wide range of affinity constants.

  17. A new versatile microarray-based method for high throughput screening of carbohydrate-active enzymes.

    PubMed

    Vidal-Melgosa, Silvia; Pedersen, Henriette L; Schückel, Julia; Arnal, Grégory; Dumon, Claire; Amby, Daniel B; Monrad, Rune Nygaard; Westereng, Bjørge; Willats, William G T

    2015-04-03

    Carbohydrate-active enzymes have multiple biological roles and industrial applications. Advances in genome and transcriptome sequencing together with associated bioinformatics tools have identified vast numbers of putative carbohydrate-degrading and -modifying enzymes including glycoside hydrolases and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases. However, there is a paucity of methods for rapidly screening the activities of these enzymes. By combining the multiplexing capacity of carbohydrate microarrays with the specificity of molecular probes, we have developed a sensitive, high throughput, and versatile semiquantitative enzyme screening technique that requires low amounts of enzyme and substrate. The method can be used to assess the activities of single enzymes, enzyme mixtures, and crude culture broths against single substrates, substrate mixtures, and biomass samples. Moreover, we show that the technique can be used to analyze both endo-acting and exo-acting glycoside hydrolases, polysaccharide lyases, carbohydrate esterases, and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases. We demonstrate the potential of the technique by identifying the substrate specificities of purified uncharacterized enzymes and by screening enzyme activities from fungal culture broths. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  18. High-throughput multiplex cpDNA resequencing clarifies the genetic diversity and genetic relationships among Brassica napus, Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea.

    PubMed

    Qiao, Jiangwei; Cai, Mengxian; Yan, Guixin; Wang, Nian; Li, Feng; Chen, Binyun; Gao, Guizhen; Xu, Kun; Li, Jun; Wu, Xiaoming

    2016-01-01

    Brassica napus (rapeseed) is a recent allotetraploid plant and the second most important oilseed crop worldwide. The origin of B. napus and the genetic relationships with its diploid ancestor species remain largely unresolved. Here, chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) from 488 B. napus accessions of global origin, 139 B. rapa accessions and 49 B. oleracea accessions were populationally resequenced using Illumina Solexa sequencing technologies. The intraspecific cpDNA variants and their allelic frequencies were called genomewide and further validated via EcoTILLING analyses of the rpo region. The cpDNA of the current global B. napus population comprises more than 400 variants (SNPs and short InDels) and maintains one predominant haplotype (Bncp1). Whole-genome resequencing of the cpDNA of Bncp1 haplotype eliminated its direct inheritance from any accession of the B. rapa or B. oleracea species. The distribution of the polymorphism information content (PIC) values for each variant demonstrated that B. napus has much lower cpDNA diversity than B. rapa; however, a vast majority of the wild and cultivated B. oleracea specimens appeared to share one same distinct cpDNA haplotype, in contrast to its wild C-genome relatives. This finding suggests that the cpDNA of the three Brassica species is well differentiated. The predominant B. napus cpDNA haplotype may have originated from uninvestigated relatives or from interactions between cpDNA mutations and natural/artificial selection during speciation and evolution. These exhaustive data on variation in cpDNA would provide fundamental data for research on cpDNA and chloroplasts. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Bayesian hierarchical modeling for subject-level response classification in peptide microarray immunoassays

    PubMed Central

    Imholte, Gregory; Gottardo, Raphael

    2017-01-01

    Summary The peptide microarray immunoassay simultaneously screens sample serum against thousands of peptides, determining the presence of antibodies bound to array probes. Peptide microarrays tiling immunogenic regions of pathogens (e.g. envelope proteins of a virus) are an important high throughput tool for querying and mapping antibody binding. Because of the assay’s many steps, from probe synthesis to incubation, peptide microarray data can be noisy with extreme outliers. In addition, subjects may produce different antibody profiles in response to an identical vaccine stimulus or infection, due to variability among subjects’ immune systems. We present a robust Bayesian hierarchical model for peptide microarray experiments, pepBayes, to estimate the probability of antibody response for each subject/peptide combination. Heavy-tailed error distributions accommodate outliers and extreme responses, and tailored random effect terms automatically incorporate technical effects prevalent in the assay. We apply our model to two vaccine trial datasets to demonstrate model performance. Our approach enjoys high sensitivity and specificity when detecting vaccine induced antibody responses. A simulation study shows an adaptive thresholding classification method has appropriate false discovery rate control with high sensitivity, and receiver operating characteristics generated on vaccine trial data suggest that pepBayes clearly separates responses from non-responses. PMID:27061097

  20. Novel potential serological prostate cancer biomarkers using CT100+ cancer antigen microarray platform in a multi-cultural South African cohort

    PubMed Central

    Adeola, Henry A.; Smith, Muneerah; Kaestner, Lisa; Blackburn, Jonathan M.; Zerbini, Luiz F.

    2016-01-01

    There is a growing need for high throughput diagnostic tools for early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of prostate cancer (PCa) in Africa. The role of cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) in PCa in men of African descent is poorly researched. Hence, we aimed to elucidate the role of 123 Tumour Associated Antigens (TAAs) using antigen microarray platform in blood samples (N = 67) from a South African PCa, Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and disease control (DC) cohort. Linear (fold-over-cutoff) and differential expression quantitation of autoantibody signal intensities were performed. Molecular signatures of candidate PCa antigen biomarkers were identified and analyzed for ethnic group variation. Potential cancer diagnostic and immunotherapeutic inferences were drawn. We identified a total of 41 potential diagnostic/therapeutic antigen biomarkers for PCa. By linear quantitation, four antigens, GAGE1, ROPN1, SPANXA1 and PRKCZ were found to have higher autoantibody titres in PCa serum as compared with BPH where MAGEB1 and PRKCZ were highly expressed. Also, p53 S15A and p53 S46A were found highly expressed in the disease control group. Statistical analysis by differential expression revealed twenty-four antigens as upregulated in PCa samples, while 11 were downregulated in comparison to BPH and DC (FDR = 0.01). FGFR2, COL6A1and CALM1 were verifiable biomarkers of PCa analysis using urinary shotgun proteomics. Functional pathway annotation of identified biomarkers revealed similar enrichment both at genomic and proteomic level and ethnic variations were observed. Cancer antigen arrays are emerging useful in potential diagnostic and immunotherapeutic antigen biomarker discovery. PMID:26885621

  1. Using genic sequence capture in combination with a syntenic pseudo genome to map a deletion mutant in a wheat species.

    PubMed

    Gardiner, Laura-Jayne; Gawroński, Piotr; Olohan, Lisa; Schnurbusch, Thorsten; Hall, Neil; Hall, Anthony

    2014-12-01

    Mapping-by-sequencing analyses have largely required a complete reference sequence and employed whole genome re-sequencing. In species such as wheat, no finished genome reference sequence is available. Additionally, because of its large genome size (17 Gb), re-sequencing at sufficient depth of coverage is not practical. Here, we extend the utility of mapping by sequencing, developing a bespoke pipeline and algorithm to map an early-flowering locus in einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.) that is closely related to the bread wheat genome A progenitor. We have developed a genomic enrichment approach using the gene-rich regions of hexaploid bread wheat to design a 110-Mbp NimbleGen SeqCap EZ in solution capture probe set, representing the majority of genes in wheat. Here, we use the capture probe set to enrich and sequence an F2 mapping population of the mutant. The mutant locus was identified in T. monococcum, which lacks a complete genome reference sequence, by mapping the enriched data set onto pseudo-chromosomes derived from the capture probe target sequence, with a long-range order of genes based on synteny of wheat with Brachypodium distachyon. Using this approach we are able to map the region and identify a set of deleted genes within the interval. © 2014 The Authors.The Plant Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. GeneSCF: a real-time based functional enrichment tool with support for multiple organisms.

    PubMed

    Subhash, Santhilal; Kanduri, Chandrasekhar

    2016-09-13

    High-throughput technologies such as ChIP-sequencing, RNA-sequencing, DNA sequencing and quantitative metabolomics generate a huge volume of data. Researchers often rely on functional enrichment tools to interpret the biological significance of the affected genes from these high-throughput studies. However, currently available functional enrichment tools need to be updated frequently to adapt to new entries from the functional database repositories. Hence there is a need for a simplified tool that can perform functional enrichment analysis by using updated information directly from the source databases such as KEGG, Reactome or Gene Ontology etc. In this study, we focused on designing a command-line tool called GeneSCF (Gene Set Clustering based on Functional annotations), that can predict the functionally relevant biological information for a set of genes in a real-time updated manner. It is designed to handle information from more than 4000 organisms from freely available prominent functional databases like KEGG, Reactome and Gene Ontology. We successfully employed our tool on two of published datasets to predict the biologically relevant functional information. The core features of this tool were tested on Linux machines without the need for installation of more dependencies. GeneSCF is more reliable compared to other enrichment tools because of its ability to use reference functional databases in real-time to perform enrichment analysis. It is an easy-to-integrate tool with other pipelines available for downstream analysis of high-throughput data. More importantly, GeneSCF can run multiple gene lists simultaneously on different organisms thereby saving time for the users. Since the tool is designed to be ready-to-use, there is no need for any complex compilation and installation procedures.

  3. Development of microbial genome-probing microarrays using digital multiple displacement amplification of uncultivated microbial single cells.

    PubMed

    Chang, Ho-Won; Sung, Youlboong; Kim, Kyoung-Ho; Nam, Young-Do; Roh, Seong Woon; Kim, Min-Soo; Jeon, Che Ok; Bae, Jin-Woo

    2008-08-15

    A crucial problem in the use of previously developed genome-probing microarrays (GPM) has been the inability to use uncultivated bacterial genomes to take advantage of the high sensitivity and specificity of GPM in microbial detection and monitoring. We show here a method, digital multiple displacement amplification (MDA), to amplify and analyze various genomes obtained from single uncultivated bacterial cells. We used 15 genomes from key microbes involved in dichloromethane (DCM)-dechlorinating enrichment as microarray probes to uncover the bacterial population dynamics of samples without PCR amplification. Genomic DNA amplified from single cells originating from uncultured bacteria with 80.3-99.4% similarity to 16S rRNA genes of cultivated bacteria. The digital MDA-GPM method successfully monitored the dynamics of DCM-dechlorinating communities from different phases of enrichment status. Without a priori knowledge of microbial diversity, the digital MDA-GPM method could be designed to monitor most microbial populations in a given environmental sample.

  4. On the Molecular Basis of Division of Labor in Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Workers: RNA-seq Analysis.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Hua-Long; Zhao, Cheng-Yin; He, Yu-Rong

    2017-01-01

    The fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren is an important invasive pest. Among S. invicta workers behavioral changes depend on age where younger ants are nurses and older ants foragers. To identify potential genes associated with this division of labor, we compared gene expression between foragers and nurses by high-throughput sequencing. In total, we identified 1,618 genes significantly differently expressed between nurses and foragers, of which 542 were upregulated in foragers and 1,076 were upregulated in nurses. Several pathways related to metabolism were significantly enriched, such as lipid storage and fatty acid biosynthesis, which might contribute to the division of labor in S. invicta. Several genes involved in DNA methylation, transcription, and olfactory responses as well as resistance to stress were differentially expressed between nurses and foragers workers. Finally, a comparison between previously published microarray data and our RNA-seq data in S. invicta shows 116 genes overlap, and the GO term myofibril assembly (GO: 0030239) were simultaneously significantly enriched. These results advance knowledge of potentially important genes and molecular pathways associated with worker division of labor in S. invicta. We hope our dataset will provide . candidate target genes to disrupt organization in S. invicta as a control strategy against this invasive pest. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.

  5. MGDB: crossing the marker genes of a user microarray with a database of public-microarrays marker genes.

    PubMed

    Huerta, Mario; Munyi, Marc; Expósito, David; Querol, Enric; Cedano, Juan

    2014-06-15

    The microarrays performed by scientific teams grow exponentially. These microarray data could be useful for researchers around the world, but unfortunately they are underused. To fully exploit these data, it is necessary (i) to extract these data from a repository of the high-throughput gene expression data like Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and (ii) to make the data from different microarrays comparable with tools easy to use for scientists. We have developed these two solutions in our server, implementing a database of microarray marker genes (Marker Genes Data Base). This database contains the marker genes of all GEO microarray datasets and it is updated monthly with the new microarrays from GEO. Thus, researchers can see whether the marker genes of their microarray are marker genes in other microarrays in the database, expanding the analysis of their microarray to the rest of the public microarrays. This solution helps not only to corroborate the conclusions regarding a researcher's microarray but also to identify the phenotype of different subsets of individuals under investigation, to frame the results with microarray experiments from other species, pathologies or tissues, to search for drugs that promote the transition between the studied phenotypes, to detect undesirable side effects of the treatment applied, etc. Thus, the researcher can quickly add relevant information to his/her studies from all of the previous analyses performed in other studies as long as they have been deposited in public repositories. Marker-gene database tool: http://ibb.uab.es/mgdb © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

  6. High-throughput multiplex HLA-typing by ligase detection reaction (LDR) and universal array (UA) approach.

    PubMed

    Consolandi, Clarissa

    2009-01-01

    One major goal of genetic research is to understand the role of genetic variation in living systems. In humans, by far the most common type of such variation involves differences in single DNA nucleotides, and is thus termed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). The need for improvement in throughput and reliability of traditional techniques makes it necessary to develop new technologies. Thus the past few years have witnessed an extraordinary surge of interest in DNA microarray technology. This new technology offers the first great hope for providing a systematic way to explore the genome. It permits a very rapid analysis of thousands genes for the purpose of gene discovery, sequencing, mapping, expression, and polymorphism detection. We generated a series of analytical tools to address the manufacturing, detection and data analysis components of a microarray experiment. In particular, we set up a universal array approach in combination with a PCR-LDR (polymerase chain reaction-ligation detection reaction) strategy for allele identification in the HLA gene.

  7. G-Protein Coupled Receptors: Surface Display and Biosensor Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McMurchie, Edward; Leifert, Wayne

    Signal transduction by G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) underpins a multitude of physiological processes. Ligand recognition by the receptor leads to the activation of a generic molecular switch involving heterotrimeric G-proteins and guanine nucleotides. With growing interest and commercial investment in GPCRs in areas such as drug targets, orphan receptors, high-throughput screening of drugs and biosensors, greater attention will focus on assay development to allow for miniaturization, ultrahigh-throughput and, eventually, microarray/biochip assay formats that will require nanotechnology-based approaches. Stable, robust, cell-free signaling assemblies comprising receptor and appropriate molecular switching components will form the basis of future GPCR/G-protein platforms, which should be able to be adapted to such applications as microarrays and biosensors. This chapter focuses on cell-free GPCR assay nanotechnologies and describes some molecular biological approaches for the construction of more sophisticated, surface-immobilized, homogeneous, functional GPCR sensors. The latter points should greatly extend the range of applications to which technologies based on GPCRs could be applied.

  8. High throughput SNP discovery and genotyping in hexaploid wheat.

    PubMed

    Rimbert, Hélène; Darrier, Benoît; Navarro, Julien; Kitt, Jonathan; Choulet, Frédéric; Leveugle, Magalie; Duarte, Jorge; Rivière, Nathalie; Eversole, Kellye; Le Gouis, Jacques; Davassi, Alessandro; Balfourier, François; Le Paslier, Marie-Christine; Berard, Aurélie; Brunel, Dominique; Feuillet, Catherine; Poncet, Charles; Sourdille, Pierre; Paux, Etienne

    2018-01-01

    Because of their abundance and their amenability to high-throughput genotyping techniques, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are powerful tools for efficient genetics and genomics studies, including characterization of genetic resources, genome-wide association studies and genomic selection. In wheat, most of the previous SNP discovery initiatives targeted the coding fraction, leaving almost 98% of the wheat genome largely unexploited. Here we report on the use of whole-genome resequencing data from eight wheat lines to mine for SNPs in the genic, the repetitive and non-repetitive intergenic fractions of the wheat genome. Eventually, we identified 3.3 million SNPs, 49% being located on the B-genome, 41% on the A-genome and 10% on the D-genome. We also describe the development of the TaBW280K high-throughput genotyping array containing 280,226 SNPs. Performance of this chip was examined by genotyping a set of 96 wheat accessions representing the worldwide diversity. Sixty-nine percent of the SNPs can be efficiently scored, half of them showing a diploid-like clustering. The TaBW280K was proven to be a very efficient tool for diversity analyses, as well as for breeding as it can discriminate between closely related elite varieties. Finally, the TaBW280K array was used to genotype a population derived from a cross between Chinese Spring and Renan, leading to the construction a dense genetic map comprising 83,721 markers. The results described here will provide the wheat community with powerful tools for both basic and applied research.

  9. 13C cell wall enrichment and ionic liquid NMR analysis: progress towards a high-throughput detailed chemical analysis of the whole plant cell wall.

    PubMed

    Foston, Marcus; Samuel, Reichel; Ragauskas, Arthur J

    2012-09-07

    The ability to accurately and rapidly measure plant cell wall composition, relative monolignol content and lignin-hemicellulose inter-unit linkage distributions has become essential to efforts centered on reducing the recalcitrance of biomass by genetic engineering. Growing (13)C enriched transgenic plants is a viable route to achieve the high-throughput, detailed chemical analysis of whole plant cell wall before and after pretreatment and microbial or enzymatic utilization by (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in a perdeuterated ionic liquid solvent system not requiring component isolation. 1D (13)C whole cell wall ionic liquid NMR of natural abundant and (13)C enriched corn stover stem samples suggest that a high level of uniform labeling (>97%) can significantly reduce the total NMR experiment times up to ~220 times. Similarly, significant reduction in total NMR experiment time (~39 times) of the (13)C enriched corn stover stem samples for 2D (13)C-(1)H heteronuclear single quantum coherence NMR was found.

  10. A microarray-based genotyping and genetic mapping approach for highly heterozygous outcrossing species enables localization of a large fraction of the unassembled Populus trichocarpa genome sequence.

    PubMed

    Drost, Derek R; Novaes, Evandro; Boaventura-Novaes, Carolina; Benedict, Catherine I; Brown, Ryan S; Yin, Tongming; Tuskan, Gerald A; Kirst, Matias

    2009-06-01

    Microarrays have demonstrated significant power for genome-wide analyses of gene expression, and recently have also revolutionized the genetic analysis of segregating populations by genotyping thousands of loci in a single assay. Although microarray-based genotyping approaches have been successfully applied in yeast and several inbred plant species, their power has not been proven in an outcrossing species with extensive genetic diversity. Here we have developed methods for high-throughput microarray-based genotyping in such species using a pseudo-backcross progeny of 154 individuals of Populus trichocarpa and P. deltoides analyzed with long-oligonucleotide in situ-synthesized microarray probes. Our analysis resulted in high-confidence genotypes for 719 single-feature polymorphism (SFP) and 1014 gene expression marker (GEM) candidates. Using these genotypes and an established microsatellite (SSR) framework map, we produced a high-density genetic map comprising over 600 SFPs, GEMs and SSRs. The abundance of gene-based markers allowed us to localize over 35 million base pairs of previously unplaced whole-genome shotgun (WGS) scaffold sequence to putative locations in the genome of P. trichocarpa. A high proportion of sampled scaffolds could be verified for their placement with independently mapped SSRs, demonstrating the previously un-utilized power that high-density genotyping can provide in the context of map-based WGS sequence reassembly. Our results provide a substantial contribution to the continued improvement of the Populus genome assembly, while demonstrating the feasibility of microarray-based genotyping in a highly heterozygous population. The strategies presented are applicable to genetic mapping efforts in all plant species with similarly high levels of genetic diversity.

  11. Estimating differential expression from multiple indicators

    PubMed Central

    Ilmjärv, Sten; Hundahl, Christian Ansgar; Reimets, Riin; Niitsoo, Margus; Kolde, Raivo; Vilo, Jaak; Vasar, Eero; Luuk, Hendrik

    2014-01-01

    Regardless of the advent of high-throughput sequencing, microarrays remain central in current biomedical research. Conventional microarray analysis pipelines apply data reduction before the estimation of differential expression, which is likely to render the estimates susceptible to noise from signal summarization and reduce statistical power. We present a probe-level framework, which capitalizes on the high number of concurrent measurements to provide more robust differential expression estimates. The framework naturally extends to various experimental designs and target categories (e.g. transcripts, genes, genomic regions) as well as small sample sizes. Benchmarking in relation to popular microarray and RNA-sequencing data-analysis pipelines indicated high and stable performance on the Microarray Quality Control dataset and in a cell-culture model of hypoxia. Experimental-data-exhibiting long-range epigenetic silencing of gene expression was used to demonstrate the efficacy of detecting differential expression of genomic regions, a level of analysis not embraced by conventional workflows. Finally, we designed and conducted an experiment to identify hypothermia-responsive genes in terms of monotonic time-response. As a novel insight, hypothermia-dependent up-regulation of multiple genes of two major antioxidant pathways was identified and verified by quantitative real-time PCR. PMID:24586062

  12. Genes misregulated in C. elegans deficient in Dicer, RDE-4, or RDE-1 are enriched for innate immunity genes.

    PubMed

    Welker, Noah C; Habig, Jeffrey W; Bass, Brenda L

    2007-07-01

    We describe the first microarray analysis of a whole animal containing a mutation in the Dicer gene. We used adult Caenorhabditis elegans and, to distinguish among different roles of Dicer, we also performed microarray analyses of animals with mutations in rde-4 and rde-1, which are involved in silencing by siRNA, but not miRNA. Surprisingly, we find that the X chromosome is greatly enriched for genes regulated by Dicer. Comparison of all three microarray data sets indicates the majority of Dicer-regulated genes are not dependent on RDE-4 or RDE-1, including the X-linked genes. However, all three data sets are enriched in genes important for innate immunity and, specifically, show increased expression of innate immunity genes.

  13. Genes misregulated in C. elegans deficient in Dicer, RDE-4, or RDE-1 are enriched for innate immunity genes

    PubMed Central

    Welker, Noah C.; Habig, Jeffrey W.; Bass, Brenda L.

    2007-01-01

    We describe the first microarray analysis of a whole animal containing a mutation in the Dicer gene. We used adult Caenorhabditis elegans and, to distinguish among different roles of Dicer, we also performed microarray analyses of animals with mutations in rde-4 and rde-1, which are involved in silencing by siRNA, but not miRNA. Surprisingly, we find that the X chromosome is greatly enriched for genes regulated by Dicer. Comparison of all three microarray data sets indicates the majority of Dicer-regulated genes are not dependent on RDE-4 or RDE-1, including the X-linked genes. However, all three data sets are enriched in genes important for innate immunity and, specifically, show increased expression of innate immunity genes. PMID:17526642

  14. Bayesian inference with historical data-based informative priors improves detection of differentially expressed genes

    PubMed Central

    Li, Ben; Sun, Zhaonan; He, Qing; Zhu, Yu; Qin, Zhaohui S.

    2016-01-01

    Motivation: Modern high-throughput biotechnologies such as microarray are capable of producing a massive amount of information for each sample. However, in a typical high-throughput experiment, only limited number of samples were assayed, thus the classical ‘large p, small n’ problem. On the other hand, rapid propagation of these high-throughput technologies has resulted in a substantial collection of data, often carried out on the same platform and using the same protocol. It is highly desirable to utilize the existing data when performing analysis and inference on a new dataset. Results: Utilizing existing data can be carried out in a straightforward fashion under the Bayesian framework in which the repository of historical data can be exploited to build informative priors and used in new data analysis. In this work, using microarray data, we investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of deriving informative priors from historical data and using them in the problem of detecting differentially expressed genes. Through simulation and real data analysis, we show that the proposed strategy significantly outperforms existing methods including the popular and state-of-the-art Bayesian hierarchical model-based approaches. Our work illustrates the feasibility and benefits of exploiting the increasingly available genomics big data in statistical inference and presents a promising practical strategy for dealing with the ‘large p, small n’ problem. Availability and implementation: Our method is implemented in R package IPBT, which is freely available from https://github.com/benliemory/IPBT. Contact: yuzhu@purdue.edu; zhaohui.qin@emory.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:26519502

  15. Whole-genome resequencing of Bacillus cereus and expression of genes functioning in sodium chloride stress.

    PubMed

    Xu, Zhenbo; Xie, Jinhong; Liu, Junyan; Ji, Lili; Soteyome, Thanapop; Peters, Brian M; Chen, Dingqiang; Li, Bing; Li, Lin; Shirtliff, Mark E

    2017-03-01

    Bacillus cereus is one of the most common opportunistic pathogens responsible for various foodborn diseases. To investigate the regulatory mechanism of B. cereus under high osmotic pressure, two B. cereus strains B25 and B26 were isolated from the industrial soy sauce residue containing high-salt concentration. Resequencing was performed by Illumina/Solexa platform and 13,646 SNPs and 434 InDels were identified as common variants between B25 and B26 against reference genome, followed by COG, GO, and KEGG enrichment analysis. Furthermore, 49 key genes involving in Na + /H + ,K + transporter, dipeptide or tripeptide transporter, stress response were selected and classified into 27 groups. Further validation was performed by qRT-PCR, and 4 candidate genes were found most associated with osmotic response. Gene expression of the 4 candidate genes was then analyzed accordingly, and down regulation was obtained for gene BC0669 and BC0754 associated with K + transport system. However, dramatic up regulation was detected for gene BC2114 involving in glutathione peroxidase, indicating the activation of antioxidant responses by osmotic stress via genetic regulation. As concluded, bioinformatic analysis and gene expression profile represented the basis of further investigation on the genetic and regulatory mechanism of bacterial salt tolerance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Micropatterned comet assay enables high throughput and sensitive DNA damage quantification

    PubMed Central

    Ge, Jing; Chow, Danielle N.; Fessler, Jessica L.; Weingeist, David M.; Wood, David K.; Engelward, Bevin P.

    2015-01-01

    The single cell gel electrophoresis assay, also known as the comet assay, is a versatile method for measuring many classes of DNA damage, including base damage, abasic sites, single strand breaks and double strand breaks. However, limited throughput and difficulties with reproducibility have limited its utility, particularly for clinical and epidemiological studies. To address these limitations, we created a microarray comet assay. The use of a micrometer scale array of cells increases the number of analysable comets per square centimetre and enables automated imaging and analysis. In addition, the platform is compatible with standard 24- and 96-well plate formats. Here, we have assessed the consistency and sensitivity of the microarray comet assay. We showed that the linear detection range for H2O2-induced DNA damage in human lymphoblastoid cells is between 30 and 100 μM, and that within this range, inter-sample coefficient of variance was between 5 and 10%. Importantly, only 20 comets were required to detect a statistically significant induction of DNA damage for doses within the linear range. We also evaluated sample-to-sample and experiment-to-experiment variation and found that for both conditions, the coefficient of variation was lower than what has been reported for the traditional comet assay. Finally, we also show that the assay can be performed using a 4× objective (rather than the standard 10× objective for the traditional assay). This adjustment combined with the microarray format makes it possible to capture more than 50 analysable comets in a single image, which can then be automatically analysed using in-house software. Overall, throughput is increased more than 100-fold compared to the traditional assay. Together, the results presented here demonstrate key advances in comet assay technology that improve the throughput, sensitivity, and robustness, thus enabling larger scale clinical and epidemiological studies. PMID:25527723

  17. Micropatterned comet assay enables high throughput and sensitive DNA damage quantification.

    PubMed

    Ge, Jing; Chow, Danielle N; Fessler, Jessica L; Weingeist, David M; Wood, David K; Engelward, Bevin P

    2015-01-01

    The single cell gel electrophoresis assay, also known as the comet assay, is a versatile method for measuring many classes of DNA damage, including base damage, abasic sites, single strand breaks and double strand breaks. However, limited throughput and difficulties with reproducibility have limited its utility, particularly for clinical and epidemiological studies. To address these limitations, we created a microarray comet assay. The use of a micrometer scale array of cells increases the number of analysable comets per square centimetre and enables automated imaging and analysis. In addition, the platform is compatible with standard 24- and 96-well plate formats. Here, we have assessed the consistency and sensitivity of the microarray comet assay. We showed that the linear detection range for H2O2-induced DNA damage in human lymphoblastoid cells is between 30 and 100 μM, and that within this range, inter-sample coefficient of variance was between 5 and 10%. Importantly, only 20 comets were required to detect a statistically significant induction of DNA damage for doses within the linear range. We also evaluated sample-to-sample and experiment-to-experiment variation and found that for both conditions, the coefficient of variation was lower than what has been reported for the traditional comet assay. Finally, we also show that the assay can be performed using a 4× objective (rather than the standard 10× objective for the traditional assay). This adjustment combined with the microarray format makes it possible to capture more than 50 analysable comets in a single image, which can then be automatically analysed using in-house software. Overall, throughput is increased more than 100-fold compared to the traditional assay. Together, the results presented here demonstrate key advances in comet assay technology that improve the throughput, sensitivity, and robustness, thus enabling larger scale clinical and epidemiological studies. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Mutagenesis Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. High-Throughput Screening for a Moderately Halophilic Phenol-Degrading Strain and Its Salt Tolerance Response

    PubMed Central

    Lu, Zhi-Yan; Guo, Xiao-Jue; Li, Hui; Huang, Zhong-Zi; Lin, Kuang-Fei; Liu, Yong-Di

    2015-01-01

    A high-throughput screening system for moderately halophilic phenol-degrading bacteria from various habitats was developed to replace the conventional strain screening owing to its high efficiency. Bacterial enrichments were cultivated in 48 deep well microplates instead of shake flasks or tubes. Measurement of phenol concentrations was performed in 96-well microplates instead of using the conventional spectrophotometric method or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The high-throughput screening system was used to cultivate forty-three bacterial enrichments and gained a halophilic bacterial community E3 with the best phenol-degrading capability. Halomonas sp. strain 4-5 was isolated from the E3 community. Strain 4-5 was able to degrade more than 94% of the phenol (500 mg·L−1 starting concentration) over a range of 3%–10% NaCl. Additionally, the strain accumulated the compatible solute, ectoine, with increasing salt concentrations. PCR detection of the functional genes suggested that the largest subunit of multicomponent phenol hydroxylase (LmPH) and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (C12O) were active in the phenol degradation process. PMID:26020478

  19. Rabbit genome analysis reveals a polygenic basis for phenotypic change during domestication.

    PubMed

    Carneiro, Miguel; Rubin, Carl-Johan; Di Palma, Federica; Albert, Frank W; Alföldi, Jessica; Martinez Barrio, Alvaro; Pielberg, Gerli; Rafati, Nima; Sayyab, Shumaila; Turner-Maier, Jason; Younis, Shady; Afonso, Sandra; Aken, Bronwen; Alves, Joel M; Barrell, Daniel; Bolet, Gerard; Boucher, Samuel; Burbano, Hernán A; Campos, Rita; Chang, Jean L; Duranthon, Veronique; Fontanesi, Luca; Garreau, Hervé; Heiman, David; Johnson, Jeremy; Mage, Rose G; Peng, Ze; Queney, Guillaume; Rogel-Gaillard, Claire; Ruffier, Magali; Searle, Steve; Villafuerte, Rafael; Xiong, Anqi; Young, Sarah; Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin; Good, Jeffrey M; Lander, Eric S; Ferrand, Nuno; Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin; Andersson, Leif

    2014-08-29

    The genetic changes underlying the initial steps of animal domestication are still poorly understood. We generated a high-quality reference genome for the rabbit and compared it to resequencing data from populations of wild and domestic rabbits. We identified more than 100 selective sweeps specific to domestic rabbits but only a relatively small number of fixed (or nearly fixed) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for derived alleles. SNPs with marked allele frequency differences between wild and domestic rabbits were enriched for conserved noncoding sites. Enrichment analyses suggest that genes affecting brain and neuronal development have often been targeted during domestication. We propose that because of a truly complex genetic background, tame behavior in rabbits and other domestic animals evolved by shifts in allele frequencies at many loci, rather than by critical changes at only a few domestication loci. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  20. Topology based data analysis identifies a subgroup of breast cancers with a unique mutational profile and excellent survival.

    PubMed

    Nicolau, Monica; Levine, Arnold J; Carlsson, Gunnar

    2011-04-26

    High-throughput biological data, whether generated as sequencing, transcriptional microarrays, proteomic, or other means, continues to require analytic methods that address its high dimensional aspects. Because the computational part of data analysis ultimately identifies shape characteristics in the organization of data sets, the mathematics of shape recognition in high dimensions continues to be a crucial part of data analysis. This article introduces a method that extracts information from high-throughput microarray data and, by using topology, provides greater depth of information than current analytic techniques. The method, termed Progression Analysis of Disease (PAD), first identifies robust aspects of cluster analysis, then goes deeper to find a multitude of biologically meaningful shape characteristics in these data. Additionally, because PAD incorporates a visualization tool, it provides a simple picture or graph that can be used to further explore these data. Although PAD can be applied to a wide range of high-throughput data types, it is used here as an example to analyze breast cancer transcriptional data. This identified a unique subgroup of Estrogen Receptor-positive (ER(+)) breast cancers that express high levels of c-MYB and low levels of innate inflammatory genes. These patients exhibit 100% survival and no metastasis. No supervised step beyond distinction between tumor and healthy patients was used to identify this subtype. The group has a clear and distinct, statistically significant molecular signature, it highlights coherent biology but is invisible to cluster methods, and does not fit into the accepted classification of Luminal A/B, Normal-like subtypes of ER(+) breast cancers. We denote the group as c-MYB(+) breast cancer.

  1. High-throughput sequencing enhanced phage display enables the identification of patient-specific epitope motifs in serum.

    PubMed

    Christiansen, Anders; Kringelum, Jens V; Hansen, Christian S; Bøgh, Katrine L; Sullivan, Eric; Patel, Jigar; Rigby, Neil M; Eiwegger, Thomas; Szépfalusi, Zsolt; de Masi, Federico; Nielsen, Morten; Lund, Ole; Dufva, Martin

    2015-08-06

    Phage display is a prominent screening technique with a multitude of applications including therapeutic antibody development and mapping of antigen epitopes. In this study, phages were selected based on their interaction with patient serum and exhaustively characterised by high-throughput sequencing. A bioinformatics approach was developed in order to identify peptide motifs of interest based on clustering and contrasting to control samples. Comparison of patient and control samples confirmed a major issue in phage display, namely the selection of unspecific peptides. The potential of the bioinformatic approach was demonstrated by identifying epitopes of a prominent peanut allergen, Ara h 1, in sera from patients with severe peanut allergy. The identified epitopes were confirmed by high-density peptide micro-arrays. The present study demonstrates that high-throughput sequencing can empower phage display by (i) enabling the analysis of complex biological samples, (ii) circumventing the traditional laborious picking and functional testing of individual phage clones and (iii) reducing the number of selection rounds.

  2. GermOnline 4.0 is a genomics gateway for germline development, meiosis and the mitotic cell cycle.

    PubMed

    Lardenois, Aurélie; Gattiker, Alexandre; Collin, Olivier; Chalmel, Frédéric; Primig, Michael

    2010-01-01

    GermOnline 4.0 is a cross-species database portal focusing on high-throughput expression data relevant for germline development, the meiotic cell cycle and mitosis in healthy versus malignant cells. It is thus a source of information for life scientists as well as clinicians who are interested in gene expression and regulatory networks. The GermOnline gateway provides unlimited access to information produced with high-density oligonucleotide microarrays (3'-UTR GeneChips), genome-wide protein-DNA binding assays and protein-protein interaction studies in the context of Ensembl genome annotation. Samples used to produce high-throughput expression data and to carry out genome-wide in vivo DNA binding assays are annotated via the MIAME-compliant Multiomics Information Management and Annotation System (MIMAS 3.0). Furthermore, the Saccharomyces Genomics Viewer (SGV) was developed and integrated into the gateway. SGV is a visualization tool that outputs genome annotation and DNA-strand specific expression data produced with high-density oligonucleotide tiling microarrays (Sc_tlg GeneChips) which cover the complete budding yeast genome on both DNA strands. It facilitates the interpretation of expression levels and transcript structures determined for various cell types cultured under different growth and differentiation conditions. Database URL: www.germonline.org/

  3. GermOnline 4.0 is a genomics gateway for germline development, meiosis and the mitotic cell cycle

    PubMed Central

    Lardenois, Aurélie; Gattiker, Alexandre; Collin, Olivier; Chalmel, Frédéric; Primig, Michael

    2010-01-01

    GermOnline 4.0 is a cross-species database portal focusing on high-throughput expression data relevant for germline development, the meiotic cell cycle and mitosis in healthy versus malignant cells. It is thus a source of information for life scientists as well as clinicians who are interested in gene expression and regulatory networks. The GermOnline gateway provides unlimited access to information produced with high-density oligonucleotide microarrays (3′-UTR GeneChips), genome-wide protein–DNA binding assays and protein–protein interaction studies in the context of Ensembl genome annotation. Samples used to produce high-throughput expression data and to carry out genome-wide in vivo DNA binding assays are annotated via the MIAME-compliant Multiomics Information Management and Annotation System (MIMAS 3.0). Furthermore, the Saccharomyces Genomics Viewer (SGV) was developed and integrated into the gateway. SGV is a visualization tool that outputs genome annotation and DNA-strand specific expression data produced with high-density oligonucleotide tiling microarrays (Sc_tlg GeneChips) which cover the complete budding yeast genome on both DNA strands. It facilitates the interpretation of expression levels and transcript structures determined for various cell types cultured under different growth and differentiation conditions. Database URL: www.germonline.org/ PMID:21149299

  4. Scaling down the size and increasing the throughput of glycosyltransferase assays: activity changes on stem cell differentiation.

    PubMed

    Patil, Shilpa A; Chandrasekaran, E V; Matta, Khushi L; Parikh, Abhirath; Tzanakakis, Emmanuel S; Neelamegham, Sriram

    2012-06-15

    Glycosyltransferases (glycoTs) catalyze the transfer of monosaccharides from nucleotide-sugars to carbohydrate-, lipid-, and protein-based acceptors. We examined strategies to scale down and increase the throughput of glycoT enzymatic assays because traditional methods require large reaction volumes and complex chromatography. Approaches tested used (i) microarray pin printing, an appropriate method when glycoT activity was high; (ii) microwells and microcentrifuge tubes, a suitable method for studies with cell lysates when enzyme activity was moderate; and (iii) C(18) pipette tips and solvent extraction, a method that enriched reaction product when the extent of reaction was low. In all cases, reverse-phase thin layer chromatography (RP-TLC) coupled with phosphorimaging quantified the reaction rate. Studies with mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) demonstrated an increase in overall β(1,3)galactosyltransferase and α(2,3)sialyltransferase activity and a decrease in α(1,3)fucosyltransferases when these cells differentiate toward cardiomyocytes. Enzymatic and lectin binding data suggest a transition from Lewis(x)-type structures in mESCs to sialylated Galβ1,3GalNAc-type glycans on differentiation, with more prominent changes in enzyme activity occurring at later stages when embryoid bodies differentiated toward cardiomyocytes. Overall, simple, rapid, quantitative, and scalable glycoT activity analysis methods are presented. These use a range of natural and synthetic acceptors for the analysis of complex biological specimens that have limited availability. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. From High-Throughput Microarray-Based Screening to Clinical Application: The Development of a Second Generation Multigene Test for Breast Cancer Prognosis

    PubMed Central

    Brase, Jan C.; Kronenwett, Ralf; Petry, Christoph; Denkert, Carsten; Schmidt, Marcus

    2013-01-01

    Several multigene tests have been developed for breast cancer patients to predict the individual risk of recurrence. Most of the first generation tests rely on proliferation-associated genes and are commonly carried out in central reference laboratories. Here, we describe the development of a second generation multigene assay, the EndoPredict test, a prognostic multigene expression test for estrogen receptor (ER) positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) negative (ER+/HER2−) breast cancer patients. The EndoPredict gene signature was initially established in a large high-throughput microarray-based screening study. The key steps for biomarker identification are discussed in detail, in comparison to the establishment of other multigene signatures. After biomarker selection, genes and algorithms were transferred to a diagnostic platform (reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR)) to allow for assaying formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. A comprehensive analytical validation was performed and a prospective proficiency testing study with seven pathological laboratories finally proved that EndoPredict can be reliably used in the decentralized setting. Three independent large clinical validation studies (n = 2,257) demonstrated that EndoPredict offers independent prognostic information beyond current clinicopathological parameters and clinical guidelines. The review article summarizes several important steps that should be considered for the development process of a second generation multigene test and offers a means for transferring a microarray signature from the research laboratory to clinical practice. PMID:27605191

  6. Metadata management and semantics in microarray repositories.

    PubMed

    Kocabaş, F; Can, T; Baykal, N

    2011-12-01

    The number of microarray and other high-throughput experiments on primary repositories keeps increasing as do the size and complexity of the results in response to biomedical investigations. Initiatives have been started on standardization of content, object model, exchange format and ontology. However, there are backlogs and inability to exchange data between microarray repositories, which indicate that there is a great need for a standard format and data management. We have introduced a metadata framework that includes a metadata card and semantic nets that make experimental results visible, understandable and usable. These are encoded in syntax encoding schemes and represented in RDF (Resource Description Frame-word), can be integrated with other metadata cards and semantic nets, and can be exchanged, shared and queried. We demonstrated the performance and potential benefits through a case study on a selected microarray repository. We concluded that the backlogs can be reduced and that exchange of information and asking of knowledge discovery questions can become possible with the use of this metadata framework.

  7. Analytical Protein Microarrays: Advancements Towards Clinical Applications

    PubMed Central

    Sauer, Ursula

    2017-01-01

    Protein microarrays represent a powerful technology with the potential to serve as tools for the detection of a broad range of analytes in numerous applications such as diagnostics, drug development, food safety, and environmental monitoring. Key features of analytical protein microarrays include high throughput and relatively low costs due to minimal reagent consumption, multiplexing, fast kinetics and hence measurements, and the possibility of functional integration. So far, especially fundamental studies in molecular and cell biology have been conducted using protein microarrays, while the potential for clinical, notably point-of-care applications is not yet fully utilized. The question arises what features have to be implemented and what improvements have to be made in order to fully exploit the technology. In the past we have identified various obstacles that have to be overcome in order to promote protein microarray technology in the diagnostic field. Issues that need significant improvement to make the technology more attractive for the diagnostic market are for instance: too low sensitivity and deficiency in reproducibility, inadequate analysis time, lack of high-quality antibodies and validated reagents, lack of automation and portable instruments, and cost of instruments necessary for chip production and read-out. The scope of the paper at hand is to review approaches to solve these problems. PMID:28146048

  8. High-throughput quantum cascade laser (QCL) spectral histopathology: a practical approach towards clinical translation.

    PubMed

    Pilling, Michael J; Henderson, Alex; Bird, Benjamin; Brown, Mick D; Clarke, Noel W; Gardner, Peter

    2016-06-23

    Infrared microscopy has become one of the key techniques in the biomedical research field for interrogating tissue. In partnership with multivariate analysis and machine learning techniques, it has become widely accepted as a method that can distinguish between normal and cancerous tissue with both high sensitivity and high specificity. While spectral histopathology (SHP) is highly promising for improved clinical diagnosis, several practical barriers currently exist, which need to be addressed before successful implementation in the clinic. Sample throughput and speed of acquisition are key barriers and have been driven by the high volume of samples awaiting histopathological examination. FTIR chemical imaging utilising FPA technology is currently state-of-the-art for infrared chemical imaging, and recent advances in its technology have dramatically reduced acquisition times. Despite this, infrared microscopy measurements on a tissue microarray (TMA), often encompassing several million spectra, takes several hours to acquire. The problem lies with the vast quantities of data that FTIR collects; each pixel in a chemical image is derived from a full infrared spectrum, itself composed of thousands of individual data points. Furthermore, data management is quickly becoming a barrier to clinical translation and poses the question of how to store these incessantly growing data sets. Recently, doubts have been raised as to whether the full spectral range is actually required for accurate disease diagnosis using SHP. These studies suggest that once spectral biomarkers have been predetermined it may be possible to diagnose disease based on a limited number of discrete spectral features. In this current study, we explore the possibility of utilising discrete frequency chemical imaging for acquiring high-throughput, high-resolution chemical images. Utilising a quantum cascade laser imaging microscope with discrete frequency collection at key diagnostic wavelengths, we demonstrate that we can diagnose prostate cancer with high sensitivity and specificity. Finally we extend the study to a large patient dataset utilising tissue microarrays, and show that high sensitivity and specificity can be achieved using high-throughput, rapid data collection, thereby paving the way for practical implementation in the clinic.

  9. Eureka-DMA: an easy-to-operate graphical user interface for fast comprehensive investigation and analysis of DNA microarray data.

    PubMed

    Abelson, Sagi

    2014-02-24

    In the past decade, the field of molecular biology has become increasingly quantitative; rapid development of new technologies enables researchers to investigate and address fundamental issues quickly and in an efficient manner which were once impossible. Among these technologies, DNA microarray provides methodology for many applications such as gene discovery, diseases diagnosis, drug development and toxicological research and it has been used increasingly since it first emerged. Multiple tools have been developed to interpret the high-throughput data produced by microarrays. However, many times, less consideration has been given to the fact that an extensive and effective interpretation requires close interplay between the bioinformaticians who analyze the data and the biologists who generate it. To bridge this gap and to simplify the usability of such tools we developed Eureka-DMA - an easy-to-operate graphical user interface that allows bioinformaticians and bench-biologists alike to initiate analyses as well as to investigate the data produced by DNA microarrays. In this paper, we describe Eureka-DMA, a user-friendly software that comprises a set of methods for the interpretation of gene expression arrays. Eureka-DMA includes methods for the identification of genes with differential expression between conditions; it searches for enriched pathways and gene ontology terms and combines them with other relevant features. It thus enables the full understanding of the data for following testing as well as generating new hypotheses. Here we show two analyses, demonstrating examples of how Eureka-DMA can be used and its capability to produce relevant and reliable results. We have integrated several elementary expression analysis tools to provide a unified interface for their implementation. Eureka-DMA's simple graphical user interface provides effective and efficient framework in which the investigator has the full set of tools for the visualization and interpretation of the data with the option of exporting the analysis results for later use in other platforms. Eureka-DMA is freely available for academic users and can be downloaded at http://blue-meduza.org/Eureka-DMA.

  10. MOEX: Solvent extraction approach for recycling enriched 98Mo/ 100Mo material

    DOE PAGES

    Tkac, Peter; Brown, M. Alex; Momen, Abdul; ...

    2017-03-20

    Several promising pathways exist for the production of 99Mo/ 99mTc using enriched 98Mo or 100Mo. Use of Mo targets require a major change in current generator technology, and the necessity for an efficient recycle pathway to recover valuable enriched Mo material. High recovery yields, purity, suitable chemical form and particle size are required. Results on the development of the MOEX– molybdenum solvent extraction – approach to recycle enriched Mo material are presented. Furthermore, the advantages of the MOEX process are very high decontamination factors from potassium and other elements, high throughput, easy scalability, automation, and minimal waste generation.

  11. MOEX: Solvent extraction approach for recycling enriched 98Mo/ 100Mo material

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tkac, Peter; Brown, M. Alex; Momen, Abdul

    Several promising pathways exist for the production of 99Mo/ 99mTc using enriched 98Mo or 100Mo. Use of Mo targets require a major change in current generator technology, and the necessity for an efficient recycle pathway to recover valuable enriched Mo material. High recovery yields, purity, suitable chemical form and particle size are required. Results on the development of the MOEX– molybdenum solvent extraction – approach to recycle enriched Mo material are presented. Furthermore, the advantages of the MOEX process are very high decontamination factors from potassium and other elements, high throughput, easy scalability, automation, and minimal waste generation.

  12. Metabolic enzyme microarray coupled with miniaturized cell-culture array technology for high-throughput toxicity screening.

    PubMed

    Lee, Moo-Yeal; Dordick, Jonathan S; Clark, Douglas S

    2010-01-01

    Due to poor drug candidate safety profiles that are often identified late in the drug development process, the clinical progression of new chemical entities to pharmaceuticals remains hindered, thus resulting in the high cost of drug discovery. To accelerate the identification of safer drug candidates and improve the clinical progression of drug candidates to pharmaceuticals, it is important to develop high-throughput tools that can provide early-stage predictive toxicology data. In particular, in vitro cell-based systems that can accurately mimic the human in vivo response and predict the impact of drug candidates on human toxicology are needed to accelerate the assessment of drug candidate toxicity and human metabolism earlier in the drug development process. The in vitro techniques that provide a high degree of human toxicity prediction will be perhaps more important in cosmetic and chemical industries in Europe, as animal toxicity testing is being phased out entirely in the immediate future.We have developed a metabolic enzyme microarray (the Metabolizing Enzyme Toxicology Assay Chip, or MetaChip) and a miniaturized three-dimensional (3D) cell-culture array (the Data Analysis Toxicology Assay Chip, or DataChip) for high-throughput toxicity screening of target compounds and their metabolic enzyme-generated products. The human or rat MetaChip contains an array of encapsulated metabolic enzymes that is designed to emulate the metabolic reactions in the human or rat liver. The human or rat DataChip contains an array of 3D human or rat cells encapsulated in alginate gels for cell-based toxicity screening. By combining the DataChip with the complementary MetaChip, in vitro toxicity results are obtained that correlate well with in vivo rat data.

  13. Assessment of a direct hybridization microarray strategy for comprehensive monitoring of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

    PubMed

    Turkec, Aydin; Lucas, Stuart J; Karacanli, Burçin; Baykut, Aykut; Yuksel, Hakki

    2016-03-01

    Detection of GMO material in crop and food samples is the primary step in GMO monitoring and regulation, with the increasing number of GM events in the world market requiring detection solutions with high multiplexing capacity. In this study, we test the suitability of a high-density oligonucleotide microarray platform for direct, quantitative detection of GMOs found in the Turkish feed market. We tested 1830 different 60nt probes designed to cover the GM cassettes from 12 different GM cultivars (3 soya, 9 maize), as well as plant species-specific and contamination controls, and developed a data analysis method aiming to provide maximum throughput and sensitivity. The system was able specifically to identify each cultivar, and in 10/12 cases was sensitive enough to detect GMO DNA at concentrations of ⩽1%. These GMOs could also be quantified using the microarray, as their fluorescence signals increased linearly with GMO concentration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. New Web-Based Tools Make Systems Pharmacology More Accessible Using Data from the NCI-60 | Center for Cancer Research

    Cancer.gov

    High-throughput biological techniques, like microarrays and drug screens, generate an enormous amount of data that may be critically important for cancer researchers and clinicians. Being able to manipulate the data to extract those pieces of interest, however, can require computational or bioinformatics skills beyond those of the average scientist.

  15. MotifMark: Finding regulatory motifs in DNA sequences.

    PubMed

    Hassanzadeh, Hamid Reza; Kolhe, Pushkar; Isbell, Charles L; Wang, May D

    2017-07-01

    The interaction between proteins and DNA is a key driving force in a significant number of biological processes such as transcriptional regulation, repair, recombination, splicing, and DNA modification. The identification of DNA-binding sites and the specificity of target proteins in binding to these regions are two important steps in understanding the mechanisms of these biological activities. A number of high-throughput technologies have recently emerged that try to quantify the affinity between proteins and DNA motifs. Despite their success, these technologies have their own limitations and fall short in precise characterization of motifs, and as a result, require further downstream analysis to extract useful and interpretable information from a haystack of noisy and inaccurate data. Here we propose MotifMark, a new algorithm based on graph theory and machine learning, that can find binding sites on candidate probes and rank their specificity in regard to the underlying transcription factor. We developed a pipeline to analyze experimental data derived from compact universal protein binding microarrays and benchmarked it against two of the most accurate motif search methods. Our results indicate that MotifMark can be a viable alternative technique for prediction of motif from protein binding microarrays and possibly other related high-throughput techniques.

  16. ProbCD: enrichment analysis accounting for categorization uncertainty.

    PubMed

    Vêncio, Ricardo Z N; Shmulevich, Ilya

    2007-10-12

    As in many other areas of science, systems biology makes extensive use of statistical association and significance estimates in contingency tables, a type of categorical data analysis known in this field as enrichment (also over-representation or enhancement) analysis. In spite of efforts to create probabilistic annotations, especially in the Gene Ontology context, or to deal with uncertainty in high throughput-based datasets, current enrichment methods largely ignore this probabilistic information since they are mainly based on variants of the Fisher Exact Test. We developed an open-source R-based software to deal with probabilistic categorical data analysis, ProbCD, that does not require a static contingency table. The contingency table for the enrichment problem is built using the expectation of a Bernoulli Scheme stochastic process given the categorization probabilities. An on-line interface was created to allow usage by non-programmers and is available at: http://xerad.systemsbiology.net/ProbCD/. We present an analysis framework and software tools to address the issue of uncertainty in categorical data analysis. In particular, concerning the enrichment analysis, ProbCD can accommodate: (i) the stochastic nature of the high-throughput experimental techniques and (ii) probabilistic gene annotation.

  17. Transcriptional Regulatory Network Analysis of MYB Transcription Factor Family Genes in Rice.

    PubMed

    Smita, Shuchi; Katiyar, Amit; Chinnusamy, Viswanathan; Pandey, Dev M; Bansal, Kailash C

    2015-01-01

    MYB transcription factor (TF) is one of the largest TF families and regulates defense responses to various stresses, hormone signaling as well as many metabolic and developmental processes in plants. Understanding these regulatory hierarchies of gene expression networks in response to developmental and environmental cues is a major challenge due to the complex interactions between the genetic elements. Correlation analyses are useful to unravel co-regulated gene pairs governing biological process as well as identification of new candidate hub genes in response to these complex processes. High throughput expression profiling data are highly useful for construction of co-expression networks. In the present study, we utilized transcriptome data for comprehensive regulatory network studies of MYB TFs by "top-down" and "guide-gene" approaches. More than 50% of OsMYBs were strongly correlated under 50 experimental conditions with 51 hub genes via "top-down" approach. Further, clusters were identified using Markov Clustering (MCL). To maximize the clustering performance, parameter evaluation of the MCL inflation score (I) was performed in terms of enriched GO categories by measuring F-score. Comparison of co-expressed cluster and clads analyzed from phylogenetic analysis signifies their evolutionarily conserved co-regulatory role. We utilized compendium of known interaction and biological role with Gene Ontology enrichment analysis to hypothesize function of coexpressed OsMYBs. In the other part, the transcriptional regulatory network analysis by "guide-gene" approach revealed 40 putative targets of 26 OsMYB TF hubs with high correlation value utilizing 815 microarray data. The putative targets with MYB-binding cis-elements enrichment in their promoter region, functional co-occurrence as well as nuclear localization supports our finding. Specially, enrichment of MYB binding regions involved in drought-inducibility implying their regulatory role in drought response in rice. Thus, the co-regulatory network analysis facilitated the identification of complex OsMYB regulatory networks, and candidate target regulon genes of selected guide MYB genes. The results contribute to the candidate gene screening, and experimentally testable hypotheses for potential regulatory MYB TFs, and their targets under stress conditions.

  18. Sequence Variability and Geographic Distribution of Lassa Virus, Sierra Leone

    PubMed Central

    Stockelman, Michael G.; Moses, Lina M.; Park, Matthew; Stenger, David A.; Ansumana, Rashid; Bausch, Daniel G.; Lin, Baochuan

    2015-01-01

    Lassa virus (LASV) is endemic to parts of West Africa and causes highly fatal hemorrhagic fever. The multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis) is the only known reservoir of LASV. Most human infections result from zoonotic transmission. The very diverse LASV genome has 4 major lineages associated with different geographic locations. We used reverse transcription PCR and resequencing microarrays to detect LASV in 41 of 214 samples from rodents captured at 8 locations in Sierra Leone. Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of nucleoprotein (NP), glycoprotein precursor (GPC), and polymerase (L) genes showed 5 separate clades within lineage IV of LASV in this country. The sequence diversity was higher than previously observed; mean diversity was 7.01% for nucleoprotein gene at the nucleotide level. These results may have major implications for designing diagnostic tests and therapeutic agents for LASV infections in Sierra Leone. PMID:25811712

  19. Plant-pathogen interactions: what microarray tells about it?

    PubMed

    Lodha, T D; Basak, J

    2012-01-01

    Plant defense responses are mediated by elementary regulatory proteins that affect expression of thousands of genes. Over the last decade, microarray technology has played a key role in deciphering the underlying networks of gene regulation in plants that lead to a wide variety of defence responses. Microarray is an important tool to quantify and profile the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously, with two main aims: (1) gene discovery and (2) global expression profiling. Several microarray technologies are currently in use; most include a glass slide platform with spotted cDNA or oligonucleotides. Till date, microarray technology has been used in the identification of regulatory genes, end-point defence genes, to understand the signal transduction processes underlying disease resistance and its intimate links to other physiological pathways. Microarray technology can be used for in-depth, simultaneous profiling of host/pathogen genes as the disease progresses from infection to resistance/susceptibility at different developmental stages of the host, which can be done in different environments, for clearer understanding of the processes involved. A thorough knowledge of plant disease resistance using successful combination of microarray and other high throughput techniques, as well as biochemical, genetic, and cell biological experiments is needed for practical application to secure and stabilize yield of many crop plants. This review starts with a brief introduction to microarray technology, followed by the basics of plant-pathogen interaction, the use of DNA microarrays over the last decade to unravel the mysteries of plant-pathogen interaction, and ends with the future prospects of this technology.

  20. STOP using just GO: a multi-ontology hypothesis generation tool for high throughput experimentation

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis remains one of the most common methods for hypothesis generation from high throughput datasets. However, we believe that researchers strive to test other hypotheses that fall outside of GO. Here, we developed and evaluated a tool for hypothesis generation from gene or protein lists using ontological concepts present in manually curated text that describes those genes and proteins. Results As a consequence we have developed the method Statistical Tracking of Ontological Phrases (STOP) that expands the realm of testable hypotheses in gene set enrichment analyses by integrating automated annotations of genes to terms from over 200 biomedical ontologies. While not as precise as manually curated terms, we find that the additional enriched concepts have value when coupled with traditional enrichment analyses using curated terms. Conclusion Multiple ontologies have been developed for gene and protein annotation, by using a dataset of both manually curated GO terms and automatically recognized concepts from curated text we can expand the realm of hypotheses that can be discovered. The web application STOP is available at http://mooneygroup.org/stop/. PMID:23409969

  1. The multidimensional perturbation value: a single metric to measure similarity and activity of treatments in high-throughput multidimensional screens.

    PubMed

    Hutz, Janna E; Nelson, Thomas; Wu, Hua; McAllister, Gregory; Moutsatsos, Ioannis; Jaeger, Savina A; Bandyopadhyay, Somnath; Nigsch, Florian; Cornett, Ben; Jenkins, Jeremy L; Selinger, Douglas W

    2013-04-01

    Screens using high-throughput, information-rich technologies such as microarrays, high-content screening (HCS), and next-generation sequencing (NGS) have become increasingly widespread. Compared with single-readout assays, these methods produce a more comprehensive picture of the effects of screened treatments. However, interpreting such multidimensional readouts is challenging. Univariate statistics such as t-tests and Z-factors cannot easily be applied to multidimensional profiles, leaving no obvious way to answer common screening questions such as "Is treatment X active in this assay?" and "Is treatment X different from (or equivalent to) treatment Y?" We have developed a simple, straightforward metric, the multidimensional perturbation value (mp-value), which can be used to answer these questions. Here, we demonstrate application of the mp-value to three data sets: a multiplexed gene expression screen of compounds and genomic reagents, a microarray-based gene expression screen of compounds, and an HCS compound screen. In all data sets, active treatments were successfully identified using the mp-value, and simulations and follow-up analyses supported the mp-value's statistical and biological validity. We believe the mp-value represents a promising way to simplify the analysis of multidimensional data while taking full advantage of its richness.

  2. Different mutational function of low- and high-linear energy transfer heavy-ion irradiation demonstrated by whole-genome resequencing of Arabidopsis mutants.

    PubMed

    Kazama, Yusuke; Ishii, Kotaro; Hirano, Tomonari; Wakana, Taeko; Yamada, Mieko; Ohbu, Sumie; Abe, Tomoko

    2017-12-01

    Heavy-ion irradiation is a powerful mutagen that possesses high linear energy transfer (LET). Several studies have indicated that the value of LET affects DNA lesion formation in several ways, including the efficiency and the density of double-stranded break induction along the particle path. We assumed that the mutation type can be altered by selecting an appropriate LET value. Here, we quantitatively demonstrate differences in the mutation type induced by irradiation with two representative ions, Ar ions (LET: 290 keV μm -1 ) and C ions (LET: 30.0 keV μm -1 ), by whole-genome resequencing of the Arabidopsis mutants produced by these irradiations. Ar ions caused chromosomal rearrangements or large deletions (≥100 bp) more frequently than C ions, with 10.2 and 2.3 per mutant genome under Ar- and C-ion irradiation, respectively. Conversely, C ions induced more single-base substitutions and small indels (<100 bp) than Ar ions, with 28.1 and 56.9 per mutant genome under Ar- and C-ion irradiation, respectively. Moreover, the rearrangements induced by Ar-ion irradiation were more complex than those induced by C-ion irradiation, and tended to accompany single base substitutions or small indels located close by. In conjunction with the detection of causative genes through high-throughput sequencing, selective irradiation by beams with different effects will be a powerful tool for forward genetics as well as studies on chromosomal rearrangements. © 2017 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Multiplexed ChIP-Seq Using Direct Nucleosome Barcoding: A Tool for High-Throughput Chromatin Analysis.

    PubMed

    Chabbert, Christophe D; Adjalley, Sophie H; Steinmetz, Lars M; Pelechano, Vicent

    2018-01-01

    Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-Seq) or microarray hybridization (ChIP-on-chip) are standard methods for the study of transcription factor binding sites and histone chemical modifications. However, these approaches only allow profiling of a single factor or protein modification at a time.In this chapter, we present Bar-ChIP, a higher throughput version of ChIP-Seq that relies on the direct ligation of molecular barcodes to chromatin fragments. Bar-ChIP enables the concurrent profiling of multiple DNA-protein interactions and is therefore amenable to experimental scale-up, without the need for any robotic instrumentation.

  4. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gao, Xiugong, E-mail: xiugong.gao@fda.hhs.gov; Sprando, Robert L.; Yourick, Jeffrey J.

    Developmental toxicity testing has traditionally relied on animal models which are costly, time consuming, and require the sacrifice of large numbers of animals. In addition, there are significant disparities between human beings and animals in their responses to chemicals. Thalidomide is a species-specific developmental toxicant that causes severe limb malformations in humans but not in mice. Here, we used microarrays to study transcriptomic changes induced by thalidomide in an in vitro model based on differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). C57BL/6 mESCs were allowed to differentiate spontaneously and RNA was collected at 24, 48, and 72 h after exposuremore » to 0.25 mM thalidomide. Global gene expression analysis using microarrays revealed hundreds of differentially expressed genes upon thalidomide exposure that were enriched in gene ontology (GO) terms and canonical pathways associated with embryonic development and differentiation. In addition, many genes were found to be involved in small GTPases-mediated signal transduction, heart development, and inflammatory responses, which coincide with clinical evidences and may represent critical embryotoxicities of thalidomide. These results demonstrate that transcriptomics in combination with mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation is a promising alternative model for developmental toxicity assessment. - Highlights: • Studied genomic changes in mouse embryonic stem cells upon thalidomide exposure • Identified gene expression changes that may represent thalidomide embryotoxicity • The toxicogenomic changes coincide well with known thalidomide clinical outcomes. • The mouse embryonic stem cell model is suitable for developmental toxicity testing. • The model has the potential for high-throughput screening of a multitude of compounds.« less

  5. Bayesian inference with historical data-based informative priors improves detection of differentially expressed genes.

    PubMed

    Li, Ben; Sun, Zhaonan; He, Qing; Zhu, Yu; Qin, Zhaohui S

    2016-03-01

    Modern high-throughput biotechnologies such as microarray are capable of producing a massive amount of information for each sample. However, in a typical high-throughput experiment, only limited number of samples were assayed, thus the classical 'large p, small n' problem. On the other hand, rapid propagation of these high-throughput technologies has resulted in a substantial collection of data, often carried out on the same platform and using the same protocol. It is highly desirable to utilize the existing data when performing analysis and inference on a new dataset. Utilizing existing data can be carried out in a straightforward fashion under the Bayesian framework in which the repository of historical data can be exploited to build informative priors and used in new data analysis. In this work, using microarray data, we investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of deriving informative priors from historical data and using them in the problem of detecting differentially expressed genes. Through simulation and real data analysis, we show that the proposed strategy significantly outperforms existing methods including the popular and state-of-the-art Bayesian hierarchical model-based approaches. Our work illustrates the feasibility and benefits of exploiting the increasingly available genomics big data in statistical inference and presents a promising practical strategy for dealing with the 'large p, small n' problem. Our method is implemented in R package IPBT, which is freely available from https://github.com/benliemory/IPBT CONTACT: yuzhu@purdue.edu; zhaohui.qin@emory.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  6. Bioinformatics and Microarray Data Analysis on the Cloud.

    PubMed

    Calabrese, Barbara; Cannataro, Mario

    2016-01-01

    High-throughput platforms such as microarray, mass spectrometry, and next-generation sequencing are producing an increasing volume of omics data that needs large data storage and computing power. Cloud computing offers massive scalable computing and storage, data sharing, on-demand anytime and anywhere access to resources and applications, and thus, it may represent the key technology for facing those issues. In fact, in the recent years it has been adopted for the deployment of different bioinformatics solutions and services both in academia and in the industry. Although this, cloud computing presents several issues regarding the security and privacy of data, that are particularly important when analyzing patients data, such as in personalized medicine. This chapter reviews main academic and industrial cloud-based bioinformatics solutions; with a special focus on microarray data analysis solutions and underlines main issues and problems related to the use of such platforms for the storage and analysis of patients data.

  7. High throughput SNP discovery and genotyping in hexaploid wheat

    PubMed Central

    Navarro, Julien; Kitt, Jonathan; Choulet, Frédéric; Leveugle, Magalie; Duarte, Jorge; Rivière, Nathalie; Eversole, Kellye; Le Gouis, Jacques; Davassi, Alessandro; Balfourier, François; Le Paslier, Marie-Christine; Berard, Aurélie; Brunel, Dominique; Feuillet, Catherine; Poncet, Charles; Sourdille, Pierre

    2018-01-01

    Because of their abundance and their amenability to high-throughput genotyping techniques, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are powerful tools for efficient genetics and genomics studies, including characterization of genetic resources, genome-wide association studies and genomic selection. In wheat, most of the previous SNP discovery initiatives targeted the coding fraction, leaving almost 98% of the wheat genome largely unexploited. Here we report on the use of whole-genome resequencing data from eight wheat lines to mine for SNPs in the genic, the repetitive and non-repetitive intergenic fractions of the wheat genome. Eventually, we identified 3.3 million SNPs, 49% being located on the B-genome, 41% on the A-genome and 10% on the D-genome. We also describe the development of the TaBW280K high-throughput genotyping array containing 280,226 SNPs. Performance of this chip was examined by genotyping a set of 96 wheat accessions representing the worldwide diversity. Sixty-nine percent of the SNPs can be efficiently scored, half of them showing a diploid-like clustering. The TaBW280K was proven to be a very efficient tool for diversity analyses, as well as for breeding as it can discriminate between closely related elite varieties. Finally, the TaBW280K array was used to genotype a population derived from a cross between Chinese Spring and Renan, leading to the construction a dense genetic map comprising 83,721 markers. The results described here will provide the wheat community with powerful tools for both basic and applied research. PMID:29293495

  8. Nanotechnology: moving from microarrays toward nanoarrays.

    PubMed

    Chen, Hua; Li, Jun

    2007-01-01

    Microarrays are important tools for high-throughput analysis of biomolecules. The use of microarrays for parallel screening of nucleic acid and protein profiles has become an industry standard. A few limitations of microarrays are the requirement for relatively large sample volumes and elongated incubation time, as well as the limit of detection. In addition, traditional microarrays make use of bulky instrumentation for the detection, and sample amplification and labeling are quite laborious, which increase analysis cost and delays the time for obtaining results. These problems limit microarray techniques from point-of-care and field applications. One strategy for overcoming these problems is to develop nanoarrays, particularly electronics-based nanoarrays. With further miniaturization, higher sensitivity, and simplified sample preparation, nanoarrays could potentially be employed for biomolecular analysis in personal healthcare and monitoring of trace pathogens. In this chapter, it is intended to introduce the concept and advantage of nanotechnology and then describe current methods and protocols for novel nanoarrays in three aspects: (1) label-free nucleic acids analysis using nanoarrays, (2) nanoarrays for protein detection by conventional optical fluorescence microscopy as well as by novel label-free methods such as atomic force microscopy, and (3) nanoarray for enzymatic-based assay. These nanoarrays will have significant applications in drug discovery, medical diagnosis, genetic testing, environmental monitoring, and food safety inspection.

  9. Transcriptome analysis in non-model species: a new method for the analysis of heterologous hybridization on microarrays

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Recent developments in high-throughput methods of analyzing transcriptomic profiles are promising for many areas of biology, including ecophysiology. However, although commercial microarrays are available for most common laboratory models, transcriptome analysis in non-traditional model species still remains a challenge. Indeed, the signal resulting from heterologous hybridization is low and difficult to interpret because of the weak complementarity between probe and target sequences, especially when no microarray dedicated to a genetically close species is available. Results We show here that transcriptome analysis in a species genetically distant from laboratory models is made possible by using MAXRS, a new method of analyzing heterologous hybridization on microarrays. This method takes advantage of the design of several commercial microarrays, with different probes targeting the same transcript. To illustrate and test this method, we analyzed the transcriptome of king penguin pectoralis muscle hybridized to Affymetrix chicken microarrays, two organisms separated by an evolutionary distance of approximately 100 million years. The differential gene expression observed between different physiological situations computed by MAXRS was confirmed by real-time PCR on 10 genes out of 11 tested. Conclusions MAXRS appears to be an appropriate method for gene expression analysis under heterologous hybridization conditions. PMID:20509979

  10. Whole genome resequencing of a laboratory-adapted Drosophila melanogaster population sample

    PubMed Central

    Gilks, William P.; Pennell, Tanya M.; Flis, Ilona; Webster, Matthew T.; Morrow, Edward H.

    2016-01-01

    As part of a study into the molecular genetics of sexually dimorphic complex traits, we used high-throughput sequencing to obtain data on genomic variation in an outbred laboratory-adapted fruit fly ( Drosophila melanogaster) population. We successfully resequenced the whole genome of 220 hemiclonal females that were heterozygous for the same Berkeley reference line genome (BDGP6/dm6), and a unique haplotype from the outbred base population (LH M). The use of a static and known genetic background enabled us to obtain sequences from whole-genome phased haplotypes. We used a BWA-Picard-GATK pipeline for mapping sequence reads to the dm6 reference genome assembly, at a median depth-of coverage of 31X, and have made the resulting data publicly-available in the NCBI Short Read Archive (Accession number SRP058502). We used Haplotype Caller to discover and genotype 1,726,931 small genomic variants (SNPs and indels, <200bp). Additionally we detected and genotyped 167 large structural variants (1-100Kb in size) using GenomeStrip/2.0. Sequence and genotype data are publicly-available at the corresponding NCBI databases: Short Read Archive, dbSNP and dbVar (BioProject PRJNA282591). We have also released the unfiltered genotype data, and the code and logs for data processing and summary statistics ( https://zenodo.org/communities/sussex_drosophila_sequencing/). PMID:27928499

  11. Brain in situ hybridization maps as a source for reverse-engineering transcriptional regulatory networks: Alzheimer's disease insights

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Acquaah-Mensah, George K.; Taylor, Ronald C.

    Microarray data have been a valuable resource for identifying transcriptional regulatory relationships among genes. As an example, brain region-specific transcriptional regulatory events have the potential of providing etiological insights into Alzheimer Disease (AD). However, there is often a paucity of suitable brain-region specific expression data obtained via microarrays or other high throughput means. The Allen Brain Atlas in situ hybridization (ISH) data sets (Jones et al., 2009) represent a potentially valuable alternative source of high-throughput brain region-specific gene expression data for such purposes. In this study, Allen BrainAtlasmouse ISH data in the hippocampal fields were extracted, focusing on 508 genesmore » relevant to neurodegeneration. Transcriptional regulatory networkswere learned using three high-performing network inference algorithms. Only 17% of regulatory edges from a network reverse-engineered based on brain region-specific ISH data were also found in a network constructed upon gene expression correlations inmousewhole brain microarrays, thus showing the specificity of gene expression within brain sub-regions. Furthermore, the ISH data-based networks were used to identify instructive transcriptional regulatory relationships. Ncor2, Sp3 and Usf2 form a unique three-party regulatory motif, potentially affecting memory formation pathways. Nfe2l1, Egr1 and Usf2 emerge among regulators of genes involved in AD (e.g. Dhcr24, Aplp2, Tia1, Pdrx1, Vdac1, andSyn2). Further, Nfe2l1, Egr1 and Usf2 are sensitive to dietary factors and could be among links between dietary influences and genes in the AD etiology. Thus, this approach of harnessing brain region-specific ISH data represents a rare opportunity for gleaning unique etiological insights for diseases such as AD.« less

  12. Novel mutations in LRP6 highlight the role of WNT signaling in tooth agenesis

    PubMed Central

    Ludwig, Kerstin U.; Sullivan, Robert; van Rooij, Iris A.L.M.; Thonissen, Michelle; Swinnen, Steven; Phan, Milien; Conte, Federica; Ishorst, Nina; Gilissen, Christian; RoaFuentes, Laury; van de Vorst, Maartje; Henkes, Arjen; Steehouwer, Marloes; van Beusekom, Ellen; Bloemen, Marjon; Vankeirsbilck, Bruno; Bergé, Stefaan; Hens, Greet; Schoenaers, Joseph; Poorten, Vincent Vander; Roosenboom, Jasmien; Verdonck, An; Devriendt, Koen; Roeleveldt, Nel; Jhangiani, Shalini N.; Vissers, Lisenka E.L.M.; Lupski, James R.; de Ligt, Joep; Von den Hoff, Johannes W.; Pfundt, Rolph; Brunner, Han G.; Zhou, Huiqing; Dixon, Jill; Mangold, Elisabeth; van Bokhoven, Hans; Dixon, Michael J.; Kleefstra, Tjitske

    2016-01-01

    Purpose Here we aimed to identify a novel genetic cause of tooth agenesis (TA) and/or orofacial clefting (OFC) by combining whole exome sequencing (WES) and targeted re-sequencing in a large cohort of TA and OFC patients. Methods WES was performed in two unrelated patients, one with severe TA and OFC and another with severe TA only. After identifying deleterious mutations in a gene encoding the low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6), all its exons were re-sequenced with molecular inversion probes, in 67 patients with TA, 1,072 patients with OFC and in 706 controls. Results We identified a frameshift (c.4594delG, p.Cys1532fs) and a canonical splice site mutation (c.3398-2A>C, p.?) in LRP6 respectively in the patient with TA and OFC, and in the patient with severe TA only. The targeted re-sequencing showed significant enrichment of unique LRP6 variants in TA patients, but not in nonsyndromic OFC. From the 5 variants in patients with TA, 2 affect the canonical splice site and 3 were missense variants; all variants segregated with the dominant phenotype and in 1 case the missense mutation occurred de novo. Conclusion Mutations in LRP6 cause tooth agenesis in man. PMID:26963285

  13. Development of a rapid microarray-based DNA subtyping assay for the alleles of Shiga toxins 1 and 2 of Escherichia coli.

    PubMed

    Geue, Lutz; Stieber, Bettina; Monecke, Stefan; Engelmann, Ines; Gunzer, Florian; Slickers, Peter; Braun, Sascha D; Ehricht, Ralf

    2014-08-01

    In this study, we developed a new rapid, economic, and automated microarray-based genotyping test for the standardized subtyping of Shiga toxins 1 and 2 of Escherichia coli. The microarrays from Alere Technologies can be used in two different formats, the ArrayTube and the ArrayStrip (which enables high-throughput testing in a 96-well format). One microarray chip harbors all the gene sequences necessary to distinguish between all Stx subtypes, facilitating the identification of single and multiple subtypes within a single isolate in one experiment. Specific software was developed to automatically analyze all data obtained from the microarray. The assay was validated with 21 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) reference strains that were previously tested by the complete set of conventional subtyping PCRs. The microarray results showed 100% concordance with the PCR results. Essentially identical results were detected when the standard DNA extraction method was replaced by a time-saving heat lysis protocol. For further validation of the microarray, we identified the Stx subtypes or combinations of the subtypes in 446 STEC field isolates of human and animal origin. In summary, this oligonucleotide array represents an excellent diagnostic tool that provides some advantages over standard PCR-based subtyping. The number of the spotted probes on the microarrays can be increased by additional probes, such as for novel alleles, species markers, or resistance genes, should the need arise. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  14. MicroArray Facility: a laboratory information management system with extended support for Nylon based technologies.

    PubMed

    Honoré, Paul; Granjeaud, Samuel; Tagett, Rebecca; Deraco, Stéphane; Beaudoing, Emmanuel; Rougemont, Jacques; Debono, Stéphane; Hingamp, Pascal

    2006-09-20

    High throughput gene expression profiling (GEP) is becoming a routine technique in life science laboratories. With experimental designs that repeatedly span thousands of genes and hundreds of samples, relying on a dedicated database infrastructure is no longer an option.GEP technology is a fast moving target, with new approaches constantly broadening the field diversity. This technology heterogeneity, compounded by the informatics complexity of GEP databases, means that software developments have so far focused on mainstream techniques, leaving less typical yet established techniques such as Nylon microarrays at best partially supported. MAF (MicroArray Facility) is the laboratory database system we have developed for managing the design, production and hybridization of spotted microarrays. Although it can support the widely used glass microarrays and oligo-chips, MAF was designed with the specific idiosyncrasies of Nylon based microarrays in mind. Notably single channel radioactive probes, microarray stripping and reuse, vector control hybridizations and spike-in controls are all natively supported by the software suite. MicroArray Facility is MIAME supportive and dynamically provides feedback on missing annotations to help users estimate effective MIAME compliance. Genomic data such as clone identifiers and gene symbols are also directly annotated by MAF software using standard public resources. The MAGE-ML data format is implemented for full data export. Journalized database operations (audit tracking), data anonymization, material traceability and user/project level confidentiality policies are also managed by MAF. MicroArray Facility is a complete data management system for microarray producers and end-users. Particular care has been devoted to adequately model Nylon based microarrays. The MAF system, developed and implemented in both private and academic environments, has proved a robust solution for shared facilities and industry service providers alike.

  15. MicroArray Facility: a laboratory information management system with extended support for Nylon based technologies

    PubMed Central

    Honoré, Paul; Granjeaud, Samuel; Tagett, Rebecca; Deraco, Stéphane; Beaudoing, Emmanuel; Rougemont, Jacques; Debono, Stéphane; Hingamp, Pascal

    2006-01-01

    Background High throughput gene expression profiling (GEP) is becoming a routine technique in life science laboratories. With experimental designs that repeatedly span thousands of genes and hundreds of samples, relying on a dedicated database infrastructure is no longer an option. GEP technology is a fast moving target, with new approaches constantly broadening the field diversity. This technology heterogeneity, compounded by the informatics complexity of GEP databases, means that software developments have so far focused on mainstream techniques, leaving less typical yet established techniques such as Nylon microarrays at best partially supported. Results MAF (MicroArray Facility) is the laboratory database system we have developed for managing the design, production and hybridization of spotted microarrays. Although it can support the widely used glass microarrays and oligo-chips, MAF was designed with the specific idiosyncrasies of Nylon based microarrays in mind. Notably single channel radioactive probes, microarray stripping and reuse, vector control hybridizations and spike-in controls are all natively supported by the software suite. MicroArray Facility is MIAME supportive and dynamically provides feedback on missing annotations to help users estimate effective MIAME compliance. Genomic data such as clone identifiers and gene symbols are also directly annotated by MAF software using standard public resources. The MAGE-ML data format is implemented for full data export. Journalized database operations (audit tracking), data anonymization, material traceability and user/project level confidentiality policies are also managed by MAF. Conclusion MicroArray Facility is a complete data management system for microarray producers and end-users. Particular care has been devoted to adequately model Nylon based microarrays. The MAF system, developed and implemented in both private and academic environments, has proved a robust solution for shared facilities and industry service providers alike. PMID:16987406

  16. Systematic evaluation of RNA quality, microarray data reliability and pathway analysis in fresh, fresh frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples.

    PubMed

    Wimmer, Isabella; Tröscher, Anna R; Brunner, Florian; Rubino, Stephen J; Bien, Christian G; Weiner, Howard L; Lassmann, Hans; Bauer, Jan

    2018-04-20

    Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues are valuable resources commonly used in pathology. However, formalin fixation modifies nucleic acids challenging the isolation of high-quality RNA for genetic profiling. Here, we assessed feasibility and reliability of microarray studies analysing transcriptome data from fresh, fresh-frozen (FF) and FFPE tissues. We show that reproducible microarray data can be generated from only 2 ng FFPE-derived RNA. For RNA quality assessment, fragment size distribution (DV200) and qPCR proved most suitable. During RNA isolation, extending tissue lysis time to 10 hours reduced high-molecular-weight species, while additional incubation at 70 °C markedly increased RNA yields. Since FF- and FFPE-derived microarrays constitute different data entities, we used indirect measures to investigate gene signal variation and relative gene expression. Whole-genome analyses revealed high concordance rates, while reviewing on single-genes basis showed higher data variation in FFPE than FF arrays. Using an experimental model, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of FFPE-derived microarrays and fresh tissue-derived RNA-Seq datasets yielded similarly affected pathways confirming the applicability of FFPE tissue in global gene expression analysis. Our study provides a workflow comprising RNA isolation, quality assessment and microarray profiling using minimal RNA input, thus enabling hypothesis-generating pathway analyses from limited amounts of precious, pathologically significant FFPE tissues.

  17. DOSE: an R/Bioconductor package for disease ontology semantic and enrichment analysis.

    PubMed

    Yu, Guangchuang; Wang, Li-Gen; Yan, Guang-Rong; He, Qing-Yu

    2015-02-15

    Disease ontology (DO) annotates human genes in the context of disease. DO is important annotation in translating molecular findings from high-throughput data to clinical relevance. DOSE is an R package providing semantic similarity computations among DO terms and genes which allows biologists to explore the similarities of diseases and of gene functions in disease perspective. Enrichment analyses including hypergeometric model and gene set enrichment analysis are also implemented to support discovering disease associations of high-throughput biological data. This allows biologists to verify disease relevance in a biological experiment and identify unexpected disease associations. Comparison among gene clusters is also supported. DOSE is released under Artistic-2.0 License. The source code and documents are freely available through Bioconductor (http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/DOSE.html). Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. gcyu@connect.hku.hk or tqyhe@jnu.edu.cn. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. SNiPlay: a web-based tool for detection, management and analysis of SNPs. Application to grapevine diversity projects.

    PubMed

    Dereeper, Alexis; Nicolas, Stéphane; Le Cunff, Loïc; Bacilieri, Roberto; Doligez, Agnès; Peros, Jean-Pierre; Ruiz, Manuel; This, Patrice

    2011-05-05

    High-throughput re-sequencing, new genotyping technologies and the availability of reference genomes allow the extensive characterization of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion/deletion events (indels) in many plant species. The rapidly increasing amount of re-sequencing and genotyping data generated by large-scale genetic diversity projects requires the development of integrated bioinformatics tools able to efficiently manage, analyze, and combine these genetic data with genome structure and external data. In this context, we developed SNiPlay, a flexible, user-friendly and integrative web-based tool dedicated to polymorphism discovery and analysis. It integrates:1) a pipeline, freely accessible through the internet, combining existing softwares with new tools to detect SNPs and to compute different types of statistical indices and graphical layouts for SNP data. From standard sequence alignments, genotyping data or Sanger sequencing traces given as input, SNiPlay detects SNPs and indels events and outputs submission files for the design of Illumina's SNP chips. Subsequently, it sends sequences and genotyping data into a series of modules in charge of various processes: physical mapping to a reference genome, annotation (genomic position, intron/exon location, synonymous/non-synonymous substitutions), SNP frequency determination in user-defined groups, haplotype reconstruction and network, linkage disequilibrium evaluation, and diversity analysis (Pi, Watterson's Theta, Tajima's D).Furthermore, the pipeline allows the use of external data (such as phenotype, geographic origin, taxa, stratification) to define groups and compare statistical indices.2) a database storing polymorphisms, genotyping data and grapevine sequences released by public and private projects. It allows the user to retrieve SNPs using various filters (such as genomic position, missing data, polymorphism type, allele frequency), to compare SNP patterns between populations, and to export genotyping data or sequences in various formats. Our experiments on grapevine genetic projects showed that SNiPlay allows geneticists to rapidly obtain advanced results in several key research areas of plant genetic diversity. Both the management and treatment of large amounts of SNP data are rendered considerably easier for end-users through automation and integration. Current developments are taking into account new advances in high-throughput technologies.SNiPlay is available at: http://sniplay.cirad.fr/.

  19. Identification of QTLs for 14 Agronomically Important Traits in Setaria italica Based on SNPs Generated from High-Throughput Sequencing

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Kai; Fan, Guangyu; Zhang, Xinxin; Zhao, Fang; Wei, Wei; Du, Guohua; Feng, Xiaolei; Wang, Xiaoming; Wang, Feng; Song, Guoliang; Zou, Hongfeng; Zhang, Xiaolei; Li, Shuangdong; Ni, Xuemei; Zhang, Gengyun; Zhao, Zhihai

    2017-01-01

    Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is an important crop possessing C4 photosynthesis capability. The S. italica genome was de novo sequenced in 2012, but the sequence lacked high-density genetic maps with agronomic and yield trait linkages. In the present study, we resequenced a foxtail millet population of 439 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and developed high-resolution bin map and high-density SNP markers, which could provide an effective approach for gene identification. A total of 59 QTL for 14 agronomic traits in plants grown under long- and short-day photoperiods were identified. The phenotypic variation explained ranged from 4.9 to 43.94%. In addition, we suggested that there may be segregation distortion on chromosome 6 that is significantly distorted toward Zhang gu. The newly identified QTL will provide a platform for sequence-based research on the S. italica genome, and for molecular marker-assisted breeding. PMID:28364039

  20. Identification of QTLs for 14 Agronomically Important Traits in Setaria italica Based on SNPs Generated from High-Throughput Sequencing.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Kai; Fan, Guangyu; Zhang, Xinxin; Zhao, Fang; Wei, Wei; Du, Guohua; Feng, Xiaolei; Wang, Xiaoming; Wang, Feng; Song, Guoliang; Zou, Hongfeng; Zhang, Xiaolei; Li, Shuangdong; Ni, Xuemei; Zhang, Gengyun; Zhao, Zhihai

    2017-05-05

    Foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) is an important crop possessing C4 photosynthesis capability. The S. italica genome was de novo sequenced in 2012, but the sequence lacked high-density genetic maps with agronomic and yield trait linkages. In the present study, we resequenced a foxtail millet population of 439 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and developed high-resolution bin map and high-density SNP markers, which could provide an effective approach for gene identification. A total of 59 QTL for 14 agronomic traits in plants grown under long- and short-day photoperiods were identified. The phenotypic variation explained ranged from 4.9 to 43.94%. In addition, we suggested that there may be segregation distortion on chromosome 6 that is significantly distorted toward Zhang gu. The newly identified QTL will provide a platform for sequence-based research on the S. italica genome, and for molecular marker-assisted breeding. Copyright © 2017 Zhang et al.

  1. High-throughput screening of T7 phage display and protein microarrays as a methodological approach for the identification of IgE-reactive components.

    PubMed

    San Segundo-Acosta, Pablo; Garranzo-Asensio, María; Oeo-Santos, Carmen; Montero-Calle, Ana; Quiralte, Joaquín; Cuesta-Herranz, Javier; Villalba, Mayte; Barderas, Rodrigo

    2018-05-01

    Olive pollen and yellow mustard seeds are major allergenic sources with high clinical relevance. To aid with the identification of IgE-reactive components, the development of sensitive methodological approaches is required. Here, we have combined T7 phage display and protein microarrays for the identification of allergenic peptides and mimotopes from olive pollen and mustard seeds. The identification of these allergenic sequences involved the construction and biopanning of T7 phage display libraries of mustard seeds and olive pollen using sera from allergic patients to both biological sources together with the construction of phage microarrays printed with 1536 monoclonal phages from the third/four rounds of biopanning. The screening of the phage microarrays with individual sera from allergic patients enabled the identification of 10 and 9 IgE-reactive unique amino acid sequences from olive pollen and mustard seeds, respectively. Five immunoreactive amino acid sequences displayed on phages were selected for their expression as His6-GST tag fusion proteins and validation. After immunological characterization, we assessed the IgE-reactivity of the constructs. Our results show that protein microarrays printed with T7 phages displaying peptides from allergenic sources might be used to identify allergenic components -peptides, proteins or mimotopes- through their screening with specific IgE antibodies from allergic patients. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Whole-Genome Sequencing and Assembly with High-Throughput, Short-Read Technologies

    PubMed Central

    Sundquist, Andreas; Ronaghi, Mostafa; Tang, Haixu; Pevzner, Pavel; Batzoglou, Serafim

    2007-01-01

    While recently developed short-read sequencing technologies may dramatically reduce the sequencing cost and eventually achieve the $1000 goal for re-sequencing, their limitations prevent the de novo sequencing of eukaryotic genomes with the standard shotgun sequencing protocol. We present SHRAP (SHort Read Assembly Protocol), a sequencing protocol and assembly methodology that utilizes high-throughput short-read technologies. We describe a variation on hierarchical sequencing with two crucial differences: (1) we select a clone library from the genome randomly rather than as a tiling path and (2) we sample clones from the genome at high coverage and reads from the clones at low coverage. We assume that 200 bp read lengths with a 1% error rate and inexpensive random fragment cloning on whole mammalian genomes is feasible. Our assembly methodology is based on first ordering the clones and subsequently performing read assembly in three stages: (1) local assemblies of regions significantly smaller than a clone size, (2) clone-sized assemblies of the results of stage 1, and (3) chromosome-sized assemblies. By aggressively localizing the assembly problem during the first stage, our method succeeds in assembling short, unpaired reads sampled from repetitive genomes. We tested our assembler using simulated reads from D. melanogaster and human chromosomes 1, 11, and 21, and produced assemblies with large sets of contiguous sequence and a misassembly rate comparable to other draft assemblies. Tested on D. melanogaster and the entire human genome, our clone-ordering method produces accurate maps, thereby localizing fragment assembly and enabling the parallelization of the subsequent steps of our pipeline. Thus, we have demonstrated that truly inexpensive de novo sequencing of mammalian genomes will soon be possible with high-throughput, short-read technologies using our methodology. PMID:17534434

  3. Derivation and evaluation of putative adverse outcome ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition is of concern in fish because COX inhibitors (e.g., ibuprofen) are ubiquitous in aquatic systems/fish tissues, and can disrupt synthesis of prostaglandins that modulate a variety of essential biological functions including reproduction. High content (transcriptomic) empirical data and publicly available high throughput toxicity data (actor.epa.gov) were utilized to develop putative adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) for molecular initiating event (MIE) of COX inhibition. Effects of a waterborne, 96h exposure to indomethacin (IN; 100 µg/L), ibuprofen (IB; 200 µg/L) and celecoxib (CX; 20 µg/L) on liver metabolome and ovarian gene expression (using oligonucleotide microarrays) in sexually mature fathead minnows (n=8) were examined. Metabolomic profiles of IN, IB and CX were not significantly different from control or one another. Exposure to IB and CX resulted in differential expression of comparable numbers of genes (IB = 433, CX= 545). In contrast, 2558 genes were differentially expressed in IN-treated fish. Functional analyses (canonical pathway and gene set enrichment) indicated extensive effects of IN on prostaglandin synthesis pathway, oocyte meiosis and several other processes consistent with physiological roles of prostaglandins. Transcriptomic data was congruent with apical endpoint data - IN reduced plasma prostaglandin F2 alpha concentrations, and ovarian COX activity, whereas IB and CX did not. Putative AOPs pathways for

  4. Conceptualizing adverse outcome pathways for ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition is of concern in fish because COX inhibitors (e.g., ibuprofen) are ubiquitous in aquatic systems/fish tissues, and can disrupt synthesis of prostaglandins that modulate a variety of essential biological functions (e.g., reproduction). This study utilized newly generated high content (transcriptomic and metabolomic) empirical data in combination with existing high throughput (ACTOR, epa.gov) toxicity data to facilitate development of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) for molecular initiating event (MIE) of COX inhibition. We examined effects of a waterborne, 96h exposure to three COX inhibitors (indomethacin (IN; 100 µg/L), ibuprofen (IB; 200 µg/L) and celecoxib (CX; 20 µg/L) on the liver metabolome and ovarian gene expression (using oligonucleotide microarray 4 x15K platform) in sexually mature fathead minnows (n=8). Differentially expressed genes were identified (t-test, p < 0.01), and functional analyses performed to determine enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways (p < 0.05). Principal component analysis indicated that liver metabolomics profiles of IN, IB and CX were not significantly different from control or one another. When compared to control, exposure to IB and CX resulted in differential expression of comparable numbers of genes (IB = 433, CX= 545). In contrast, 2558 genes were differentially expressed in IN-treated fish. KEGG pathway analyses show that IN had extensive effects on oocyte meios

  5. PrimerSuite: A High-Throughput Web-Based Primer Design Program for Multiplex Bisulfite PCR.

    PubMed

    Lu, Jennifer; Johnston, Andrew; Berichon, Philippe; Ru, Ke-Lin; Korbie, Darren; Trau, Matt

    2017-01-24

    The analysis of DNA methylation at CpG dinucleotides has become a major research focus due to its regulatory role in numerous biological processes, but the requisite need for assays which amplify bisulfite-converted DNA represents a major bottleneck due to the unique design constraints imposed on bisulfite-PCR primers. Moreover, a review of the literature indicated no available software solutions which accommodated both high-throughput primer design, support for multiplex amplification assays, and primer-dimer prediction. In response, the tri-modular software package PrimerSuite was developed to support bisulfite multiplex PCR applications. This software was constructed to (i) design bisulfite primers against multiple regions simultaneously (PrimerSuite), (ii) screen for primer-primer dimerizing artefacts (PrimerDimer), and (iii) support multiplex PCR assays (PrimerPlex). Moreover, a major focus in the development of this software package was the emphasis on extensive empirical validation, and over 1300 unique primer pairs have been successfully designed and screened, with over 94% of them producing amplicons of the expected size, and an average mapping efficiency of 93% when screened using bisulfite multiplex resequencing. The potential use of the software in other bisulfite-based applications such as methylation-specific PCR is under consideration for future updates. This resource is freely available for use at PrimerSuite website (www.primer-suite.com).

  6. High-throughput DNA microarray detection of pathogenic bacteria in shallow well groundwater in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

    PubMed

    Inoue, Daisuke; Hinoura, Takuji; Suzuki, Noriko; Pang, Junqin; Malla, Rabin; Shrestha, Sadhana; Chapagain, Saroj Kumar; Matsuzawa, Hiroaki; Nakamura, Takashi; Tanaka, Yasuhiro; Ike, Michihiko; Nishida, Kei; Sei, Kazunari

    2015-01-01

    Because of heavy dependence on groundwater for drinking water and other domestic use, microbial contamination of groundwater is a serious problem in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. This study investigated comprehensively the occurrence of pathogenic bacteria in shallow well groundwater in the Kathmandu Valley by applying DNA microarray analysis targeting 941 pathogenic bacterial species/groups. Water quality measurements found significant coliform (fecal) contamination in 10 of the 11 investigated groundwater samples and significant nitrogen contamination in some samples. The results of DNA microarray analysis revealed the presence of 1-37 pathogen species/groups, including 1-27 biosafety level 2 ones, in 9 of the 11 groundwater samples. While the detected pathogens included several feces- and animal-related ones, those belonging to Legionella and Arthrobacter, which were considered not to be directly associated with feces, were detected prevalently. This study could provide a rough picture of overall pathogenic bacterial contamination in the Kathmandu Valley, and demonstrated the usefulness of DNA microarray analysis as a comprehensive screening tool of a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria.

  7. A DNA microarray for identification of selected Korean birds based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene sequences.

    PubMed

    Chung, In-Hyuk; Yoo, Hye Sook; Eah, Jae-Yong; Yoon, Hyun-Kyu; Jung, Jin-Wook; Hwang, Seung Yong; Kim, Chang-Bae

    2010-10-01

    DNA barcoding with the gene encoding cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) in the mitochondrial genome has been proposed as a standard marker to identify and discover animal species. Some migratory wild birds are suspected of transmitting avian influenza and pose a threat to aircraft safety because of bird strikes. We have previously reported the COI gene sequences of 92 Korean bird species. In the present study, we developed a DNA microarray to identify 17 selected bird species on the basis of nucleotide diversity. We designed and synthesized 19 specific oligonucleotide probes; these probes were arrayed on a silylated glass slide. The length of the probes was 19-24 bps. The COI sequences amplified from the tissues of the selected birds were labeled with a fluorescent probe for microarray hybridization, and unique hybridization patterns were detected for each selected species. These patterns may be considered diagnostic patterns for species identification. This microarray system will provide a sensitive and a high-throughput method for identification of Korean birds.

  8. Pinched flow coupled shear-modulated inertial microfluidics for high-throughput rare blood cell separation.

    PubMed

    Bhagat, Ali Asgar S; Hou, Han Wei; Li, Leon D; Lim, Chwee Teck; Han, Jongyoon

    2011-06-07

    Blood is a highly complex bio-fluid with cellular components making up >40% of the total volume, thus making its analysis challenging and time-consuming. In this work, we introduce a high-throughput size-based separation method for processing diluted blood using inertial microfluidics. The technique takes advantage of the preferential cell focusing in high aspect-ratio microchannels coupled with pinched flow dynamics for isolating low abundance cells from blood. As an application of the developed technique, we demonstrate the isolation of cancer cells (circulating tumor cells (CTCs)) spiked in blood by exploiting the difference in size between CTCs and hematologic cells. The microchannel dimensions and processing parameters were optimized to enable high throughput and high resolution separation, comparable to existing CTC isolation technologies. Results from experiments conducted with MCF-7 cells spiked into whole blood indicate >80% cell recovery with an impressive 3.25 × 10(5) fold enrichment over red blood cells (RBCs) and 1.2 × 10(4) fold enrichment over peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL). In spite of a 20× sample dilution, the fast operating flow rate allows the processing of ∼10(8) cells min(-1) through a single microfluidic device. The device design can be easily customized for isolating other rare cells from blood including peripheral blood leukocytes and fetal nucleated red blood cells by simply varying the 'pinching' width. The advantage of simple label-free separation, combined with the ability to retrieve viable cells post enrichment and minimal sample pre-processing presents numerous applications for use in clinical diagnosis and conducting fundamental studies.

  9. Investigation of Human Cancers for Retrovirus by Low-Stringency Target Enrichment and High-Throughput Sequencing.

    PubMed

    Vinner, Lasse; Mourier, Tobias; Friis-Nielsen, Jens; Gniadecki, Robert; Dybkaer, Karen; Rosenberg, Jacob; Langhoff, Jill Levin; Cruz, David Flores Santa; Fonager, Jannik; Izarzugaza, Jose M G; Gupta, Ramneek; Sicheritz-Ponten, Thomas; Brunak, Søren; Willerslev, Eske; Nielsen, Lars Peter; Hansen, Anders Johannes

    2015-08-19

    Although nearly one fifth of all human cancers have an infectious aetiology, the causes for the majority of cancers remain unexplained. Despite the enormous data output from high-throughput shotgun sequencing, viral DNA in a clinical sample typically constitutes a proportion of host DNA that is too small to be detected. Sequence variation among virus genomes complicates application of sequence-specific, and highly sensitive, PCR methods. Therefore, we aimed to develop and characterize a method that permits sensitive detection of sequences despite considerable variation. We demonstrate that our low-stringency in-solution hybridization method enables detection of <100 viral copies. Furthermore, distantly related proviral sequences may be enriched by orders of magnitude, enabling discovery of hitherto unknown viral sequences by high-throughput sequencing. The sensitivity was sufficient to detect retroviral sequences in clinical samples. We used this method to conduct an investigation for novel retrovirus in samples from three cancer types. In accordance with recent studies our investigation revealed no retroviral infections in human B-cell lymphoma cells, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or colorectal cancer biopsies. Nonetheless, our generally applicable method makes sensitive detection possible and permits sequencing of distantly related sequences from complex material.

  10. Drug-Path: a database for drug-induced pathways

    PubMed Central

    Zeng, Hui; Cui, Qinghua

    2015-01-01

    Some databases for drug-associated pathways have been built and are publicly available. However, the pathways curated in most of these databases are drug-action or drug-metabolism pathways. In recent years, high-throughput technologies such as microarray and RNA-sequencing have produced lots of drug-induced gene expression profiles. Interestingly, drug-induced gene expression profile frequently show distinct patterns, indicating that drugs normally induce the activation or repression of distinct pathways. Therefore, these pathways contribute to study the mechanisms of drugs and drug-repurposing. Here, we present Drug-Path, a database of drug-induced pathways, which was generated by KEGG pathway enrichment analysis for drug-induced upregulated genes and downregulated genes based on drug-induced gene expression datasets in Connectivity Map. Drug-Path provides user-friendly interfaces to retrieve, visualize and download the drug-induced pathway data in the database. In addition, the genes deregulated by a given drug are highlighted in the pathways. All data were organized using SQLite. The web site was implemented using Django, a Python web framework. Finally, we believe that this database will be useful for related researches. Database URL: http://www.cuilab.cn/drugpath PMID:26130661

  11. Drug-Path: a database for drug-induced pathways.

    PubMed

    Zeng, Hui; Qiu, Chengxiang; Cui, Qinghua

    2015-01-01

    Some databases for drug-associated pathways have been built and are publicly available. However, the pathways curated in most of these databases are drug-action or drug-metabolism pathways. In recent years, high-throughput technologies such as microarray and RNA-sequencing have produced lots of drug-induced gene expression profiles. Interestingly, drug-induced gene expression profile frequently show distinct patterns, indicating that drugs normally induce the activation or repression of distinct pathways. Therefore, these pathways contribute to study the mechanisms of drugs and drug-repurposing. Here, we present Drug-Path, a database of drug-induced pathways, which was generated by KEGG pathway enrichment analysis for drug-induced upregulated genes and downregulated genes based on drug-induced gene expression datasets in Connectivity Map. Drug-Path provides user-friendly interfaces to retrieve, visualize and download the drug-induced pathway data in the database. In addition, the genes deregulated by a given drug are highlighted in the pathways. All data were organized using SQLite. The web site was implemented using Django, a Python web framework. Finally, we believe that this database will be useful for related researches. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

  12. Identification of candidate genes in osteoporosis by integrated microarray analysis.

    PubMed

    Li, J J; Wang, B Q; Fei, Q; Yang, Y; Li, D

    2016-12-01

    In order to screen the altered gene expression profile in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with osteoporosis, we performed an integrated analysis of the online microarray studies of osteoporosis. We searched the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database for microarray studies of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with osteoporosis. Subsequently, we integrated gene expression data sets from multiple microarray studies to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between patients with osteoporosis and normal controls. Gene function analysis was performed to uncover the functions of identified DEGs. A total of three microarray studies were selected for integrated analysis. In all, 1125 genes were found to be significantly differentially expressed between osteoporosis patients and normal controls, with 373 upregulated and 752 downregulated genes. Positive regulation of the cellular amino metabolic process (gene ontology (GO): 0033240, false discovery rate (FDR) = 1.00E + 00) was significantly enriched under the GO category for biological processes, while for molecular functions, flavin adenine dinucleotide binding (GO: 0050660, FDR = 3.66E-01) and androgen receptor binding (GO: 0050681, FDR = 6.35E-01) were significantly enriched. DEGs were enriched in many osteoporosis-related signalling pathways, including those of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and calcium. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis showed that the significant hub proteins contained ubiquitin specific peptidase 9, X-linked (Degree = 99), ubiquitin specific peptidase 19 (Degree = 57) and ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2 B (Degree = 57). Analysis of gene function of identified differentially expressed genes may expand our understanding of fundamental mechanisms leading to osteoporosis. Moreover, significantly enriched pathways, such as MAPK and calcium, may involve in osteoporosis through osteoblastic differentiation and bone formation.Cite this article: J. J. Li, B. Q. Wang, Q. Fei, Y. Yang, D. Li. Identification of candidate genes in osteoporosis by integrated microarray analysis. Bone Joint Res 2016;5:594-601. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.512.BJR-2016-0073.R1. © 2016 Fei et al.

  13. GeneChip Resequencing of the Smallpox Virus Genome Can Identify Novel Strains: a Biodefense Application▿

    PubMed Central

    Sulaiman, Irshad M.; Tang, Kevin; Osborne, John; Sammons, Scott; Wohlhueter, Robert M.

    2007-01-01

    We developed a set of seven resequencing GeneChips, based on the complete genome sequences of 24 strains of smallpox virus (variola virus), for rapid characterization of this human-pathogenic virus. Each GeneChip was designed to analyze a divergent segment of approximately 30,000 bases of the smallpox virus genome. This study includes the hybridization results of 14 smallpox virus strains. Of the 14 smallpox virus strains hybridized, only 7 had sequence information included in the design of the smallpox virus resequencing GeneChips; similar information for the remaining strains was not tiled as a reference in these GeneChips. By use of variola virus-specific primers and long-range PCR, 22 overlapping amplicons were amplified to cover nearly the complete genome and hybridized with the smallpox virus resequencing GeneChip set. These GeneChips were successful in generating nucleotide sequences for all 14 of the smallpox virus strains hybridized. Analysis of the data indicated that the GeneChip resequencing by hybridization was fast and reproducible and that the smallpox virus resequencing GeneChips could differentiate the 14 smallpox virus strains characterized. This study also suggests that high-density resequencing GeneChips have potential biodefense applications and may be used as an alternate tool for rapid identification of smallpox virus in the future. PMID:17182757

  14. High-throughput sequencing of TCR repertoires in multiple sclerosis reveals intrathecal enrichment of EBV-reactive CD8+ T cells.

    PubMed

    Lossius, Andreas; Johansen, Jorunn N; Vartdal, Frode; Robins, Harlan; Jūratė Šaltytė, Benth; Holmøy, Trygve; Olweus, Johanna

    2014-11-01

    Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has long been suggested as a pathogen in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we used high-throughput sequencing to determine the diversity, compartmentalization, persistence, and EBV-reactivity of the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoires in MS. TCR-β genes were sequenced in paired samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood from patients with MS and controls with other inflammatory neurological diseases. The TCR repertoires were highly diverse in both compartments and patient groups. Expanded T-cell clones, represented by TCR-β sequences >0.1%, were of different identity in CSF and blood of MS patients, and persisted for more than a year. Reference TCR-β libraries generated from peripheral blood T cells reactive against autologous EBV-transformed B cells were highly enriched for public EBV-specific sequences and were used to quantify EBV-reactive TCR-β sequences in CSF. TCR-β sequences of EBV-reactive CD8+ T cells, including several public EBV-specific sequences, were intrathecally enriched in MS patients only, whereas those of EBV-reactive CD4+ T cells were also enriched in CSF of controls. These data provide evidence for a clonally diverse, yet compartmentalized and persistent, intrathecal T-cell response in MS. The presented strategy links TCR sequence to intrathecal T-cell specificity, demonstrating enrichment of EBV-reactive CD8+ T cells in MS. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Bacterial Community Profiling of H2/CO2 or Formate-Utilizing Acetogens Enriched from Diverse Ecosystems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Han, R.; Zhang, L.; Fu, B.; Liu, H.

    2014-12-01

    Synthetic gases are usually generated from either cellulosic agricultural waste combustion or industrial release and could be subsequently transformed into acetate, ethanol, and/or butyrate by homoacetogenic bacteria, which commonly possess reductive acetyl-CoA synthesis pathway. Homoacetogen-based syngas fermentation technology provides an alternative solution to link greenhouse gas emission control and cellulosic solid waste treatment with biofuels production. The objective of our current project is to hunt for homoacetogens with capabilities of highly efficiently converting syngases to chemical solvents. In this study, we evaluated homoacetogens population dynamics during enrichments and pinpointed dominant homoacetogens representing diverse ecosystems enriched by different substrates. We enriched homoacetogens from four different samples including waste activate sludge, freshwater sediment, anaerobic methanogenic sludge, and cow manure using H2/CO2 (4:1) or formate as substrate for homoacetogen enrichment. Along with the formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (FTHFS) gene (fhs gene)-specific real time qPCR assay and Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis, 16S rRNA based 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing was applied to reveal the population dynamic and community structure during enrichment from different origins. Enrichment of homoacetogenic populations coincided with accumulations of short chain fatty acids such as acetate and butyrate. 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing revealed Firmicutes and Spirochaetes populations became dominant while the overall microbial diversity decreased after enrichment. The most abundant sequences among the four origins belonged to the following phyla: Firmicutes, Spirochaetes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, accounting for 62.1%-99.1% of the total reads. The major putative homoacetogenic species enriched on H2/CO2 or formate belonged to Clostridium spp., Acetobacterium spp., Acetoanaerobium spp., Eubacterium spp., Sporomusa spp. This comprehensive molecular ecology study on homoacetogen enrichments provides molecular evidences for shaping homoacetogenic populations and targeting novel homoacetogenic species enriched from diverse ecosystems.

  16. Evaluating between-pathway models with expression data.

    PubMed

    Hescott, B J; Leiserson, M D M; Cowen, L J; Slonim, D K

    2010-03-01

    Between-pathway models (BPMs) are network motifs consisting of pairs of putative redundant pathways. In this article, we show how adding another source of high-throughput data--microarray gene expression data from knockout experiments--allows us to identify a compensatory functional relationship between genes from the two BPM pathways. We evaluate the quality of the BPMs from four different studies, and we describe how our methods might be extended to refine pathways.

  17. Multiplex enrichment quantitative PCR (ME-qPCR): a high-throughput, highly sensitive detection method for GMO identification.

    PubMed

    Fu, Wei; Zhu, Pengyu; Wei, Shuang; Zhixin, Du; Wang, Chenguang; Wu, Xiyang; Li, Feiwu; Zhu, Shuifang

    2017-04-01

    Among all of the high-throughput detection methods, PCR-based methodologies are regarded as the most cost-efficient and feasible methodologies compared with the next-generation sequencing or ChIP-based methods. However, the PCR-based methods can only achieve multiplex detection up to 15-plex due to limitations imposed by the multiplex primer interactions. The detection throughput cannot meet the demands of high-throughput detection, such as SNP or gene expression analysis. Therefore, in our study, we have developed a new high-throughput PCR-based detection method, multiplex enrichment quantitative PCR (ME-qPCR), which is a combination of qPCR and nested PCR. The GMO content detection results in our study showed that ME-qPCR could achieve high-throughput detection up to 26-plex. Compared to the original qPCR, the Ct values of ME-qPCR were lower for the same group, which showed that ME-qPCR sensitivity is higher than the original qPCR. The absolute limit of detection for ME-qPCR could achieve levels as low as a single copy of the plant genome. Moreover, the specificity results showed that no cross-amplification occurred for irrelevant GMO events. After evaluation of all of the parameters, a practical evaluation was performed with different foods. The more stable amplification results, compared to qPCR, showed that ME-qPCR was suitable for GMO detection in foods. In conclusion, ME-qPCR achieved sensitive, high-throughput GMO detection in complex substrates, such as crops or food samples. In the future, ME-qPCR-based GMO content identification may positively impact SNP analysis or multiplex gene expression of food or agricultural samples. Graphical abstract For the first-step amplification, four primers (A, B, C, and D) have been added into the reaction volume. In this manner, four kinds of amplicons have been generated. All of these four amplicons could be regarded as the target of second-step PCR. For the second-step amplification, three parallels have been taken for the final evaluation. After the second evaluation, the final amplification curves and melting curves have been achieved.

  18. Overcoming the anaerobic hurdle in phenotypic microarrays: Generation andvisualization of growth curve data for Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Borglin, Sharon E; Joyner, Dominique; Jacobsen, Janet

    2008-10-04

    Growing anaerobic microorganisms in phenotypic microarrays (PM) and 96-well microtiter plates is an emerging technology that allows high throughput survey of the growth and physiology and/or phenotype of cultivable microorganisms. For non-model bacteria, a method for phenotypic analysis is invaluable, not only to serve as a starting point for further evaluation, but also to provide a broad understanding of the physiology of an uncharacterized wild-type organism or the physiology/phenotype of a newly created mutant of that organism. Given recent advances in genetic characterization and targeted mutations to elucidate genetic networks and metabolic pathways, high-throughput methods for determining phenotypic differences aremore » essential. Here we outline challenges presented in studying the physiology and phenotype of a sulfate reducing anaerobic delta proteobacterium, Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. Modifications of the commercially available OmniLog(TM) system (Hayward, CA) for experimental setup, and configuration, as well as considerations in PM data analysis are presented. Also highlighted here is data viewing software that enables users to view and compare multiple PM data sets. The PM method promises to be a valuable strategy in our systems biology approach to D. vulgaris studies and is readily applicable to other anaerobic and aerobic bacteria.« less

  19. Generation and analyses of human synthetic antibody libraries and their application for protein microarrays.

    PubMed

    Säll, Anna; Walle, Maria; Wingren, Christer; Müller, Susanne; Nyman, Tomas; Vala, Andrea; Ohlin, Mats; Borrebaeck, Carl A K; Persson, Helena

    2016-10-01

    Antibody-based proteomics offers distinct advantages in the analysis of complex samples for discovery and validation of biomarkers associated with disease. However, its large-scale implementation requires tools and technologies that allow development of suitable antibody or antibody fragments in a high-throughput manner. To address this we designed and constructed two human synthetic antibody fragment (scFv) libraries denoted HelL-11 and HelL-13. By the use of phage display technology, in total 466 unique scFv antibodies specific for 114 different antigens were generated. The specificities of these antibodies were analyzed in a variety of immunochemical assays and a subset was further evaluated for functionality in protein microarray applications. This high-throughput approach demonstrates the ability to rapidly generate a wealth of reagents not only for proteome research, but potentially also for diagnostics and therapeutics. In addition, this work provides a great example on how a synthetic approach can be used to optimize library designs. By having precise control of the diversity introduced into the antigen-binding sites, synthetic libraries offer increased understanding of how different diversity contributes to antibody binding reactivity and stability, thereby providing the key to future library optimization. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Genomic-assisted haplotype analysis and the development of high-throughput SNP markers for salinity tolerance in soybean

    PubMed Central

    Patil, Gunvant; Do, Tuyen; Vuong, Tri D.; Valliyodan, Babu; Lee, Jeong-Dong; Chaudhary, Juhi; Shannon, J. Grover; Nguyen, Henry T.

    2016-01-01

    Soil salinity is a limiting factor of crop yield. The soybean is sensitive to soil salinity, and a dominant gene, Glyma03g32900 is primarily responsible for salt-tolerance. The identification of high throughput and robust markers as well as the deployment of salt-tolerant cultivars are effective approaches to minimize yield loss under saline conditions. We utilized high quality (15x) whole-genome resequencing (WGRS) on 106 diverse soybean lines and identified three major structural variants and allelic variation in the promoter and genic regions of the GmCHX1 gene. The discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with structural variants facilitated the design of six KASPar assays. Additionally, haplotype analysis and pedigree tracking of 93 U.S. ancestral lines were performed using publically available WGRS datasets. Identified SNP markers were validated, and a strong correlation was observed between the genotype and salt treatment phenotype (leaf scorch, chlorophyll content and Na+ accumulation) using a panel of 104 soybean lines and, an interspecific bi-parental population (F8) from PI483463 x Hutcheson. These markers precisely identified salt-tolerant/sensitive genotypes (>91%), and different structural-variants (>98%). These SNP assays, supported by accurate phenotyping, haplotype analyses and pedigree tracking information, will accelerate marker-assisted selection programs to enhance the development of salt-tolerant soybean cultivars. PMID:26781337

  1. Impact of point-mutations on the hybridization affinity of surface-bound DNA/DNA and RNA/DNA oligonucleotide-duplexes: Comparison of single base mismatches and base bulges

    PubMed Central

    Naiser, Thomas; Ehler, Oliver; Kayser, Jona; Mai, Timo; Michel, Wolfgang; Ott, Albrecht

    2008-01-01

    Background The high binding specificity of short 10 to 30 mer oligonucleotide probes enables single base mismatch (MM) discrimination and thus provides the basis for genotyping and resequencing microarray applications. Recent experiments indicate that the underlying principles governing DNA microarray hybridization – and in particular MM discrimination – are not completely understood. Microarrays usually address complex mixtures of DNA targets. In order to reduce the level of complexity and to study the problem of surface-based hybridization with point defects in more detail, we performed array based hybridization experiments in well controlled and simple situations. Results We performed microarray hybridization experiments with short 16 to 40 mer target and probe lengths (in situations without competitive hybridization) in order to systematically investigate the impact of point-mutations – varying defect type and position – on the oligonucleotide duplex binding affinity. The influence of single base bulges and single base MMs depends predominantly on position – it is largest in the middle of the strand. The position-dependent influence of base bulges is very similar to that of single base MMs, however certain bulges give rise to an unexpectedly high binding affinity. Besides the defect (MM or bulge) type, which is the second contribution in importance to hybridization affinity, there is also a sequence dependence, which extends beyond the defect next-neighbor and which is difficult to quantify. Direct comparison between binding affinities of DNA/DNA and RNA/DNA duplexes shows, that RNA/DNA purine-purine MMs are more discriminating than corresponding DNA/DNA MMs. In DNA/DNA MM discrimination the affected base pair (C·G vs. A·T) is the pertinent parameter. We attribute these differences to the different structures of the duplexes (A vs. B form). Conclusion We have shown that DNA microarrays can resolve even subtle changes in hybridization affinity for simple target mixtures. We have further shown that the impact of point defects on oligonucleotide stability can be broken down to a hierarchy of effects. In order to explain our observations we propose DNA molecular dynamics – in form of zipping of the oligonucleotide duplex – to play an important role. PMID:18477387

  2. BμG@Sbase—a microbial gene expression and comparative genomic database

    PubMed Central

    Witney, Adam A.; Waldron, Denise E.; Brooks, Lucy A.; Tyler, Richard H.; Withers, Michael; Stoker, Neil G.; Wren, Brendan W.; Butcher, Philip D.; Hinds, Jason

    2012-01-01

    The reducing cost of high-throughput functional genomic technologies is creating a deluge of high volume, complex data, placing the burden on bioinformatics resources and tool development. The Bacterial Microarray Group at St George's (BμG@S) has been at the forefront of bacterial microarray design and analysis for over a decade and while serving as a hub of a global network of microbial research groups has developed BμG@Sbase, a microbial gene expression and comparative genomic database. BμG@Sbase (http://bugs.sgul.ac.uk/bugsbase/) is a web-browsable, expertly curated, MIAME-compliant database that stores comprehensive experimental annotation and multiple raw and analysed data formats. Consistent annotation is enabled through a structured set of web forms, which guide the user through the process following a set of best practices and controlled vocabulary. The database currently contains 86 expertly curated publicly available data sets (with a further 124 not yet published) and full annotation information for 59 bacterial microarray designs. The data can be browsed and queried using an explorer-like interface; integrating intuitive tree diagrams to present complex experimental details clearly and concisely. Furthermore the modular design of the database will provide a robust platform for integrating other data types beyond microarrays into a more Systems analysis based future. PMID:21948792

  3. BμG@Sbase--a microbial gene expression and comparative genomic database.

    PubMed

    Witney, Adam A; Waldron, Denise E; Brooks, Lucy A; Tyler, Richard H; Withers, Michael; Stoker, Neil G; Wren, Brendan W; Butcher, Philip D; Hinds, Jason

    2012-01-01

    The reducing cost of high-throughput functional genomic technologies is creating a deluge of high volume, complex data, placing the burden on bioinformatics resources and tool development. The Bacterial Microarray Group at St George's (BμG@S) has been at the forefront of bacterial microarray design and analysis for over a decade and while serving as a hub of a global network of microbial research groups has developed BμG@Sbase, a microbial gene expression and comparative genomic database. BμG@Sbase (http://bugs.sgul.ac.uk/bugsbase/) is a web-browsable, expertly curated, MIAME-compliant database that stores comprehensive experimental annotation and multiple raw and analysed data formats. Consistent annotation is enabled through a structured set of web forms, which guide the user through the process following a set of best practices and controlled vocabulary. The database currently contains 86 expertly curated publicly available data sets (with a further 124 not yet published) and full annotation information for 59 bacterial microarray designs. The data can be browsed and queried using an explorer-like interface; integrating intuitive tree diagrams to present complex experimental details clearly and concisely. Furthermore the modular design of the database will provide a robust platform for integrating other data types beyond microarrays into a more Systems analysis based future.

  4. Development and Validation of Sandwich ELISA Microarrays with Minimal Assay Interference

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gonzalez, Rachel M.; Servoss, Shannon; Crowley, Sheila A.

    Sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) microarrays are emerging as a strong candidate platform for multiplex biomarker analysis because of the ELISA’s ability to quantitatively measure rare proteins in complex biological fluids. Advantages of this platform are high-throughput potential, assay sensitivity and stringency, and the similarity to the standard ELISA test, which facilitates assay transfer from a research setting to a clinical laboratory. However, a major concern with the multiplexing of ELISAs is maintaining high assay specificity. In this study, we systematically determine the amount of assay interference and noise contributed by individual components of the multiplexed 24-assay system. We findmore » that non-specific reagent cross-reactivity problems are relatively rare. We did identify the presence of contaminant antigens in a “purified antigen”. We tested the validated ELISA microarray chip using paired serum samples that had been collected from four women at a 6-month interval. This analysis demonstrated that protein levels typically vary much more between individuals then within an individual over time, a result which suggests that longitudinal studies may be useful in controlling for biomarker variability across a population. Overall, this research demonstrates the importance of a stringent screening protocol and the value of optimizing the antibody and antigen concentrations when designing chips for ELISA microarrays.« less

  5. Application of nanostructured biochips for efficient cell transfection microarrays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akkamsetty, Yamini; Hook, Andrew L.; Thissen, Helmut; Hayes, Jason P.; Voelcker, Nicolas H.

    2007-01-01

    Microarrays, high-throughput devices for genomic analysis, can be further improved by developing materials that are able to manipulate the interfacial behaviour of biomolecules. This is achieved both spatially and temporally by smart materials possessing both switchable and patterned surface properties. A system had been developed to spatially manipulate both DNA and cell growth based upon the surface modification of highly doped silicon by plasma polymerisation and polyethylene grafting followed by masked laser ablation for formation of a pattered surface with both bioactive and non-fouling regions. This platform has been successfully applied to transfected cell microarray applications with the parallel expression of genes by utilising its ability to direct and limit both DNA and cell attachment to specific sites. One of the greatest advantages of this system is its application to reverse transfection, whereupon by utilising the switchable adsorption and desorption of DNA using a voltage bias, the efficiency of cell transfection can be enhanced. However, it was shown that application of a voltage also reduces the viability of neuroblastoma cells grown on a plasma polymer surface, but not human embryonic kidney cells. This suggests that the application of a voltage may not only result in the desorption of bound DNA but may also affect attached cells. The characterisation of a DNA microarray by contact printing has also been investigated.

  6. Identification of a single nucleotide polymorphism indicative of high risk in acute myocardial infarction

    PubMed Central

    Shalia, Kavita; Saranath, Dhananjaya; Rayar, Jaipreet; Shah, Vinod K.; Mashru, Manoj R.; Soneji, Surendra L.

    2017-01-01

    Background & objectives: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major health concern in India. The aim of the study was to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with AMI in patients using dedicated chip and validating the identified SNPs on custom-designed chips using high-throughput microarray analysis. Methods: In pilot phase, 48 AMI patients and 48 healthy controls were screened for SNPs using human CVD55K BeadChip with 48,472 SNP probes on Illumina high-throughput microarray platform. The identified SNPs were validated by genotyping additional 160 patients and 179 controls using custom-made Illumina VeraCode GoldenGate Genotyping Assay. Analysis was carried out using PLINK software. Results: From the pilot phase, 98 SNPs present on 94 genes were identified with increased risk of AMI (odds ratio of 1.84-8.85, P=0.04861-0.003337). Five of these SNPs demonstrated association with AMI in the validation phase (P<0.05). Among these, one SNP rs9978223 on interferon gamma receptor 2 [IFNGR2, interferon (IFN)-gamma transducer 1] gene showed a significant association (P=0.00021) with AMI below Bonferroni corrected P value (P=0.00061). IFNGR2 is the second subunit of the receptor for IFN-gamma, an important cytokine in inflammatory reactions. Interpretation & conclusions: The study identified an SNP rs9978223 on IFNGR2 gene, associated with increased risk in AMI patient from India. PMID:29434065

  7. Genetic Structures of Copy Number Variants Revealed by Genotyping Single Sperm

    PubMed Central

    Luo, Minjie; Cui, Xiangfeng; Fredman, David; Brookes, Anthony J.; Azaro, Marco A.; Greenawalt, Danielle M.; Hu, Guohong; Wang, Hui-Yun; Tereshchenko, Irina V.; Lin, Yong; Shentu, Yue; Gao, Richeng; Shen, Li; Li, Honghua

    2009-01-01

    Background Copy number variants (CNVs) occupy a significant portion of the human genome and may have important roles in meiotic recombination, human genome evolution and gene expression. Many genetic diseases may be underlain by CNVs. However, because of the presence of their multiple copies, variability in copy numbers and the diploidy of the human genome, detailed genetic structure of CNVs cannot be readily studied by available techniques. Methodology/Principal Findings Single sperm samples were used as the primary subjects for the study so that CNV haplotypes in the sperm donors could be studied individually. Forty-eight CNVs characterized in a previous study were analyzed using a microarray-based high-throughput genotyping method after multiplex amplification. Seventeen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were also included as controls. Two single-base variants, either allelic or paralogous, could be discriminated for all markers. Microarray data were used to resolve SNP alleles and CNV haplotypes, to quantitatively assess the numbers and compositions of the paralogous segments in each CNV haplotype. Conclusions/Significance This is the first study of the genetic structure of CNVs on a large scale. Resulting information may help understand evolution of the human genome, gain insight into many genetic processes, and discriminate between CNVs and SNPs. The highly sensitive high-throughput experimental system with haploid sperm samples as subjects may be used to facilitate detailed large-scale CNV analysis. PMID:19384415

  8. Microarray analysis of potential genes in the pathogenesis of recurrent oral ulcer.

    PubMed

    Han, Jingying; He, Zhiwei; Li, Kun; Hou, Lu

    2015-01-01

    Recurrent oral ulcer seriously threatens patients' daily life and health. This study investigated potential genes and pathways that participate in the pathogenesis of recurrent oral ulcer by high throughput bioinformatic analysis. RT-PCR and Western blot were applied to further verify screened interleukins effect. Recurrent oral ulcer related genes were collected from websites and papers, and further found out from Human Genome 280 6.0 microarray data. Each pathway of recurrent oral ulcer related genes were got through chip hybridization. RT-PCR was applied to test four recurrent oral ulcer related genes to verify the microarray data. Data transformation, scatter plot, clustering analysis, and expression pattern analysis were used to analyze recurrent oral ulcer related gene expression changes. Recurrent oral ulcer gene microarray was successfully established. Microarray showed that 551 genes involved in recurrent oral ulcer activity and 196 genes were recurrent oral ulcer related genes. Of them, 76 genes up-regulated, 62 genes down-regulated, and 58 genes up-/down-regulated. Total expression level up-regulated 752 times (60%) and down-regulated 485 times (40%). IL-2 plays an important role in the occurrence, development and recurrence of recurrent oral ulcer on the mRNA and protein levels. Gene microarray can be used to analyze potential genes and pathways in recurrent oral ulcer. IL-2 may be involved in the pathogenesis of recurrent oral ulcer.

  9. miRNet - dissecting miRNA-target interactions and functional associations through network-based visual analysis

    PubMed Central

    Fan, Yannan; Siklenka, Keith; Arora, Simran K.; Ribeiro, Paula; Kimmins, Sarah; Xia, Jianguo

    2016-01-01

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate nearly all biological processes and their dysregulation is implicated in various complex diseases and pathological conditions. Recent years have seen a growing number of functional studies of miRNAs using high-throughput experimental technologies, which have produced a large amount of high-quality data regarding miRNA target genes and their interactions with small molecules, long non-coding RNAs, epigenetic modifiers, disease associations, etc. These rich sets of information have enabled the creation of comprehensive networks linking miRNAs with various biologically important entities to shed light on their collective functions and regulatory mechanisms. Here, we introduce miRNet, an easy-to-use web-based tool that offers statistical, visual and network-based approaches to help researchers understand miRNAs functions and regulatory mechanisms. The key features of miRNet include: (i) a comprehensive knowledge base integrating high-quality miRNA-target interaction data from 11 databases; (ii) support for differential expression analysis of data from microarray, RNA-seq and quantitative PCR; (iii) implementation of a flexible interface for data filtering, refinement and customization during network creation; (iv) a powerful fully featured network visualization system coupled with enrichment analysis. miRNet offers a comprehensive tool suite to enable statistical analysis and functional interpretation of various data generated from current miRNA studies. miRNet is freely available at http://www.mirnet.ca. PMID:27105848

  10. Blood orange juice inhibits fat accumulation in mice.

    PubMed

    Titta, L; Trinei, M; Stendardo, M; Berniakovich, I; Petroni, K; Tonelli, C; Riso, P; Porrini, M; Minucci, S; Pelicci, P G; Rapisarda, P; Reforgiato Recupero, G; Giorgio, M

    2010-03-01

    To analyze the effect of the juice obtained from two varieties of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck), Moro (a blood orange) and Navelina (a blond orange), on fat accumulation in mice fed a standard or a high-fat diet (HFD). Obesity was induced in male C57/Bl6 mice by feeding a HFD. Moro and Navelina juices were provided instead of water. The effect of an anthocyanin-enriched extract from Moro oranges or purified cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) was also analyzed. Body weight and food intake were measured regularly over a 12-week period. The adipose pads were weighted and analyzed histologically; total RNA was also isolated for microarray analysis. Dietary supplementation of Moro juice, but not Navelina juice significantly reduced body weight gain and fat accumulation regardless of the increased energy intake because of sugar content. Furthermore, mice drinking Moro juice were resistant to HFD-induced obesity with no alterations in food intake. Only the anthocyanin extract, but not the purified C3G, slightly affected fat accumulation. High-throughput gene expression analysis of fat tissues confirmed that Moro juice could entirely rescue the high fat-induced transcriptional reprogramming. Moro juice anti-obesity effect on fat accumulation cannot be explained only by its anthocyanin content. Our findings suggest that multiple components present in the Moro orange juice might act synergistically to inhibit fat accumulation.

  11. Clinical validation of an ultra high-throughput spiral microfluidics for the detection and enrichment of viable circulating tumor cells.

    PubMed

    Khoo, Bee Luan; Warkiani, Majid Ebrahimi; Tan, Daniel Shao-Weng; Bhagat, Ali Asgar S; Irwin, Darryl; Lau, Dawn Pingxi; Lim, Alvin S T; Lim, Kiat Hon; Krisna, Sai Sakktee; Lim, Wan-Teck; Yap, Yoon Sim; Lee, Soo Chin; Soo, Ross A; Han, Jongyoon; Lim, Chwee Teck

    2014-01-01

    Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that can be isolated via liquid biopsy from blood and can be phenotypically and genetically characterized to provide critical information for guiding cancer treatment. Current analysis of CTCs is hindered by the throughput, selectivity and specificity of devices or assays used in CTC detection and isolation. Here, we enriched and characterized putative CTCs from blood samples of patients with both advanced stage metastatic breast and lung cancers using a novel multiplexed spiral microfluidic chip. This system detected putative CTCs under high sensitivity (100%, n = 56) (Breast cancer samples: 12-1275 CTCs/ml; Lung cancer samples: 10-1535 CTCs/ml) rapidly from clinically relevant blood volumes (7.5 ml under 5 min). Blood samples were completely separated into plasma, CTCs and PBMCs components and each fraction were characterized with immunophenotyping (Pan-cytokeratin/CD45, CD44/CD24, EpCAM), fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) (EML4-ALK) or targeted somatic mutation analysis. We used an ultra-sensitive mass spectrometry based system to highlight the presence of an EGFR-activating mutation in both isolated CTCs and plasma cell-free DNA (cf-DNA), and demonstrate concordance with the original tumor-biopsy samples. We have clinically validated our multiplexed microfluidic chip for the ultra high-throughput, low-cost and label-free enrichment of CTCs. Retrieved cells were unlabeled and viable, enabling potential propagation and real-time downstream analysis using next generation sequencing (NGS) or proteomic analysis.

  12. MicroGen: a MIAME compliant web system for microarray experiment information and workflow management.

    PubMed

    Burgarella, Sarah; Cattaneo, Dario; Pinciroli, Francesco; Masseroli, Marco

    2005-12-01

    Improvements of bio-nano-technologies and biomolecular techniques have led to increasing production of high-throughput experimental data. Spotted cDNA microarray is one of the most diffuse technologies, used in single research laboratories and in biotechnology service facilities. Although they are routinely performed, spotted microarray experiments are complex procedures entailing several experimental steps and actors with different technical skills and roles. During an experiment, involved actors, who can also be located in a distance, need to access and share specific experiment information according to their roles. Furthermore, complete information describing all experimental steps must be orderly collected to allow subsequent correct interpretation of experimental results. We developed MicroGen, a web system for managing information and workflow in the production pipeline of spotted microarray experiments. It is constituted of a core multi-database system able to store all data completely characterizing different spotted microarray experiments according to the Minimum Information About Microarray Experiments (MIAME) standard, and of an intuitive and user-friendly web interface able to support the collaborative work required among multidisciplinary actors and roles involved in spotted microarray experiment production. MicroGen supports six types of user roles: the researcher who designs and requests the experiment, the spotting operator, the hybridisation operator, the image processing operator, the system administrator, and the generic public user who can access the unrestricted part of the system to get information about MicroGen services. MicroGen represents a MIAME compliant information system that enables managing workflow and supporting collaborative work in spotted microarray experiment production.

  13. Simultaneous and sensitive detection of six serotypes of botulinum neurotoxin using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based protein antibody microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Yanfeng; Lou, Jianlong; Jenko, Kathy L.; Marks, James D.; Varnum, Susan M.

    2012-01-01

    Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), produced by Clostridium botulinum, are a group of seven (A–G) immunologically distinct proteins and cause the paralytic disease botulism. These toxins are the most poisonous substances known to humans and are potential bioweapon agents. Therefore, it is necessary to develop highly sensitive assays for the detection of BoNTs in both clinical and environmental samples. In the current study, we have developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based protein antibody microarray for the sensitive and simultaneous detection of BoNT serotypes A, B, C, D, E, and F. With engineered high-affinity antibodies, the BoNT assays have sensitivities in buffer ranging from 1.3 fM (0.2 pg/ml) to 14.7 fM (2.2 pg/ml). Using clinical and food matrices (serum and milk), the microarray is capable of detecting BoNT serotypes A to F to similar levels as in standard buffer. Cross-reactivity between assays for individual serotype was also analyzed. These simultaneous, rapid, and sensitive assays have the potential to measure botulinum toxins in a high-throughput manner in complex clinical, food, and environmental samples. PMID:22935296

  14. Establishment and Application of a Visual DNA Microarray for the Detection of Food-borne Pathogens.

    PubMed

    Li, Yongjin

    2016-01-01

    The accurate detection and identification of food-borne pathogenic microorganisms is critical for food safety nowadays. In the present work, a visual DNA microarray was established and applied to detect pathogens commonly found in food, including Salmonella enterica, Shigella flexneri, E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes in food samples. Multiplex PCR (mPCR) was employed to simultaneously amplify specific gene fragments, fimY for Salmonella, ipaH for Shigella, iap for L. monocytogenes and ECs2841 for E. coli O157:H7, respectively. Biotinylated PCR amplicons annealed to the microarray probes were then reacted with a streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase conjugate and nitro blue tetrazolium/5-bromo-4-chloro-3'-indolylphosphate, p-toluidine salt (NBT/BCIP); the positive results were easily visualized as blue dots formatted on the microarray surface. The performance of a DNA microarray was tested against 14 representative collection strains and mock-contamination food samples. The combination of mPCR and a visual micro-plate chip specifically and sensitively detected Salmonella enterica, Shigella flexneri, E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes in standard strains and food matrices with a sensitivity of ∼10(2) CFU/mL of bacterial culture. Thus, the developed method is advantageous because of its high throughput, cost-effectiveness and ease of use.

  15. Profiling Humoral Immune Responses to Clostridium difficile-Specific Antigens by Protein Microarray Analysis.

    PubMed

    Negm, Ola H; Hamed, Mohamed R; Dilnot, Elizabeth M; Shone, Clifford C; Marszalowska, Izabela; Lynch, Mark; Loscher, Christine E; Edwards, Laura J; Tighe, Patrick J; Wilcox, Mark H; Monaghan, Tanya M

    2015-09-01

    Clostridium difficile is an anaerobic, Gram-positive, and spore-forming bacterium that is the leading worldwide infective cause of hospital-acquired and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Several studies have reported associations between humoral immunity and the clinical course of C. difficile infection (CDI). Host humoral immune responses are determined using conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques. Herein, we report the first use of a novel protein microarray assay to determine systemic IgG antibody responses against a panel of highly purified C. difficile-specific antigens, including native toxins A and B (TcdA and TcdB, respectively), recombinant fragments of toxins A and B (TxA4 and TxB4, respectively), ribotype-specific surface layer proteins (SLPs; 001, 002, 027), and control proteins (tetanus toxoid and Candida albicans). Microarrays were probed with sera from a total of 327 individuals with CDI, cystic fibrosis without diarrhea, and healthy controls. For all antigens, precision profiles demonstrated <10% coefficient of variation (CV). Significant correlation was observed between microarray and ELISA in the quantification of antitoxin A and antitoxin B IgG. These results indicate that microarray is a suitable assay for defining humoral immune responses to C. difficile protein antigens and may have potential advantages in throughput, convenience, and cost. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  16. Profiling Humoral Immune Responses to Clostridium difficile-Specific Antigens by Protein Microarray Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Negm, Ola H.; Hamed, Mohamed R.; Dilnot, Elizabeth M.; Shone, Clifford C.; Marszalowska, Izabela; Lynch, Mark; Loscher, Christine E.; Edwards, Laura J.; Tighe, Patrick J.; Wilcox, Mark H.

    2015-01-01

    Clostridium difficile is an anaerobic, Gram-positive, and spore-forming bacterium that is the leading worldwide infective cause of hospital-acquired and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Several studies have reported associations between humoral immunity and the clinical course of C. difficile infection (CDI). Host humoral immune responses are determined using conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques. Herein, we report the first use of a novel protein microarray assay to determine systemic IgG antibody responses against a panel of highly purified C. difficile-specific antigens, including native toxins A and B (TcdA and TcdB, respectively), recombinant fragments of toxins A and B (TxA4 and TxB4, respectively), ribotype-specific surface layer proteins (SLPs; 001, 002, 027), and control proteins (tetanus toxoid and Candida albicans). Microarrays were probed with sera from a total of 327 individuals with CDI, cystic fibrosis without diarrhea, and healthy controls. For all antigens, precision profiles demonstrated <10% coefficient of variation (CV). Significant correlation was observed between microarray and ELISA in the quantification of antitoxin A and antitoxin B IgG. These results indicate that microarray is a suitable assay for defining humoral immune responses to C. difficile protein antigens and may have potential advantages in throughput, convenience, and cost. PMID:26178385

  17. AccuTyping: new algorithms for automated analysis of data from high-throughput genotyping with oligonucleotide microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Hu, Guohong; Wang, Hui-Yun; Greenawalt, Danielle M.; Azaro, Marco A.; Luo, Minjie; Tereshchenko, Irina V.; Cui, Xiangfeng; Yang, Qifeng; Gao, Richeng; Shen, Li; Li, Honghua

    2006-01-01

    Microarray-based analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has many applications in large-scale genetic studies. To minimize the influence of experimental variation, microarray data usually need to be processed in different aspects including background subtraction, normalization and low-signal filtering before genotype determination. Although many algorithms are sophisticated for these purposes, biases are still present. In the present paper, new algorithms for SNP microarray data analysis and the software, AccuTyping, developed based on these algorithms are described. The algorithms take advantage of a large number of SNPs included in each assay, and the fact that the top and bottom 20% of SNPs can be safely treated as homozygous after sorting based on their ratios between the signal intensities. These SNPs are then used as controls for color channel normalization and background subtraction. Genotype calls are made based on the logarithms of signal intensity ratios using two cutoff values, which were determined after training the program with a dataset of ∼160 000 genotypes and validated by non-microarray methods. AccuTyping was used to determine >300 000 genotypes of DNA and sperm samples. The accuracy was shown to be >99%. AccuTyping can be downloaded from . PMID:16982644

  18. Protein microarray analysis reveals BAFF-binding autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus

    PubMed Central

    Price, Jordan V.; Haddon, David J.; Kemmer, Dodge; Delepine, Guillaume; Mandelbaum, Gil; Jarrell, Justin A.; Gupta, Rohit; Balboni, Imelda; Chakravarty, Eliza F.; Sokolove, Jeremy; Shum, Anthony K.; Anderson, Mark S.; Cheng, Mickie H.; Robinson, William H.; Browne, Sarah K.; Holland, Steven M.; Baechler, Emily C.; Utz, Paul J.

    2013-01-01

    Autoantibodies against cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors inhibit normal immunity and are implicated in inflammatory autoimmune disease and diseases of immune deficiency. In an effort to evaluate serum from autoimmune and immunodeficient patients for Abs against cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors in a high-throughput and unbiased manner, we constructed a multiplex protein microarray for detection of serum factor–binding Abs and used the microarray to detect autoantibody targets in SLE. We designed a nitrocellulose-surface microarray containing human cytokines, chemokines, and other circulating proteins and demonstrated that the array permitted specific detection of serum factor–binding probes. We used the arrays to detect previously described autoantibodies against cytokines in samples from individuals with autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 and chronic mycobacterial infection. Serum profiling from individuals with SLE revealed that among several targets, elevated IgG autoantibody reactivity to B cell–activating factor (BAFF) was associated with SLE compared with control samples. BAFF reactivity correlated with the severity of disease-associated features, including IFN-α–driven SLE pathology. Our results showed that serum factor protein microarrays facilitate detection of autoantibody reactivity to serum factors in human samples and that BAFF-reactive autoantibodies may be associated with an elevated inflammatory disease state within the spectrum of SLE. PMID:24270423

  19. Dynamic, electronically switchable surfaces for membrane protein microarrays.

    PubMed

    Tang, C S; Dusseiller, M; Makohliso, S; Heuschkel, M; Sharma, S; Keller, B; Vörös, J

    2006-02-01

    Microarray technology is a powerful tool that provides a high throughput of bioanalytical information within a single experiment. These miniaturized and parallelized binding assays are highly sensitive and have found widespread popularity especially during the genomic era. However, as drug diagnostics studies are often targeted at membrane proteins, the current arraying technologies are ill-equipped to handle the fragile nature of the protein molecules. In addition, to understand the complex structure and functions of proteins, different strategies to immobilize the probe molecules selectively onto a platform for protein microarray are required. We propose a novel approach to create a (membrane) protein microarray by using an indium tin oxide (ITO) microelectrode array with an electronic multiplexing capability. A polycationic, protein- and vesicle-resistant copolymer, poly(l-lysine)-grafted-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG), is exposed to and adsorbed uniformly onto the microelectrode array, as a passivating adlayer. An electronic stimulation is then applied onto the individual ITO microelectrodes resulting in the localized release of the polymer thus revealing a bare ITO surface. Different polymer and biological moieties are specifically immobilized onto the activated ITO microelectrodes while the other regions remain protein-resistant as they are unaffected by the induced electrical potential. The desorption process of the PLL-g-PEG is observed to be highly selective, rapid, and reversible without compromising on the integrity and performance of the conductive ITO microelectrodes. As such, we have successfully created a stable and heterogeneous microarray of biomolecules by using selective electronic addressing on ITO microelectrodes. Both pharmaceutical diagnostics and biomedical technology are expected to benefit directly from this unique method.

  20. Unravelling Glucan Recognition Systems by Glycome Microarrays Using the Designer Approach and Mass Spectrometry*

    PubMed Central

    Palma, Angelina S.; Liu, Yan; Zhang, Hongtao; Zhang, Yibing; McCleary, Barry V.; Yu, Guangli; Huang, Qilin; Guidolin, Leticia S.; Ciocchini, Andres E.; Torosantucci, Antonella; Wang, Denong; Carvalho, Ana Luísa; Fontes, Carlos M. G. A.; Mulloy, Barbara; Childs, Robert A.; Feizi, Ten; Chai, Wengang

    2015-01-01

    Glucans are polymers of d-glucose with differing linkages in linear or branched sequences. They are constituents of microbial and plant cell-walls and involved in important bio-recognition processes, including immunomodulation, anticancer activities, pathogen virulence, and plant cell-wall biodegradation. Translational possibilities for these activities in medicine and biotechnology are considerable. High-throughput micro-methods are needed to screen proteins for recognition of specific glucan sequences as a lead to structure–function studies and their exploitation. We describe construction of a “glucome” microarray, the first sequence-defined glycome-scale microarray, using a “designer” approach from targeted ligand-bearing glucans in conjunction with a novel high-sensitivity mass spectrometric sequencing method, as a screening tool to assign glucan recognition motifs. The glucome microarray comprises 153 oligosaccharide probes with high purity, representing major sequences in glucans. Negative-ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry with collision-induced dissociation was used for complete linkage analysis of gluco-oligosaccharides in linear “homo” and “hetero” and branched sequences. The system is validated using antibodies and carbohydrate-binding modules known to target α- or β-glucans in different biological contexts, extending knowledge on their specificities, and applied to reveal new information on glucan recognition by two signaling molecules of the immune system against pathogens: Dectin-1 and DC-SIGN. The sequencing of the glucan oligosaccharides by the MS method and their interrogation on the microarrays provides detailed information on linkage, sequence and chain length requirements of glucan-recognizing proteins, and are a sensitive means of revealing unsuspected sequences in the polysaccharides. PMID:25670804

  1. Prediction of metabolism-induced hepatotoxicity on three-dimensional hepatic cell culture and enzyme microarrays.

    PubMed

    Yu, Kyeong-Nam; Nadanaciva, Sashi; Rana, Payal; Lee, Dong Woo; Ku, Bosung; Roth, Alexander D; Dordick, Jonathan S; Will, Yvonne; Lee, Moo-Yeal

    2018-03-01

    Human liver contains various oxidative and conjugative enzymes that can convert nontoxic parent compounds to toxic metabolites or, conversely, toxic parent compounds to nontoxic metabolites. Unlike primary hepatocytes, which contain myriad drug-metabolizing enzymes (DMEs), but are difficult to culture and maintain physiological levels of DMEs, immortalized hepatic cell lines used in predictive toxicity assays are easy to culture, but lack the ability to metabolize compounds. To address this limitation and predict metabolism-induced hepatotoxicity in high-throughput, we developed an advanced miniaturized three-dimensional (3D) cell culture array (DataChip 2.0) and an advanced metabolizing enzyme microarray (MetaChip 2.0). The DataChip is a functionalized micropillar chip that supports the Hep3B human hepatoma cell line in a 3D microarray format. The MetaChip is a microwell chip containing immobilized DMEs found in the human liver. As a proof of concept for generating compound metabolites in situ on the chip and rapidly assessing their toxicity, 22 model compounds were dispensed into the MetaChip and sandwiched with the DataChip. The IC 50 values obtained from the chip platform were correlated with rat LD 50 values, human C max values, and drug-induced liver injury categories to predict adverse drug reactions in vivo. As a result, the platform had 100% sensitivity, 86% specificity, and 93% overall predictivity at optimum cutoffs of IC 50 and C max values. Therefore, the DataChip/MetaChip platform could be used as a high-throughput, early stage, microscale alternative to conventional in vitro multi-well plate platforms and provide a rapid and inexpensive assessment of metabolism-induced toxicity at early phases of drug development.

  2. An alternative method to amplify RNA without loss of signal conservation for expression analysis with a proteinase DNA microarray in the ArrayTube format.

    PubMed

    Schüler, Susann; Wenz, Ingrid; Wiederanders, B; Slickers, P; Ehricht, R

    2006-06-12

    Recent developments in DNA microarray technology led to a variety of open and closed devices and systems including high and low density microarrays for high-throughput screening applications as well as microarrays of lower density for specific diagnostic purposes. Beside predefined microarrays for specific applications manufacturers offer the production of custom-designed microarrays adapted to customers' wishes. Array based assays demand complex procedures including several steps for sample preparation (RNA extraction, amplification and sample labelling), hybridization and detection, thus leading to a high variability between several approaches and resulting in the necessity of extensive standardization and normalization procedures. In the present work a custom designed human proteinase DNA microarray of lower density in ArrayTube format was established. This highly economic open platform only requires standard laboratory equipment and allows the study of the molecular regulation of cell behaviour by proteinases. We established a procedure for sample preparation and hybridization and verified the array based gene expression profile by quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR). Moreover, we compared the results with the well established Affymetrix microarray. By application of standard labelling procedures with e.g. Klenow fragment exo-, single primer amplification (SPA) or In Vitro Transcription (IVT) we noticed a loss of signal conservation for some genes. To overcome this problem we developed a protocol in accordance with the SPA protocol, in which we included target specific primers designed individually for each spotted oligomer. Here we present a complete array based assay in which only the specific transcripts of interest are amplified in parallel and in a linear manner. The array represents a proof of principle which can be adapted to other species as well. As the designed protocol for amplifying mRNA starts from as little as 100 ng total RNA, it presents an alternative method for detecting even low expressed genes by microarray experiments in a highly reproducible and sensitive manner. Preservation of signal integrity is demonstrated out by QRT-PCR measurements. The little amounts of total RNA necessary for the analyses make this method applicable for investigations with limited material as in clinical samples from, for example, organ or tumour biopsies. Those are arguments in favour of the high potential of our assay compared to established procedures for amplification within the field of diagnostic expression profiling. Nevertheless, the screening character of microarray data must be mentioned, and independent methods should verify the results.

  3. Targeted Re-Sequencing Emulsion PCR Panel for Myopathies: Results in 94 Cases.

    PubMed

    Punetha, Jaya; Kesari, Akanchha; Uapinyoying, Prech; Giri, Mamta; Clarke, Nigel F; Waddell, Leigh B; North, Kathryn N; Ghaoui, Roula; O'Grady, Gina L; Oates, Emily C; Sandaradura, Sarah A; Bönnemann, Carsten G; Donkervoort, Sandra; Plotz, Paul H; Smith, Edward C; Tesi-Rocha, Carolina; Bertorini, Tulio E; Tarnopolsky, Mark A; Reitter, Bernd; Hausmanowa-Petrusewicz, Irena; Hoffman, Eric P

    2016-05-27

    Molecular diagnostics in the genetic myopathies often requires testing of the largest and most complex transcript units in the human genome (DMD, TTN, NEB). Iteratively targeting single genes for sequencing has traditionally entailed high costs and long turnaround times. Exome sequencing has begun to supplant single targeted genes, but there are concerns regarding coverage and needed depth of the very large and complex genes that frequently cause myopathies. To evaluate efficiency of next-generation sequencing technologies to provide molecular diagnostics for patients with previously undiagnosed myopathies. We tested a targeted re-sequencing approach, using a 45 gene emulsion PCR myopathy panel, with subsequent sequencing on the Illumina platform in 94 undiagnosed patients. We compared the targeted re-sequencing approach to exome sequencing for 10 of these patients studied. We detected likely pathogenic mutations in 33 out of 94 patients with a molecular diagnostic rate of approximately 35%. The remaining patients showed variants of unknown significance (35/94 patients) or no mutations detected in the 45 genes tested (26/94 patients). Mutation detection rates for targeted re-sequencing vs. whole exome were similar in both methods; however exome sequencing showed better distribution of reads and fewer exon dropouts. Given that costs of highly parallel re-sequencing and whole exome sequencing are similar, and that exome sequencing now takes considerably less laboratory processing time than targeted re-sequencing, we recommend exome sequencing as the standard approach for molecular diagnostics of myopathies.

  4. Development and validation of a 48-target analytical method for high-throughput monitoring of genetically modified organisms.

    PubMed

    Li, Xiaofei; Wu, Yuhua; Li, Jun; Li, Yunjing; Long, Likun; Li, Feiwu; Wu, Gang

    2015-01-05

    The rapid increase in the number of genetically modified (GM) varieties has led to a demand for high-throughput methods to detect genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We describe a new dynamic array-based high throughput method to simultaneously detect 48 targets in 48 samples on a Fludigm system. The test targets included species-specific genes, common screening elements, most of the Chinese-approved GM events, and several unapproved events. The 48 TaqMan assays successfully amplified products from both single-event samples and complex samples with a GMO DNA amount of 0.05 ng, and displayed high specificity. To improve the sensitivity of detection, a preamplification step for 48 pooled targets was added to enrich the amount of template before performing dynamic chip assays. This dynamic chip-based method allowed the synchronous high-throughput detection of multiple targets in multiple samples. Thus, it represents an efficient, qualitative method for GMO multi-detection.

  5. Development and Validation of A 48-Target Analytical Method for High-throughput Monitoring of Genetically Modified Organisms

    PubMed Central

    Li, Xiaofei; Wu, Yuhua; Li, Jun; Li, Yunjing; Long, Likun; Li, Feiwu; Wu, Gang

    2015-01-01

    The rapid increase in the number of genetically modified (GM) varieties has led to a demand for high-throughput methods to detect genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We describe a new dynamic array-based high throughput method to simultaneously detect 48 targets in 48 samples on a Fludigm system. The test targets included species-specific genes, common screening elements, most of the Chinese-approved GM events, and several unapproved events. The 48 TaqMan assays successfully amplified products from both single-event samples and complex samples with a GMO DNA amount of 0.05 ng, and displayed high specificity. To improve the sensitivity of detection, a preamplification step for 48 pooled targets was added to enrich the amount of template before performing dynamic chip assays. This dynamic chip-based method allowed the synchronous high-throughput detection of multiple targets in multiple samples. Thus, it represents an efficient, qualitative method for GMO multi-detection. PMID:25556930

  6. Screening of the binding of small molecules to proteins by desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry combined with protein microarray.

    PubMed

    Yao, Chenxi; Wang, Tao; Zhang, Buqing; He, Dacheng; Na, Na; Ouyang, Jin

    2015-11-01

    The interaction between bioactive small molecule ligands and proteins is one of the important research areas in proteomics. Herein, a simple and rapid method is established to screen small ligands that bind to proteins. We designed an agarose slide to immobilize different proteins. The protein microarrays were allowed to interact with different small ligands, and after washing, the microarrays were screened by desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI MS). This method can be applied to screen specific protein binding ligands and was shown for seven proteins and 34 known ligands for these proteins. In addition, a high-throughput screening was achieved, with the analysis requiring approximately 4 s for one sample spot. We then applied this method to determine the binding between the important protein matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and 88 small compounds. The molecular docking results confirmed the MS results, demonstrating that this method is suitable for the rapid and accurate screening of ligands binding to proteins. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

  7. Is this the real time for genomics?

    PubMed

    Guarnaccia, Maria; Gentile, Giulia; Alessi, Enrico; Schneider, Claudio; Petralia, Salvatore; Cavallaro, Sebastiano

    2014-01-01

    In the last decades, molecular biology has moved from gene-by-gene analysis to more complex studies using a genome-wide scale. Thanks to high-throughput genomic technologies, such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing, a huge amount of information has been generated, expanding our knowledge on the genetic basis of various diseases. Although some of this information could be transferred to clinical diagnostics, the technologies available are not suitable for this purpose. In this review, we will discuss the drawbacks associated with the use of traditional DNA microarrays in diagnostics, pointing out emerging platforms that could overcome these obstacles and offer a more reproducible, qualitative and quantitative multigenic analysis. New miniaturized and automated devices, called Lab-on-Chip, begin to integrate PCR and microarray on the same platform, offering integrated sample-to-result systems. The introduction of this kind of innovative devices may facilitate the transition of genome-based tests into clinical routine. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  8. Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO): Microarray data storage, submission, retrieval, and analysis

    PubMed Central

    Barrett, Tanya

    2006-01-01

    The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) archives and freely distributes high-throughput molecular abundance data, predominantly gene expression data generated by DNA microarray technology. The database has a flexible design that can handle diverse styles of both unprocessed and processed data in a MIAME- (Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment) supportive infrastructure that promotes fully annotated submissions. GEO currently stores about a billion individual gene expression measurements, derived from over 100 organisms, submitted by over 1,500 laboratories, addressing a wide range of biological phenomena. To maximize the utility of these data, several user-friendly Web-based interfaces and applications have been implemented that enable effective exploration, query, and visualization of these data, at the level of individual genes or entire studies. This chapter describes how the data are stored, submission procedures, and mechanisms for data retrieval and query. GEO is publicly accessible at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/geo/. PMID:16939800

  9. Evaluating Between-Pathway Models with Expression Data

    PubMed Central

    Leiserson, M.D.M.; Cowen, L.J.; Slonim, D.K.

    2010-01-01

    Abstract Between-pathway models (BPMs) are network motifs consisting of pairs of putative redundant pathways. In this article, we show how adding another source of high-throughput data—microarray gene expression data from knockout experiments—allows us to identify a compensatory functional relationship between genes from the two BPM pathways. We evaluate the quality of the BPMs from four different studies, and we describe how our methods might be extended to refine pathways. PMID:20377458

  10. GeoChip 3.0: A High Throughput Tool for Analyzing Microbial Community, Composition, Structure, and Functional Activity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    He, Zhili; Deng, Ye; Nostrand, Joy Van

    2010-05-17

    Microarray-based genomic technology has been widely used for microbial community analysis, and it is expected that microarray-based genomic technologies will revolutionize the analysis of microbial community structure, function and dynamics. A new generation of functional gene arrays (GeoChip 3.0) has been developed, with 27,812 probes covering 56,990 gene variants from 292 functional gene families involved in carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur cycles, energy metabolism, antibiotic resistance, metal resistance, and organic contaminant degradation. Those probes were derived from 2,744, 140, and 262 species for bacteria, archaea, and fungi, respectively. GeoChip 3.0 has several other distinct features, such as a common oligomore » reference standard (CORS) for data normalization and comparison, a software package for data management and future updating, and the gyrB gene for phylogenetic analysis. Our computational evaluation of probe specificity indicated that all designed probes had a high specificity to their corresponding targets. Also, experimental analysis with synthesized oligonucleotides and genomic DNAs showed that only 0.0036percent-0.025percent false positive rates were observed, suggesting that the designed probes are highly specific under the experimental conditions examined. In addition, GeoChip 3.0 was applied to analyze soil microbial communities in a multifactor grassland ecosystem in Minnesota, USA, which demonstrated that the structure, composition, and potential activity of soil microbial communities significantly changed with the plant species diversity. All results indicate that GeoChip 3.0 is a high throughput powerful tool for studying microbial community functional structure, and linking microbial communities to ecosystem processes and functioning. To our knowledge, GeoChip 3.0 is the most comprehensive microarrays currently available for studying microbial communities associated with geobiochemical cycling, global climate change, bioenergy, agricuture, land use, ecosystem management, environmental cleanup and restoration, bioreactor systems, and human health.« less

  11. Detection of pathogenic Vibrio spp. in shellfish by using multiplex PCR and DNA microarrays.

    PubMed

    Panicker, Gitika; Call, Douglas R; Krug, Melissa J; Bej, Asim K

    2004-12-01

    This study describes the development of a gene-specific DNA microarray coupled with multiplex PCR for the comprehensive detection of pathogenic vibrios that are natural inhabitants of warm coastal waters and shellfish. Multiplex PCR with vvh and viuB for Vibrio vulnificus, with ompU, toxR, tcpI, and hlyA for V. cholerae, and with tlh, tdh, trh, and open reading frame 8 for V. parahaemolyticus helped to ensure that total and pathogenic strains, including subtypes of the three Vibrio spp., could be detected and discriminated. For DNA microarrays, oligonucleotide probes for these targeted genes were deposited onto epoxysilane-derivatized, 12-well, Teflon-masked slides by using a MicroGrid II arrayer. Amplified PCR products were hybridized to arrays at 50 degrees C and detected by using tyramide signal amplification with Alexa Fluor 546 fluorescent dye. Slides were imaged by using an arrayWoRx scanner. The detection sensitivity for pure cultures without enrichment was 10(2) to 10(3) CFU/ml, and the specificity was 100%. However, 5 h of sample enrichment followed by DNA extraction with Instagene matrix and multiplex PCR with microarray hybridization resulted in the detection of 1 CFU in 1 g of oyster tissue homogenate. Thus, enrichment of the bacterial pathogens permitted higher sensitivity in compliance with the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference guideline. Application of the DNA microarray methodology to natural oysters revealed the presence of V. vulnificus (100%) and V. parahaemolyticus (83%). However, V. cholerae was not detected in natural oysters. An assay involving a combination of multiplex PCR and DNA microarray hybridization would help to ensure rapid and accurate detection of pathogenic vibrios in shellfish, thereby improving the microbiological safety of shellfish for consumers.

  12. Detection of Pathogenic Vibrio spp. in Shellfish by Using Multiplex PCR and DNA Microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Panicker, Gitika; Call, Douglas R.; Krug, Melissa J.; Bej, Asim K.

    2004-01-01

    This study describes the development of a gene-specific DNA microarray coupled with multiplex PCR for the comprehensive detection of pathogenic vibrios that are natural inhabitants of warm coastal waters and shellfish. Multiplex PCR with vvh and viuB for Vibrio vulnificus, with ompU, toxR, tcpI, and hlyA for V. cholerae, and with tlh, tdh, trh, and open reading frame 8 for V. parahaemolyticus helped to ensure that total and pathogenic strains, including subtypes of the three Vibrio spp., could be detected and discriminated. For DNA microarrays, oligonucleotide probes for these targeted genes were deposited onto epoxysilane-derivatized, 12-well, Teflon-masked slides by using a MicroGrid II arrayer. Amplified PCR products were hybridized to arrays at 50°C and detected by using tyramide signal amplification with Alexa Fluor 546 fluorescent dye. Slides were imaged by using an arrayWoRx scanner. The detection sensitivity for pure cultures without enrichment was 102 to 103 CFU/ml, and the specificity was 100%. However, 5 h of sample enrichment followed by DNA extraction with Instagene matrix and multiplex PCR with microarray hybridization resulted in the detection of 1 CFU in 1 g of oyster tissue homogenate. Thus, enrichment of the bacterial pathogens permitted higher sensitivity in compliance with the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference guideline. Application of the DNA microarray methodology to natural oysters revealed the presence of V. vulnificus (100%) and V. parahaemolyticus (83%). However, V. cholerae was not detected in natural oysters. An assay involving a combination of multiplex PCR and DNA microarray hybridization would help to ensure rapid and accurate detection of pathogenic vibrios in shellfish, thereby improving the microbiological safety of shellfish for consumers. PMID:15574946

  13. GOMA: functional enrichment analysis tool based on GO modules

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Qiang; Wu, Ling-Yun; Wang, Yong; Zhang, Xiang-Sun

    2013-01-01

    Analyzing the function of gene sets is a critical step in interpreting the results of high-throughput experiments in systems biology. A variety of enrichment analysis tools have been developed in recent years, but most output a long list of significantly enriched terms that are often redundant, making it difficult to extract the most meaningful functions. In this paper, we present GOMA, a novel enrichment analysis method based on the new concept of enriched functional Gene Ontology (GO) modules. With this method, we systematically revealed functional GO modules, i.e., groups of functionally similar GO terms, via an optimization model and then ranked them by enrichment scores. Our new method simplifies enrichment analysis results by reducing redundancy, thereby preventing inconsistent enrichment results among functionally similar terms and providing more biologically meaningful results. PMID:23237213

  14. Autonomous system for Web-based microarray image analysis.

    PubMed

    Bozinov, Daniel

    2003-12-01

    Software-based feature extraction from DNA microarray images still requires human intervention on various levels. Manual adjustment of grid and metagrid parameters, precise alignment of superimposed grid templates and gene spots, or simply identification of large-scale artifacts have to be performed beforehand to reliably analyze DNA signals and correctly quantify their expression values. Ideally, a Web-based system with input solely confined to a single microarray image and a data table as output containing measurements for all gene spots would directly transform raw image data into abstracted gene expression tables. Sophisticated algorithms with advanced procedures for iterative correction function can overcome imminent challenges in image processing. Herein is introduced an integrated software system with a Java-based interface on the client side that allows for decentralized access and furthermore enables the scientist to instantly employ the most updated software version at any given time. This software tool is extended from PixClust as used in Extractiff incorporated with Java Web Start deployment technology. Ultimately, this setup is destined for high-throughput pipelines in genome-wide medical diagnostics labs or microarray core facilities aimed at providing fully automated service to its users.

  15. Development and application of a DNA microarray-based yeast two-hybrid system

    PubMed Central

    Suter, Bernhard; Fontaine, Jean-Fred; Yildirimman, Reha; Raskó, Tamás; Schaefer, Martin H.; Rasche, Axel; Porras, Pablo; Vázquez-Álvarez, Blanca M.; Russ, Jenny; Rau, Kirstin; Foulle, Raphaele; Zenkner, Martina; Saar, Kathrin; Herwig, Ralf; Andrade-Navarro, Miguel A.; Wanker, Erich E.

    2013-01-01

    The yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) system is the most widely applied methodology for systematic protein–protein interaction (PPI) screening and the generation of comprehensive interaction networks. We developed a novel Y2H interaction screening procedure using DNA microarrays for high-throughput quantitative PPI detection. Applying a global pooling and selection scheme to a large collection of human open reading frames, proof-of-principle Y2H interaction screens were performed for the human neurodegenerative disease proteins huntingtin and ataxin-1. Using systematic controls for unspecific Y2H results and quantitative benchmarking, we identified and scored a large number of known and novel partner proteins for both huntingtin and ataxin-1. Moreover, we show that this parallelized screening procedure and the global inspection of Y2H interaction data are uniquely suited to define specific PPI patterns and their alteration by disease-causing mutations in huntingtin and ataxin-1. This approach takes advantage of the specificity and flexibility of DNA microarrays and of the existence of solid-related statistical methods for the analysis of DNA microarray data, and allows a quantitative approach toward interaction screens in human and in model organisms. PMID:23275563

  16. A Modified Protocol for High-Quality RNA Extraction from Oleoresin-Producing Adult Pines.

    PubMed

    de Lima, Júlio César; Füller, Thanise Nogueira; de Costa, Fernanda; Rodrigues-Corrêa, Kelly C S; Fett-Neto, Arthur G

    2016-01-01

    RNA extraction resulting in good yields and quality is a fundamental step for the analyses of transcriptomes through high-throughput sequencing technologies, microarray, and also northern blots, RT-PCR, and RTqPCR. Even though many specific protocols designed for plants with high content of secondary metabolites have been developed, these are often expensive, time consuming, and not suitable for a wide range of tissues. Here we present a modification of the method previously described using the commercially available Concert™ Plant RNA Reagent (Invitrogen) buffer for field-grown adult pine trees with high oleoresin content.

  17. High-throughput screening of filamentous fungi using nanoliter-range droplet-based microfluidics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beneyton, Thomas; Wijaya, I. Putu Mahendra; Postros, Prexilia; Najah, Majdi; Leblond, Pascal; Couvent, Angélique; Mayot, Estelle; Griffiths, Andrew D.; Drevelle, Antoine

    2016-06-01

    Filamentous fungi are an extremely important source of industrial enzymes because of their capacity to secrete large quantities of proteins. Currently, functional screening of fungi is associated with low throughput and high costs, which severely limits the discovery of novel enzymatic activities and better production strains. Here, we describe a nanoliter-range droplet-based microfluidic system specially adapted for the high-throughput sceening (HTS) of large filamentous fungi libraries for secreted enzyme activities. The platform allowed (i) compartmentalization of single spores in ~10 nl droplets, (ii) germination and mycelium growth and (iii) high-throughput sorting of fungi based on enzymatic activity. A 104 clone UV-mutated library of Aspergillus niger was screened based on α-amylase activity in just 90 minutes. Active clones were enriched 196-fold after a single round of microfluidic HTS. The platform is a powerful tool for the development of new production strains with low cost, space and time footprint and should bring enormous benefit for improving the viability of biotechnological processes.

  18. Mutation Scanning in Wheat by Exon Capture and Next-Generation Sequencing.

    PubMed

    King, Robert; Bird, Nicholas; Ramirez-Gonzalez, Ricardo; Coghill, Jane A; Patil, Archana; Hassani-Pak, Keywan; Uauy, Cristobal; Phillips, Andrew L

    2015-01-01

    Targeted Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING) is a reverse genetics approach to identify novel sequence variation in genomes, with the aims of investigating gene function and/or developing useful alleles for breeding. Despite recent advances in wheat genomics, most current TILLING methods are low to medium in throughput, being based on PCR amplification of the target genes. We performed a pilot-scale evaluation of TILLING in wheat by next-generation sequencing through exon capture. An oligonucleotide-based enrichment array covering ~2 Mbp of wheat coding sequence was used to carry out exon capture and sequencing on three mutagenised lines of wheat containing previously-identified mutations in the TaGA20ox1 homoeologous genes. After testing different mapping algorithms and settings, candidate SNPs were identified by mapping to the IWGSC wheat Chromosome Survey Sequences. Where sequence data for all three homoeologues were found in the reference, mutant calls were unambiguous; however, where the reference lacked one or two of the homoeologues, captured reads from these genes were mis-mapped to other homoeologues, resulting either in dilution of the variant allele frequency or assignment of mutations to the wrong homoeologue. Competitive PCR assays were used to validate the putative SNPs and estimate cut-off levels for SNP filtering. At least 464 high-confidence SNPs were detected across the three mutagenized lines, including the three known alleles in TaGA20ox1, indicating a mutation rate of ~35 SNPs per Mb, similar to that estimated by PCR-based TILLING. This demonstrates the feasibility of using exon capture for genome re-sequencing as a method of mutation detection in polyploid wheat, but accurate mutation calling will require an improved genomic reference with more comprehensive coverage of homoeologues.

  19. Global phenotypic characterisation of human platelet lysate expanded MSCs by high-throughput flow cytometry.

    PubMed

    Reis, Monica; McDonald, David; Nicholson, Lindsay; Godthardt, Kathrin; Knobel, Sebastian; Dickinson, Anne M; Filby, Andrew; Wang, Xiao-Nong

    2018-03-02

    Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a promising cell source to develop cell therapy for many diseases. Human platelet lysate (PLT) is increasingly used as an alternative to foetal calf serum (FCS) for clinical-scale MSC production. To date, the global surface protein expression of PLT-expended MSCs (MSC-PLT) is not known. To investigate this, paired MSC-PLT and MSC-FCS were analysed in parallel using high-throughput flow cytometry for the expression of 356 cell surface proteins. MSC-PLT showed differential surface protein expression compared to their MSC-FCS counterpart. Higher percentage of positive cells was observed in MSC-PLT for 48 surface proteins, of which 13 were significantly enriched on MSC-PLT. This finding was validated using multiparameter flow cytometry and further confirmed by quantitative staining intensity analysis. The enriched surface proteins are relevant to increased proliferation and migration capacity, as well as enhanced chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation properties. In silico network analysis revealed that these enriched surface proteins are involved in three distinct networks that are associated with inflammatory responses, carbohydrate metabolism and cellular motility. This is the first study reporting differential cell surface protein expression between MSC-PLT and MSC-FSC. Further studies are required to uncover the impact of those enriched proteins on biological functions of MSC-PLT.

  20. High precision quantification of human plasma proteins using the automated SISCAPA Immuno-MS workflow.

    PubMed

    Razavi, Morteza; Leigh Anderson, N; Pope, Matthew E; Yip, Richard; Pearson, Terry W

    2016-09-25

    Efficient robotic workflows for trypsin digestion of human plasma and subsequent antibody-mediated peptide enrichment (the SISCAPA method) were developed with the goal of improving assay precision and throughput for multiplexed protein biomarker quantification. First, an 'addition only' tryptic digestion protocol was simplified from classical methods, eliminating the need for sample cleanup, while improving reproducibility, scalability and cost. Second, methods were developed to allow multiplexed enrichment and quantification of peptide surrogates of protein biomarkers representing a very broad range of concentrations and widely different molecular masses in human plasma. The total workflow coefficients of variation (including the 3 sequential steps of digestion, SISCAPA peptide enrichment and mass spectrometric analysis) for 5 proteotypic peptides measured in 6 replicates of each of 6 different samples repeated over 6 days averaged 3.4% within-run and 4.3% across all runs. An experiment to identify sources of variation in the workflow demonstrated that MRM measurement and tryptic digestion steps each had average CVs of ∼2.7%. Because of the high purity of the peptide analytes enriched by antibody capture, the liquid chromatography step is minimized and in some cases eliminated altogether, enabling throughput levels consistent with requirements of large biomarker and clinical studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. A comparative study of RNA-Seq and microarray data analysis on the two examples of rectal-cancer patients and Burkitt Lymphoma cells.

    PubMed

    Wolff, Alexander; Bayerlová, Michaela; Gaedcke, Jochen; Kube, Dieter; Beißbarth, Tim

    2018-01-01

    Pipeline comparisons for gene expression data are highly valuable for applied real data analyses, as they enable the selection of suitable analysis strategies for the dataset at hand. Such pipelines for RNA-Seq data should include mapping of reads, counting and differential gene expression analysis or preprocessing, normalization and differential gene expression in case of microarray analysis, in order to give a global insight into pipeline performances. Four commonly used RNA-Seq pipelines (STAR/HTSeq-Count/edgeR, STAR/RSEM/edgeR, Sailfish/edgeR, TopHat2/Cufflinks/CuffDiff)) were investigated on multiple levels (alignment and counting) and cross-compared with the microarray counterpart on the level of gene expression and gene ontology enrichment. For these comparisons we generated two matched microarray and RNA-Seq datasets: Burkitt Lymphoma cell line data and rectal cancer patient data. The overall mapping rate of STAR was 98.98% for the cell line dataset and 98.49% for the patient dataset. Tophat's overall mapping rate was 97.02% and 96.73%, respectively, while Sailfish had only an overall mapping rate of 84.81% and 54.44%. The correlation of gene expression in microarray and RNA-Seq data was moderately worse for the patient dataset (ρ = 0.67-0.69) than for the cell line dataset (ρ = 0.87-0.88). An exception were the correlation results of Cufflinks, which were substantially lower (ρ = 0.21-0.29 and 0.34-0.53). For both datasets we identified very low numbers of differentially expressed genes using the microarray platform. For RNA-Seq we checked the agreement of differentially expressed genes identified in the different pipelines and of GO-term enrichment results. In conclusion the combination of STAR aligner with HTSeq-Count followed by STAR aligner with RSEM and Sailfish generated differentially expressed genes best suited for the dataset at hand and in agreement with most of the other transcriptomics pipelines.

  2. Tissue-enriched expression profiles in Aedes aegypti identify hemocyte-specific transcriptome responses to infection

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Young-Jun; Fuchs, Jeremy F.; Mayhew, George F.; Yu, Helen E.; Christensen, Bruce M.

    2012-01-01

    Hemocytes are integral components of mosquito immune mechanisms such as phagocytosis, melanization, and production of antimicrobial peptides. However, our understanding of hemocyte-specific molecular processes and their contribution to shaping the host immune response remains limited. To better understand the immunophysiological features distinctive of hemocytes, we conducted genome-wide analysis of hemocyte-enriched transcripts, and examined how tissue-enriched expression patterns change with the immune status of the host. Our microarray data indicate that the hemocyte-enriched trascriptome is dynamic and context-dependent. Analysis of transcripts enriched after bacterial challenge in circulating hemocytes with respect to carcass added a dimension to evaluating infection-responsive genes and immune-related gene families. We resolved patterns of transcriptional change unique to hemocytes from those that are likely shared by other immune responsive tissues, and identified clusters of genes preferentially induced in hemocytes, likely reflecting their involvement in cell type specific functions. In addition, the study revealed conserved hemocyte-enriched molecular repertoires which might be implicated in core hemocyte function by cross-species meta-analysis of microarray expression data from Anopheles gambiae and Drosophila melanogaster. PMID:22796331

  3. MADGE: scalable distributed data management software for cDNA microarrays.

    PubMed

    McIndoe, Richard A; Lanzen, Aaron; Hurtz, Kimberly

    2003-01-01

    The human genome project and the development of new high-throughput technologies have created unparalleled opportunities to study the mechanism of diseases, monitor the disease progression and evaluate effective therapies. Gene expression profiling is a critical tool to accomplish these goals. The use of nucleic acid microarrays to assess the gene expression of thousands of genes simultaneously has seen phenomenal growth over the past five years. Although commercial sources of microarrays exist, investigators wanting more flexibility in the genes represented on the array will turn to in-house production. The creation and use of cDNA microarrays is a complicated process that generates an enormous amount of information. Effective data management of this information is essential to efficiently access, analyze, troubleshoot and evaluate the microarray experiments. We have developed a distributable software package designed to track and store the various pieces of data generated by a cDNA microarray facility. This includes the clone collection storage data, annotation data, workflow queues, microarray data, data repositories, sample submission information, and project/investigator information. This application was designed using a 3-tier client server model. The data access layer (1st tier) contains the relational database system tuned to support a large number of transactions. The data services layer (2nd tier) is a distributed COM server with full database transaction support. The application layer (3rd tier) is an internet based user interface that contains both client and server side code for dynamic interactions with the user. This software is freely available to academic institutions and non-profit organizations at http://www.genomics.mcg.edu/niddkbtc.

  4. Emerging Genomic Tools for Legume Breeding: Current Status and Future Prospects

    PubMed Central

    Pandey, Manish K.; Roorkiwal, Manish; Singh, Vikas K.; Ramalingam, Abirami; Kudapa, Himabindu; Thudi, Mahendar; Chitikineni, Anu; Rathore, Abhishek; Varshney, Rajeev K.

    2016-01-01

    Legumes play a vital role in ensuring global nutritional food security and improving soil quality through nitrogen fixation. Accelerated higher genetic gains is required to meet the demand of ever increasing global population. In recent years, speedy developments have been witnessed in legume genomics due to advancements in next-generation sequencing (NGS) and high-throughput genotyping technologies. Reference genome sequences for many legume crops have been reported in the last 5 years. The availability of the draft genome sequences and re-sequencing of elite genotypes for several important legume crops have made it possible to identify structural variations at large scale. Availability of large-scale genomic resources and low-cost and high-throughput genotyping technologies are enhancing the efficiency and resolution of genetic mapping and marker-trait association studies. Most importantly, deployment of molecular breeding approaches has resulted in development of improved lines in some legume crops such as chickpea and groundnut. In order to support genomics-driven crop improvement at a fast pace, the deployment of breeder-friendly genomics and decision support tools seems appear to be critical in breeding programs in developing countries. This review provides an overview of emerging genomics and informatics tools/approaches that will be the key driving force for accelerating genomics-assisted breeding and ultimately ensuring nutritional and food security in developing countries. PMID:27199998

  5. Synthetic Biomaterials to Rival Nature's Complexity-a Path Forward with Combinatorics, High-Throughput Discovery, and High-Content Analysis.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Douglas; Lee, Junmin; Kilian, Kristopher A

    2017-10-01

    Cells in tissue receive a host of soluble and insoluble signals in a context-dependent fashion, where integration of these cues through a complex network of signal transduction cascades will define a particular outcome. Biomaterials scientists and engineers are tasked with designing materials that can at least partially recreate this complex signaling milieu towards new materials for biomedical applications. In this progress report, recent advances in high throughput techniques and high content imaging approaches that are facilitating the discovery of efficacious biomaterials are described. From microarrays of synthetic polymers, peptides and full-length proteins, to designer cell culture systems that present multiple biophysical and biochemical cues in tandem, it is discussed how the integration of combinatorics with high content imaging and analysis is essential to extracting biologically meaningful information from large scale cellular screens to inform the design of next generation biomaterials. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. Prediction of epigenetically regulated genes in breast cancer cell lines.

    PubMed

    Loss, Leandro A; Sadanandam, Anguraj; Durinck, Steffen; Nautiyal, Shivani; Flaucher, Diane; Carlton, Victoria E H; Moorhead, Martin; Lu, Yontao; Gray, Joe W; Faham, Malek; Spellman, Paul; Parvin, Bahram

    2010-06-04

    Methylation of CpG islands within the DNA promoter regions is one mechanism that leads to aberrant gene expression in cancer. In particular, the abnormal methylation of CpG islands may silence associated genes. Therefore, using high-throughput microarrays to measure CpG island methylation will lead to better understanding of tumor pathobiology and progression, while revealing potentially new biomarkers. We have examined a recently developed high-throughput technology for measuring genome-wide methylation patterns called mTACL. Here, we propose a computational pipeline for integrating gene expression and CpG island methylation profiles to identify epigenetically regulated genes for a panel of 45 breast cancer cell lines, which is widely used in the Integrative Cancer Biology Program (ICBP). The pipeline (i) reduces the dimensionality of the methylation data, (ii) associates the reduced methylation data with gene expression data, and (iii) ranks methylation-expression associations according to their epigenetic regulation. Dimensionality reduction is performed in two steps: (i) methylation sites are grouped across the genome to identify regions of interest, and (ii) methylation profiles are clustered within each region. Associations between the clustered methylation and the gene expression data sets generate candidate matches within a fixed neighborhood around each gene. Finally, the methylation-expression associations are ranked through a logistic regression, and their significance is quantified through permutation analysis. Our two-step dimensionality reduction compressed 90% of the original data, reducing 137,688 methylation sites to 14,505 clusters. Methylation-expression associations produced 18,312 correspondences, which were used to further analyze epigenetic regulation. Logistic regression was used to identify 58 genes from these correspondences that showed a statistically significant negative correlation between methylation profiles and gene expression in the panel of breast cancer cell lines. Subnetwork enrichment of these genes has identified 35 common regulators with 6 or more predicted markers. In addition to identifying epigenetically regulated genes, we show evidence of differentially expressed methylation patterns between the basal and luminal subtypes. Our results indicate that the proposed computational protocol is a viable platform for identifying epigenetically regulated genes. Our protocol has generated a list of predictors including COL1A2, TOP2A, TFF1, and VAV3, genes whose key roles in epigenetic regulation is documented in the literature. Subnetwork enrichment of these predicted markers further suggests that epigenetic regulation of individual genes occurs in a coordinated fashion and through common regulators.

  7. Optimization of oligonucleotide arrays and RNA amplification protocols for analysis of transcript structure and alternative splicing.

    PubMed

    Castle, John; Garrett-Engele, Phil; Armour, Christopher D; Duenwald, Sven J; Loerch, Patrick M; Meyer, Michael R; Schadt, Eric E; Stoughton, Roland; Parrish, Mark L; Shoemaker, Daniel D; Johnson, Jason M

    2003-01-01

    Microarrays offer a high-resolution means for monitoring pre-mRNA splicing on a genomic scale. We have developed a novel, unbiased amplification protocol that permits labeling of entire transcripts. Also, hybridization conditions, probe characteristics, and analysis algorithms were optimized for detection of exons, exon-intron edges, and exon junctions. These optimized protocols can be used to detect small variations and isoform mixtures, map the tissue specificity of known human alternative isoforms, and provide a robust, scalable platform for high-throughput discovery of alternative splicing.

  8. Next-Generation Technologies for Multiomics Approaches Including Interactome Sequencing

    PubMed Central

    Ohashi, Hiroyuki; Miyamoto-Sato, Etsuko

    2015-01-01

    The development of high-speed analytical techniques such as next-generation sequencing and microarrays allows high-throughput analysis of biological information at a low cost. These techniques contribute to medical and bioscience advancements and provide new avenues for scientific research. Here, we outline a variety of new innovative techniques and discuss their use in omics research (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and interactomics). We also discuss the possible applications of these methods, including an interactome sequencing technology that we developed, in future medical and life science research. PMID:25649523

  9. Restriction Site Tiling Analysis: accurate discovery and quantitative genotyping of genome-wide polymorphisms using nucleotide arrays

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    High-throughput genotype data can be used to identify genes important for local adaptation in wild populations, phenotypes in lab stocks, or disease-related traits in human medicine. Here we advance microarray-based genotyping for population genomics with Restriction Site Tiling Analysis. The approach simultaneously discovers polymorphisms and provides quantitative genotype data at 10,000s of loci. It is highly accurate and free from ascertainment bias. We apply the approach to uncover genomic differentiation in the purple sea urchin. PMID:20403197

  10. Optimization of oligonucleotide arrays and RNA amplification protocols for analysis of transcript structure and alternative splicing

    PubMed Central

    Castle, John; Garrett-Engele, Phil; Armour, Christopher D; Duenwald, Sven J; Loerch, Patrick M; Meyer, Michael R; Schadt, Eric E; Stoughton, Roland; Parrish, Mark L; Shoemaker, Daniel D; Johnson, Jason M

    2003-01-01

    Microarrays offer a high-resolution means for monitoring pre-mRNA splicing on a genomic scale. We have developed a novel, unbiased amplification protocol that permits labeling of entire transcripts. Also, hybridization conditions, probe characteristics, and analysis algorithms were optimized for detection of exons, exon-intron edges, and exon junctions. These optimized protocols can be used to detect small variations and isoform mixtures, map the tissue specificity of known human alternative isoforms, and provide a robust, scalable platform for high-throughput discovery of alternative splicing. PMID:14519201

  11. High-throughput full-length single-cell mRNA-seq of rare cells.

    PubMed

    Ooi, Chin Chun; Mantalas, Gary L; Koh, Winston; Neff, Norma F; Fuchigami, Teruaki; Wong, Dawson J; Wilson, Robert J; Park, Seung-Min; Gambhir, Sanjiv S; Quake, Stephen R; Wang, Shan X

    2017-01-01

    Single-cell characterization techniques, such as mRNA-seq, have been applied to a diverse range of applications in cancer biology, yielding great insight into mechanisms leading to therapy resistance and tumor clonality. While single-cell techniques can yield a wealth of information, a common bottleneck is the lack of throughput, with many current processing methods being limited to the analysis of small volumes of single cell suspensions with cell densities on the order of 107 per mL. In this work, we present a high-throughput full-length mRNA-seq protocol incorporating a magnetic sifter and magnetic nanoparticle-antibody conjugates for rare cell enrichment, and Smart-seq2 chemistry for sequencing. We evaluate the efficiency and quality of this protocol with a simulated circulating tumor cell system, whereby non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines (NCI-H1650 and NCI-H1975) are spiked into whole blood, before being enriched for single-cell mRNA-seq by EpCAM-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles and the magnetic sifter. We obtain high efficiency (> 90%) capture and release of these simulated rare cells via the magnetic sifter, with reproducible transcriptome data. In addition, while mRNA-seq data is typically only used for gene expression analysis of transcriptomic data, we demonstrate the use of full-length mRNA-seq chemistries like Smart-seq2 to facilitate variant analysis of expressed genes. This enables the use of mRNA-seq data for differentiating cells in a heterogeneous population by both their phenotypic and variant profile. In a simulated heterogeneous mixture of circulating tumor cells in whole blood, we utilize this high-throughput protocol to differentiate these heterogeneous cells by both their phenotype (lung cancer versus white blood cells), and mutational profile (H1650 versus H1975 cells), in a single sequencing run. This high-throughput method can help facilitate single-cell analysis of rare cell populations, such as circulating tumor or endothelial cells, with demonstrably high-quality transcriptomic data.

  12. Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Third Annual Conference on Lab-on-a-Chip and Microarrays. 22-24 January 2001, Zurich, Switzerland.

    PubMed

    Jain, K K

    2001-02-01

    Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Third Annual Conference on Lab-on-a-Chip and Microarray technology covered the latest advances in this technology and applications in life sciences. Highlights of the meetings are reported briefly with emphasis on applications in genomics, drug discovery and molecular diagnostics. There was an emphasis on microfluidics because of the wide applications in laboratory and drug discovery. The lab-on-a-chip provides the facilities of a complete laboratory in a hand-held miniature device. Several microarray systems have been used for hybridisation and detection techniques. Oligonucleotide scanning arrays provide a versatile tool for the analysis of nucleic acid interactions and provide a platform for improving the array-based methods for investigation of antisense therapeutics. A method for analysing combinatorial DNA arrays using oligonucleotide-modified gold nanoparticle probes and a conventional scanner has considerable potential in molecular diagnostics. Various applications of microarray technology for high-throughput screening in drug discovery and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) analysis were discussed. Protein chips have important applications in proteomics. With the considerable amount of data generated by the different technologies using microarrays, it is obvious that the reading of the information and its interpretation and management through the use of bioinformatics is essential. Various techniques for data analysis were presented. Biochip and microarray technology has an essential role to play in the evolving trends in healthcare, which integrate diagnosis with prevention/treatment and emphasise personalised medicines.

  13. Systems biology of cancer biomarker detection.

    PubMed

    Mitra, Sanga; Das, Smarajit; Chakrabarti, Jayprokas

    2013-01-01

    Cancer systems-biology is an ever-growing area of research due to explosion of data; how to mine these data and extract useful information is the problem. To have an insight on carcinogenesis one need to systematically mine several resources, such as databases, microarray and next-generation sequences. This review encompasses management and analysis of cancer data, databases construction and data deposition, whole transcriptome and genome comparison, analysing results from high throughput experiments to uncover cellular pathways and molecular interactions, and the design of effective algorithms to identify potential biomarkers. Recent technical advances such as ChIP-on-chip, ChIP-seq and RNA-seq can be applied to get epigenetic information transformed into a high-throughput endeavour to which systems biology and bioinformatics are making significant inroads. The data from ENCODE and GENCODE projects available through UCSC genome browser can be considered as benchmark for comparison and meta-analysis. A pipeline for integrating next generation sequencing data, microarray data, and putting them together with the existing database is discussed. The understanding of cancer genomics is changing the way we approach cancer diagnosis and treatment. To give a better understanding of utilizing available resources' we have chosen oral cancer to show how and what kind of analysis can be done. This review is a computational genomic primer that provides a bird's eye view of computational and bioinformatics' tools currently available to perform integrated genomic and system biology analyses of several carcinoma.

  14. Targeted gene enrichment and high-throughput sequencing for environmental biomonitoring: a case study using freshwater macroinvertebrates.

    PubMed

    Dowle, Eddy J; Pochon, Xavier; C Banks, Jonathan; Shearer, Karen; Wood, Susanna A

    2016-09-01

    Recent studies have advocated biomonitoring using DNA techniques. In this study, two high-throughput sequencing (HTS)-based methods were evaluated: amplicon metabarcoding of the cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial gene and gene enrichment using MYbaits (targeting nine different genes including COI). The gene-enrichment method does not require PCR amplification and thus avoids biases associated with universal primers. Macroinvertebrate samples were collected from 12 New Zealand rivers. Macroinvertebrates were morphologically identified and enumerated, and their biomass determined. DNA was extracted from all macroinvertebrate samples and HTS undertaken using the illumina miseq platform. Macroinvertebrate communities were characterized from sequence data using either six genes (three of the original nine were not used) or just the COI gene in isolation. The gene-enrichment method (all genes) detected the highest number of taxa and obtained the strongest Spearman rank correlations between the number of sequence reads, abundance and biomass in 67% of the samples. Median detection rates across rare (<1% of the total abundance or biomass), moderately abundant (1-5%) and highly abundant (>5%) taxa were highest using the gene-enrichment method (all genes). Our data indicated primer biases occurred during amplicon metabarcoding with greater than 80% of sequence reads originating from one taxon in several samples. The accuracy and sensitivity of both HTS methods would be improved with more comprehensive reference sequence databases. The data from this study illustrate the challenges of using PCR amplification-based methods for biomonitoring and highlight the potential benefits of using approaches, such as gene enrichment, which circumvent the need for an initial PCR step. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Droplet-based pyrosequencing using digital microfluidics.

    PubMed

    Boles, Deborah J; Benton, Jonathan L; Siew, Germaine J; Levy, Miriam H; Thwar, Prasanna K; Sandahl, Melissa A; Rouse, Jeremy L; Perkins, Lisa C; Sudarsan, Arjun P; Jalili, Roxana; Pamula, Vamsee K; Srinivasan, Vijay; Fair, Richard B; Griffin, Peter B; Eckhardt, Allen E; Pollack, Michael G

    2011-11-15

    The feasibility of implementing pyrosequencing chemistry within droplets using electrowetting-based digital microfluidics is reported. An array of electrodes patterned on a printed-circuit board was used to control the formation, transportation, merging, mixing, and splitting of submicroliter-sized droplets contained within an oil-filled chamber. A three-enzyme pyrosequencing protocol was implemented in which individual droplets contained enzymes, deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs), and DNA templates. The DNA templates were anchored to magnetic beads which enabled them to be thoroughly washed between nucleotide additions. Reagents and protocols were optimized to maximize signal over background, linearity of response, cycle efficiency, and wash efficiency. As an initial demonstration of feasibility, a portion of a 229 bp Candida parapsilosis template was sequenced using both a de novo protocol and a resequencing protocol. The resequencing protocol generated over 60 bp of sequence with 100% sequence accuracy based on raw pyrogram levels. Excellent linearity was observed for all of the homopolymers (two, three, or four nucleotides) contained in the C. parapsilosis sequence. With improvements in microfluidic design it is expected that longer reads, higher throughput, and improved process integration (i.e., "sample-to-sequence" capability) could eventually be achieved using this low-cost platform.

  16. Droplet-Based Pyrosequencing Using Digital Microfluidics

    PubMed Central

    Boles, Deborah J.; Benton, Jonathan L.; Siew, Germaine J.; Levy, Miriam H.; Thwar, Prasanna K.; Sandahl, Melissa A.; Rouse, Jeremy L.; Perkins, Lisa C.; Sudarsan, Arjun P.; Jalili, Roxana; Pamula, Vamsee K.; Srinivasan, Vijay; Fair, Richard B.; Griffin, Peter B.; Eckhardt, Allen E.; Pollack, Michael G.

    2013-01-01

    The feasibility of implementing pyrosequencing chemistry within droplets using electrowetting-based digital microfluidics is reported. An array of electrodes patterned on a printed-circuit board was used to control the formation, transportation, merging, mixing, and splitting of submicroliter-sized droplets contained within an oil-filled chamber. A three-enzyme pyrosequencing protocol was implemented in which individual droplets contained enzymes, deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs), and DNA templates. The DNA templates were anchored to magnetic beads which enabled them to be thoroughly washed between nucleotide additions. Reagents and protocols were optimized to maximize signal over background, linearity of response, cycle efficiency, and wash efficiency. As an initial demonstration of feasibility, a portion of a 229 bp Candida parapsilosis template was sequenced using both a de novo protocol and a resequencing protocol. The resequencing protocol generated over 60 bp of sequence with 100% sequence accuracy based on raw pyrogram levels. Excellent linearity was observed for all of the homopolymers (two, three, or four nucleotides) contained in the C. parapsilosis sequence. With improvements in microfluidic design it is expected that longer reads, higher throughput, and improved process integration (i.e., “sample-to-sequence” capability) could eventually be achieved using this low-cost platform. PMID:21932784

  17. UPIC + GO: Zeroing in on informative markers

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Microsatellites/SSRs (simple sequence repeats) have become a powerful tool in genomic biology because of their broad range of applications and availability. An efficient method recently developed to generate microsatellite-enriched libraries used in combination with high throughput DNA pyrosequencin...

  18. High-throughput interpretation of gene structure changes in human and nonhuman resequencing data, using ACE

    PubMed Central

    Majoros, William H.; Campbell, Michael S.; Holt, Carson; DeNardo, Erin K.; Ware, Doreen; Allen, Andrew S.; Yandell, Mark; Reddy, Timothy E.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Motivation: The accurate interpretation of genetic variants is critical for characterizing genotype–phenotype associations. Because the effects of genetic variants can depend strongly on their local genomic context, accurate genome annotations are essential. Furthermore, as some variants have the potential to disrupt or alter gene structure, variant interpretation efforts stand to gain from the use of individualized annotations that account for differences in gene structure between individuals or strains. Results: We describe a suite of software tools for identifying possible functional changes in gene structure that may result from sequence variants. ACE (‘Assessing Changes to Exons’) converts phased genotype calls to a collection of explicit haplotype sequences, maps transcript annotations onto them, detects gene-structure changes and their possible repercussions, and identifies several classes of possible loss of function. Novel transcripts predicted by ACE are commonly supported by spliced RNA-seq reads, and can be used to improve read alignment and transcript quantification when an individual-specific genome sequence is available. Using publicly available RNA-seq data, we show that ACE predictions confirm earlier results regarding the quantitative effects of nonsense-mediated decay, and we show that predicted loss-of-function events are highly concordant with patterns of intolerance to mutations across the human population. ACE can be readily applied to diverse species including animals and plants, making it a broadly useful tool for use in eukaryotic population-based resequencing projects, particularly for assessing the joint impact of all variants at a locus. Availability and Implementation: ACE is written in open-source C ++ and Perl and is available from geneprediction.org/ACE Contact: myandell@genetics.utah.edu or tim.reddy@duke.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary information is available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:28011790

  19. High-throughput interpretation of gene structure changes in human and nonhuman resequencing data, using ACE.

    PubMed

    Majoros, William H; Campbell, Michael S; Holt, Carson; DeNardo, Erin K; Ware, Doreen; Allen, Andrew S; Yandell, Mark; Reddy, Timothy E

    2017-05-15

    The accurate interpretation of genetic variants is critical for characterizing genotype-phenotype associations. Because the effects of genetic variants can depend strongly on their local genomic context, accurate genome annotations are essential. Furthermore, as some variants have the potential to disrupt or alter gene structure, variant interpretation efforts stand to gain from the use of individualized annotations that account for differences in gene structure between individuals or strains. We describe a suite of software tools for identifying possible functional changes in gene structure that may result from sequence variants. ACE ('Assessing Changes to Exons') converts phased genotype calls to a collection of explicit haplotype sequences, maps transcript annotations onto them, detects gene-structure changes and their possible repercussions, and identifies several classes of possible loss of function. Novel transcripts predicted by ACE are commonly supported by spliced RNA-seq reads, and can be used to improve read alignment and transcript quantification when an individual-specific genome sequence is available. Using publicly available RNA-seq data, we show that ACE predictions confirm earlier results regarding the quantitative effects of nonsense-mediated decay, and we show that predicted loss-of-function events are highly concordant with patterns of intolerance to mutations across the human population. ACE can be readily applied to diverse species including animals and plants, making it a broadly useful tool for use in eukaryotic population-based resequencing projects, particularly for assessing the joint impact of all variants at a locus. ACE is written in open-source C ++ and Perl and is available from geneprediction.org/ACE. myandell@genetics.utah.edu or tim.reddy@duke.edu. Supplementary information is available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  20. Environmental exposure to BDE47 is associated with increased diabetes prevalence: Evidence from community-based case-control studies and an animal experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Zhan; Li, Shushu; Liu, Lu; Wang, Li; Xiao, Xue; Sun, Zhenzhen; Wang, Xichen; Wang, Chao; Wang, Meilin; Li, Lei; Xu, Qiujin; Gao, Weimin; Wang, Shou-Lin

    2016-06-01

    Brominated flame retardants exposure has been associated with increasing trends of diabetes and metabolic disease. Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide evidence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) exposure in relation to diabetes prevalence and to reveal the potential underlying mechanism in epidemiological and animal studies. All the participants received a questionnaire, health examination, and the detection of 7 PBDE congeners in serum in two independent community-based studies from 2011 to 2012 in China. Male rats were exposed to 2,2’4,4’-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE47) for 8 weeks to explore its effects on glucose homeostasis and potential mechanisms using high-throughput genomic analysis. Among the 7 congeners, BDE47 showed significant high detection rate and concentration in cases in Study I and Study II. Every tertile of BDE47 exposure significantly increased the risk of diabetes prevalence in Study I (Ptrend = 0.001) and Study II (Ptrend < 0.001). Additionally, BDE47 treatments induced hyperglycemia in rats. Furthermore, gene microarray analysis showed that diabetes pathway and three gene ontology terms involved in glucose transport were enriched. The results indicated that environmental exposure to BDE47 was associated with increased diabetes prevalence. However, further prospective and mechanistic studies are needed to the causation of diabetes in relation to BDE47.

  1. Microcontact Printing of Thiol-Functionalized Ionic Liquid Microarrays for "Membrane-less" and "Spill-less" Gas Sensors.

    PubMed

    Gondosiswanto, Richard; Gunawan, Christian A; Hibbert, David B; Harper, Jason B; Zhao, Chuan

    2016-11-16

    Lab-on-a-chip systems have gained significant interest for both chemical synthesis and assays at the micro-to-nanoscale with a unique set of benefits. However, solvent volatility represents one of the major hurdles to the reliability and reproducibility of the lab-on-a-chip devices for large-scale applications. Here we demonstrate a strategy of combining nonvolatile and functionalized ionic liquids with microcontact printing for fabrication of "wall-less" microreactors and microfluidics with high reproducibility and high throughput. A range of thiol-functionalized ionic liquids have been synthesized and used as inks for microcontact printing of ionic liquid microdroplet arrays onto gold chips. The covalent bonds formed between the thiol-functionalized ionic liquids and the gold substrate offer enhanced stability of the ionic liquid microdroplets, compared to conventional nonfunctionalized ionic liquids, and these microdroplets remain stable in a range of nonpolar and polar solvents, including water. We further demonstrate the use of these open ionic liquid microarrays for fabrication of "membrane-less" and "spill-less" gas sensors with enhanced reproducibility and robustness. Ionic-liquid-based microarray and microfluidics fabricated using the described microcontact printing may provide a versatile platform for a diverse number of applications at scale.

  2. 3D pulsed laser-triggered high-speed microfluidic fluorescence-activated cell sorter

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Yue; Wu, Ting-Hsiang; Kung, Yu-Chun; Teitell, Michael A.; Chiou, Pei-Yu

    2014-01-01

    We report a 3D microfluidic pulsed laser-triggered fluorescence-activated cell sorter capable of sorting at a throughput of 23,000 cells sec−1 with 90% purity in high-purity mode and at a throughput of 45,000 cells sec−1 with 45% purity in enrichment mode in one stage and in a single channel. This performance is realized by exciting laser-induced cavitation bubbles in a 3D PDMS microfluidic channel to generate high-speed liquid jets that deflect detected fluorescent cells and particles focused by 3D sheath flows. The ultrafast switching mechanism (20 μsec complete on-off cycle), small liquid jet perturbation volume, and three-dimensional sheath flow focusing for accurate timing control of fast (1.5 m sec−1) passing cells and particles are three critical factors enabling high-purity sorting at high-throughput in this sorter. PMID:23844418

  3. ArrayPitope: Automated Analysis of Amino Acid Substitutions for Peptide Microarray-Based Antibody Epitope Mapping.

    PubMed

    Hansen, Christian Skjødt; Østerbye, Thomas; Marcatili, Paolo; Lund, Ole; Buus, Søren; Nielsen, Morten

    2017-01-01

    Identification of epitopes targeted by antibodies (B cell epitopes) is of critical importance for the development of many diagnostic and therapeutic tools. For clinical usage, such epitopes must be extensively characterized in order to validate specificity and to document potential cross-reactivity. B cell epitopes are typically classified as either linear epitopes, i.e. short consecutive segments from the protein sequence or conformational epitopes adapted through native protein folding. Recent advances in high-density peptide microarrays enable high-throughput, high-resolution identification and characterization of linear B cell epitopes. Using exhaustive amino acid substitution analysis of peptides originating from target antigens, these microarrays can be used to address the specificity of polyclonal antibodies raised against such antigens containing hundreds of epitopes. However, the interpretation of the data provided in such large-scale screenings is far from trivial and in most cases it requires advanced computational and statistical skills. Here, we present an online application for automated identification of linear B cell epitopes, allowing the non-expert user to analyse peptide microarray data. The application takes as input quantitative peptide data of fully or partially substituted overlapping peptides from a given antigen sequence and identifies epitope residues (residues that are significantly affected by substitutions) and visualize the selectivity towards each residue by sequence logo plots. Demonstrating utility, the application was used to identify and address the antibody specificity of 18 linear epitope regions in Human Serum Albumin (HSA), using peptide microarray data consisting of fully substituted peptides spanning the entire sequence of HSA and incubated with polyclonal rabbit anti-HSA (and mouse anti-rabbit-Cy3). The application is made available at: www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/ArrayPitope.

  4. ArrayPitope: Automated Analysis of Amino Acid Substitutions for Peptide Microarray-Based Antibody Epitope Mapping

    PubMed Central

    Hansen, Christian Skjødt; Østerbye, Thomas; Marcatili, Paolo; Lund, Ole; Buus, Søren

    2017-01-01

    Identification of epitopes targeted by antibodies (B cell epitopes) is of critical importance for the development of many diagnostic and therapeutic tools. For clinical usage, such epitopes must be extensively characterized in order to validate specificity and to document potential cross-reactivity. B cell epitopes are typically classified as either linear epitopes, i.e. short consecutive segments from the protein sequence or conformational epitopes adapted through native protein folding. Recent advances in high-density peptide microarrays enable high-throughput, high-resolution identification and characterization of linear B cell epitopes. Using exhaustive amino acid substitution analysis of peptides originating from target antigens, these microarrays can be used to address the specificity of polyclonal antibodies raised against such antigens containing hundreds of epitopes. However, the interpretation of the data provided in such large-scale screenings is far from trivial and in most cases it requires advanced computational and statistical skills. Here, we present an online application for automated identification of linear B cell epitopes, allowing the non-expert user to analyse peptide microarray data. The application takes as input quantitative peptide data of fully or partially substituted overlapping peptides from a given antigen sequence and identifies epitope residues (residues that are significantly affected by substitutions) and visualize the selectivity towards each residue by sequence logo plots. Demonstrating utility, the application was used to identify and address the antibody specificity of 18 linear epitope regions in Human Serum Albumin (HSA), using peptide microarray data consisting of fully substituted peptides spanning the entire sequence of HSA and incubated with polyclonal rabbit anti-HSA (and mouse anti-rabbit-Cy3). The application is made available at: www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/ArrayPitope. PMID:28095436

  5. SpliceCenter: A suite of web-based bioinformatic applications for evaluating the impact of alternative splicing on RT-PCR, RNAi, microarray, and peptide-based studies

    PubMed Central

    Ryan, Michael C; Zeeberg, Barry R; Caplen, Natasha J; Cleland, James A; Kahn, Ari B; Liu, Hongfang; Weinstein, John N

    2008-01-01

    Background Over 60% of protein-coding genes in vertebrates express mRNAs that undergo alternative splicing. The resulting collection of transcript isoforms poses significant challenges for contemporary biological assays. For example, RT-PCR validation of gene expression microarray results may be unsuccessful if the two technologies target different splice variants. Effective use of sequence-based technologies requires knowledge of the specific splice variant(s) that are targeted. In addition, the critical roles of alternative splice forms in biological function and in disease suggest that assay results may be more informative if analyzed in the context of the targeted splice variant. Results A number of contemporary technologies are used for analyzing transcripts or proteins. To enable investigation of the impact of splice variation on the interpretation of data derived from those technologies, we have developed SpliceCenter. SpliceCenter is a suite of user-friendly, web-based applications that includes programs for analysis of RT-PCR primer/probe sets, effectors of RNAi, microarrays, and protein-targeting technologies. Both interactive and high-throughput implementations of the tools are provided. The interactive versions of SpliceCenter tools provide visualizations of a gene's alternative transcripts and probe target positions, enabling the user to identify which splice variants are or are not targeted. The high-throughput batch versions accept user query files and provide results in tabular form. When, for example, we used SpliceCenter's batch siRNA-Check to process the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project's large-scale shRNA library, we found that only 59% of the 50,766 shRNAs in the library target all known splice variants of the target gene, 32% target some but not all, and 9% do not target any currently annotated transcript. Conclusion SpliceCenter provides unique, user-friendly applications for assessing the impact of transcript variation on the design and interpretation of RT-PCR, RNAi, gene expression microarrays, antibody-based detection, and mass spectrometry proteomics. The tools are intended for use by bench biologists as well as bioinformaticists. PMID:18638396

  6. Statistical issues in signal extraction from microarrays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bergemann, Tracy; Quiaoit, Filemon; Delrow, Jeffrey J.; Zhao, Lue Ping

    2001-06-01

    Microarray technologies are increasingly used in biomedical research to study genome-wide expression profiles in the post genomic era. Their popularity is largely due to their high throughput and economical affordability. For example, microarrays have been applied to studies of cell cycle, regulatory circuitry, cancer cell lines, tumor tissues, and drug discoveries. One obstacle facing the continued success of applying microarray technologies, however, is the random variaton present on microarrays: within signal spots, between spots and among chips. In addition, signals extracted by available software packages seem to vary significantly. Despite a variety of software packages, it appears that there are two major approaches to signal extraction. One approach is to focus on the identification of signal regions and hence estimation of signal levels above background levels. The other approach is to use the distribution of intensity values as a way of identifying relevant signals. Building upon both approaches, the objective of our work is to develop a method that is statistically rigorous and also efficient and robust. Statistical issues to be considered here include: (1) how to refine grid alignment so that the overall variation is minimized, (2) how to estimate the signal levels relative to the local background levels as well as the variance of this estimate, and (3) how to integrate red and green channel signals so that the ratio of interest is stable, simultaneously relaxing distributional assumptions.

  7. Assessment of a targeted resequencing assay as a support tool in the diagnosis of lysosomal storage disorders

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background With over 50 different disorders and a combined incidence of up to 1/3000 births, lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) constitute a major public health problem and place an enormous burden on affected individuals and their families. Many factors make LSD diagnosis difficult, including phenotype and penetrance variability, shared signs and symptoms, and problems inherent to biochemical diagnosis. Developing a powerful diagnostic tool could mitigate the protracted diagnostic process for these families, lead to better outcomes for current and proposed therapies, and provide the basis for more appropriate genetic counseling. Methods We have designed a targeted resequencing assay for the simultaneous testing of 57 lysosomal genes, using in-solution capture as the enrichment method and two different sequencing platforms. A total of 84 patients with high to moderate-or low suspicion index for LSD were enrolled in different centers in Spain and Portugal, including 18 positive controls. Results We correctly diagnosed 18 positive blinded controls, provided genetic diagnosis to 25 potential LSD patients, and ended with 18 diagnostic odysseys. Conclusion We report the assessment of a next–generation-sequencing-based approach as an accessory tool in the diagnosis of LSDs, a group of disorders which have overlapping clinical profiles and genetic heterogeneity. We have also identified and quantified the strengths and limitations of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology applied to diagnosis. PMID:24767253

  8. Identification of the maize gravitropism gene lazy plant1 by a transposon-tagging genome resequencing strategy.

    PubMed

    Howard, Thomas P; Hayward, Andrew P; Tordillos, Anthony; Fragoso, Christopher; Moreno, Maria A; Tohme, Joe; Kausch, Albert P; Mottinger, John P; Dellaporta, Stephen L

    2014-01-01

    Since their initial discovery, transposons have been widely used as mutagens for forward and reverse genetic screens in a range of organisms. The problems of high copy number and sequence divergence among related transposons have often limited the efficiency at which tagged genes can be identified. A method was developed to identity the locations of Mutator (Mu) transposons in the Zea mays genome using a simple enrichment method combined with genome resequencing to identify transposon junction fragments. The sequencing library was prepared from genomic DNA by digesting with a restriction enzyme that cuts within a perfectly conserved motif of the Mu terminal inverted repeats (TIR). Paired-end reads containing Mu TIR sequences were computationally identified and chromosomal sequences flanking the transposon were mapped to the maize reference genome. This method has been used to identify Mu insertions in a number of alleles and to isolate the previously unidentified lazy plant1 (la1) gene. The la1 gene is required for the negatively gravitropic response of shoots and mutant plants lack the ability to sense gravity. Using bioinformatic and fluorescence microscopy approaches, we show that the la1 gene encodes a cell membrane and nuclear localized protein. Our Mu-Taq method is readily adaptable to identify the genomic locations of any insertion of a known sequence in any organism using any sequencing platform.

  9. Identification of the Maize Gravitropism Gene lazy plant1 by a Transposon-Tagging Genome Resequencing Strategy

    PubMed Central

    Howard, Thomas P.; Hayward, Andrew P.; Tordillos, Anthony; Fragoso, Christopher; Moreno, Maria A.; Tohme, Joe; Kausch, Albert P.; Mottinger, John P.; Dellaporta, Stephen L.

    2014-01-01

    Since their initial discovery, transposons have been widely used as mutagens for forward and reverse genetic screens in a range of organisms. The problems of high copy number and sequence divergence among related transposons have often limited the efficiency at which tagged genes can be identified. A method was developed to identity the locations of Mutator (Mu) transposons in the Zea mays genome using a simple enrichment method combined with genome resequencing to identify transposon junction fragments. The sequencing library was prepared from genomic DNA by digesting with a restriction enzyme that cuts within a perfectly conserved motif of the Mu terminal inverted repeats (TIR). Paired-end reads containing Mu TIR sequences were computationally identified and chromosomal sequences flanking the transposon were mapped to the maize reference genome. This method has been used to identify Mu insertions in a number of alleles and to isolate the previously unidentified lazy plant1 (la1) gene. The la1 gene is required for the negatively gravitropic response of shoots and mutant plants lack the ability to sense gravity. Using bioinformatic and fluorescence microscopy approaches, we show that the la1 gene encodes a cell membrane and nuclear localized protein. Our Mu-Taq method is readily adaptable to identify the genomic locations of any insertion of a known sequence in any organism using any sequencing platform. PMID:24498020

  10. Minfi: a flexible and comprehensive Bioconductor package for the analysis of Infinium DNA methylation microarrays

    PubMed Central

    Aryee, Martin J.; Jaffe, Andrew E.; Corrada-Bravo, Hector; Ladd-Acosta, Christine; Feinberg, Andrew P.; Hansen, Kasper D.; Irizarry, Rafael A.

    2014-01-01

    Motivation: The recently released Infinium HumanMethylation450 array (the ‘450k’ array) provides a high-throughput assay to quantify DNA methylation (DNAm) at ∼450 000 loci across a range of genomic features. Although less comprehensive than high-throughput sequencing-based techniques, this product is more cost-effective and promises to be the most widely used DNAm high-throughput measurement technology over the next several years. Results: Here we describe a suite of computational tools that incorporate state-of-the-art statistical techniques for the analysis of DNAm data. The software is structured to easily adapt to future versions of the technology. We include methods for preprocessing, quality assessment and detection of differentially methylated regions from the kilobase to the megabase scale. We show how our software provides a powerful and flexible development platform for future methods. We also illustrate how our methods empower the technology to make discoveries previously thought to be possible only with sequencing-based methods. Availability and implementation: http://bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/minfi.html. Contact: khansen@jhsph.edu; rafa@jimmy.harvard.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:24478339

  11. BATS: a Bayesian user-friendly software for analyzing time series microarray experiments.

    PubMed

    Angelini, Claudia; Cutillo, Luisa; De Canditiis, Daniela; Mutarelli, Margherita; Pensky, Marianna

    2008-10-06

    Gene expression levels in a given cell can be influenced by different factors, namely pharmacological or medical treatments. The response to a given stimulus is usually different for different genes and may depend on time. One of the goals of modern molecular biology is the high-throughput identification of genes associated with a particular treatment or a biological process of interest. From methodological and computational point of view, analyzing high-dimensional time course microarray data requires very specific set of tools which are usually not included in standard software packages. Recently, the authors of this paper developed a fully Bayesian approach which allows one to identify differentially expressed genes in a 'one-sample' time-course microarray experiment, to rank them and to estimate their expression profiles. The method is based on explicit expressions for calculations and, hence, very computationally efficient. The software package BATS (Bayesian Analysis of Time Series) presented here implements the methodology described above. It allows an user to automatically identify and rank differentially expressed genes and to estimate their expression profiles when at least 5-6 time points are available. The package has a user-friendly interface. BATS successfully manages various technical difficulties which arise in time-course microarray experiments, such as a small number of observations, non-uniform sampling intervals and replicated or missing data. BATS is a free user-friendly software for the analysis of both simulated and real microarray time course experiments. The software, the user manual and a brief illustrative example are freely available online at the BATS website: http://www.na.iac.cnr.it/bats.

  12. Simultaneous and sensitive detection of six serotypes of botulinum neurotoxin using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based protein antibody microarrays

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhang, Yanfeng; Lou, Jianlong; Jenko, Kathryn L.

    2012-11-15

    Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), produced by Clostridium botulinum, are a group of seven (A-G) immunologically distinct proteins and cause the paralytic disease botulism. These toxins are the most poisonous substances known to humans and are potential bioweapon agents. Therefore, it is necessary to develop highly sensitive assays for the detection of BoNTs in both clinical and environmental samples. In the present study, we have developed an ELISA-based protein antibody microarray for the sensitive and simultaneous detection of BoNT serotype A, B, C, D, E and F. With engineered high-affinity antibodies, the assays have sensitivities in buffer of 8 fM (1.2 pg/mL)more » for serotypes A and B, and 32 fM (4.9 pg/mL) for serotypes C, D, E, and F. Using clinical and environmental samples (serum and milk), the microarray is capable of detecting BoNT/A-F to the same levels as in standard buffer. Cross reactivity between assays for individual serotype was also analyzed. These simultaneous, rapid, and sensitive assays have the potential to measure botulinum toxins in a high-throughput manner in complex clinical or environmental samples.« less

  13. Genome-derived vaccines.

    PubMed

    De Groot, Anne S; Rappuoli, Rino

    2004-02-01

    Vaccine research entered a new era when the complete genome of a pathogenic bacterium was published in 1995. Since then, more than 97 bacterial pathogens have been sequenced and at least 110 additional projects are now in progress. Genome sequencing has also dramatically accelerated: high-throughput facilities can draft the sequence of an entire microbe (two to four megabases) in 1 to 2 days. Vaccine developers are using microarrays, immunoinformatics, proteomics and high-throughput immunology assays to reduce the truly unmanageable volume of information available in genome databases to a manageable size. Vaccines composed by novel antigens discovered from genome mining are already in clinical trials. Within 5 years we can expect to see a novel class of vaccines composed by genome-predicted, assembled and engineered T- and Bcell epitopes. This article addresses the convergence of three forces--microbial genome sequencing, computational immunology and new vaccine technologies--that are shifting genome mining for vaccines onto the forefront of immunology research.

  14. Exploring the key genes and pathways in enchondromas using a gene expression microarray.

    PubMed

    Shi, Zhongju; Zhou, Hengxing; Pan, Bin; Lu, Lu; Kang, Yi; Liu, Lu; Wei, Zhijian; Feng, Shiqing

    2017-07-04

    Enchondromas are the most common primary benign osseous neoplasms that occur in the medullary bone; they can undergo malignant transformation into chondrosarcoma. However, enchondromas are always undetected in patients, and the molecular mechanism is unclear. To identify key genes and pathways associated with the occurrence and development of enchondromas, we downloaded the gene expression dataset GSE22855 and obtained the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by analyzing high-throughput gene expression in enchondromas. In total, 635 genes were identified as DEGs. Of these, 225 genes (35.43%) were up-regulated, and the remaining 410 genes (64.57%) were down-regulated. We identified the predominant gene ontology (GO) categories and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways that were significantly over-represented in the enchondromas samples compared with the control samples. Subsequently the top 10 core genes were identified from the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. The enrichment analyses of the genes mainly involved in two significant modules showed that the DEGs were principally related to ribosomes, protein digestion and absorption, ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, amoebiasis and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.Together, these data elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the occurrence and development of enchondromas and provide promising candidates for therapeutic intervention and prognostic evaluation. However, further experimental studies are needed to confirm these results.

  15. A novel dysregulated pathway-identification analysis based on global influence of within-pathway effects and crosstalk between pathways

    PubMed Central

    Han, Junwei; Li, Chunquan; Yang, Haixiu; Xu, Yanjun; Zhang, Chunlong; Ma, Jiquan; Shi, Xinrui; Liu, Wei; Shang, Desi; Yao, Qianlan; Zhang, Yunpeng; Su, Fei; Feng, Li; Li, Xia

    2015-01-01

    Identifying dysregulated pathways from high-throughput experimental data in order to infer underlying biological insights is an important task. Current pathway-identification methods focus on single pathways in isolation; however, consideration of crosstalk between pathways could improve our understanding of alterations in biological states. We propose a novel method of pathway analysis based on global influence (PAGI) to identify dysregulated pathways, by considering both within-pathway effects and crosstalk between pathways. We constructed a global gene–gene network based on the relationships among genes extracted from a pathway database. We then evaluated the extent of differential expression for each gene, and mapped them to the global network. The random walk with restart algorithm was used to calculate the extent of genes affected by global influence. Finally, we used cumulative distribution functions to determine the significance values of the dysregulated pathways. We applied the PAGI method to five cancer microarray datasets, and compared our results with gene set enrichment analysis and five other methods. Based on these analyses, we demonstrated that PAGI can effectively identify dysregulated pathways associated with cancer, with strong reproducibility and robustness. We implemented PAGI using the freely available R-based and Web-based tools (http://bioinfo.hrbmu.edu.cn/PAGI). PMID:25551156

  16. QDMR: a quantitative method for identification of differentially methylated regions by entropy

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Yan; Liu, Hongbo; Lv, Jie; Xiao, Xue; Zhu, Jiang; Liu, Xiaojuan; Su, Jianzhong; Li, Xia; Wu, Qiong; Wang, Fang; Cui, Ying

    2011-01-01

    DNA methylation plays critical roles in transcriptional regulation and chromatin remodeling. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) have important implications for development, aging and diseases. Therefore, genome-wide mapping of DMRs across various temporal and spatial methylomes is important in revealing the impact of epigenetic modifications on heritable phenotypic variation. We present a quantitative approach, quantitative differentially methylated regions (QDMRs), to quantify methylation difference and identify DMRs from genome-wide methylation profiles by adapting Shannon entropy. QDMR was applied to synthetic methylation patterns and methylation profiles detected by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation microarray (MeDIP-chip) in human tissues/cells. This approach can give a reasonable quantitative measure of methylation difference across multiple samples. Then DMR threshold was determined from methylation probability model. Using this threshold, QDMR identified 10 651 tissue DMRs which are related to the genes enriched for cell differentiation, including 4740 DMRs not identified by the method developed by Rakyan et al. QDMR can also measure the sample specificity of each DMR. Finally, the application to methylation profiles detected by reduced representation bisulphite sequencing (RRBS) in mouse showed the platform-free and species-free nature of QDMR. This approach provides an effective tool for the high-throughput identification of potential functional regions involved in epigenetic regulation. PMID:21306990

  17. Transcriptator: An Automated Computational Pipeline to Annotate Assembled Reads and Identify Non Coding RNA.

    PubMed

    Tripathi, Kumar Parijat; Evangelista, Daniela; Zuccaro, Antonio; Guarracino, Mario Rosario

    2015-01-01

    RNA-seq is a new tool to measure RNA transcript counts, using high-throughput sequencing at an extraordinary accuracy. It provides quantitative means to explore the transcriptome of an organism of interest. However, interpreting this extremely large data into biological knowledge is a problem, and biologist-friendly tools are lacking. In our lab, we developed Transcriptator, a web application based on a computational Python pipeline with a user-friendly Java interface. This pipeline uses the web services available for BLAST (Basis Local Search Alignment Tool), QuickGO and DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery) tools. It offers a report on statistical analysis of functional and Gene Ontology (GO) annotation's enrichment. It helps users to identify enriched biological themes, particularly GO terms, pathways, domains, gene/proteins features and protein-protein interactions related informations. It clusters the transcripts based on functional annotations and generates a tabular report for functional and gene ontology annotations for each submitted transcript to the web server. The implementation of QuickGo web-services in our pipeline enable the users to carry out GO-Slim analysis, whereas the integration of PORTRAIT (Prediction of transcriptomic non coding RNA (ncRNA) by ab initio methods) helps to identify the non coding RNAs and their regulatory role in transcriptome. In summary, Transcriptator is a useful software for both NGS and array data. It helps the users to characterize the de-novo assembled reads, obtained from NGS experiments for non-referenced organisms, while it also performs the functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed transcripts/genes for both RNA-seq and micro-array experiments. It generates easy to read tables and interactive charts for better understanding of the data. The pipeline is modular in nature, and provides an opportunity to add new plugins in the future. Web application is freely available at: http://www-labgtp.na.icar.cnr.it/Transcriptator.

  18. Whole Genome Re-Sequencing and Characterization of Powdery Mildew Disease-Associated Allelic Variation in Melon.

    PubMed

    Natarajan, Sathishkumar; Kim, Hoy-Taek; Thamilarasan, Senthil Kumar; Veerappan, Karpagam; Park, Jong-In; Nou, Ill-Sup

    2016-01-01

    Powdery mildew is one of the most common fungal diseases in the world. This disease frequently affects melon (Cucumis melo L.) and other Cucurbitaceous family crops in both open field and greenhouse cultivation. One of the goals of genomics is to identify the polymorphic loci responsible for variation in phenotypic traits. In this study, powdery mildew disease assessment scores were calculated for four melon accessions, 'SCNU1154', 'Edisto47', 'MR-1', and 'PMR5'. To investigate the genetic variation of these accessions, whole genome re-sequencing using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform was performed. A total of 754,759,704 quality-filtered reads were generated, with an average of 82.64% coverage relative to the reference genome. Comparisons of the sequences for the melon accessions revealed around 7.4 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 1.9 million InDels, and 182,398 putative structural variations (SVs). Functional enrichment analysis of detected variations classified them into biological process, cellular component and molecular function categories. Further, a disease-associated QTL map was constructed for 390 SNPs and 45 InDels identified as related to defense-response genes. Among them 112 SNPs and 12 InDels were observed in powdery mildew responsive chromosomes. Accordingly, this whole genome re-sequencing study identified SNPs and InDels associated with defense genes that will serve as candidate polymorphisms in the search for sources of resistance against powdery mildew disease and could accelerate marker-assisted breeding in melon.

  19. Integrating transcriptome and genome re-sequencing data to identify key genes and mutations affecting chicken eggshell qualities.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Quan; Zhu, Feng; Liu, Long; Zheng, Chuan Wei; Wang, De He; Hou, Zhuo Cheng; Ning, Zhong Hua

    2015-01-01

    Eggshell damages lead to economic losses in the egg production industry and are a threat to human health. We examined 49-wk-old Rhode Island White hens (Gallus gallus) that laid eggs having shells with significantly different strengths and thicknesses. We used HiSeq 2000 (Illumina) sequencing to characterize the chicken transcriptome and whole genome to identify the key genes and genetic mutations associated with eggshell calcification. We identified a total of 14,234 genes expressed in the chicken uterus, representing 89% of all annotated chicken genes. A total of 889 differentially expressed genes were identified by comparing low eggshell strength (LES) and normal eggshell strength (NES) genomes. The DEGs are enriched in calcification-related processes, including calcium ion transport and calcium signaling pathways as revealed by gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Some important matrix proteins, such as OC-116, LTF and SPP1, were also expressed differentially between two groups. A total of 3,671,919 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 508,035 Indels were detected in protein coding genes by whole-genome re-sequencing, including 1775 non-synonymous variations and 19 frame-shift Indels in DEGs. SNPs and Indels found in this study could be further investigated for eggshell traits. This is the first report to integrate the transcriptome and genome re-sequencing to target the genetic variations which decreased the eggshell qualities. These findings further advance our understanding of eggshell calcification in the chicken uterus.

  20. Consensus strategy in genes prioritization and combined bioinformatics analysis for preeclampsia pathogenesis.

    PubMed

    Tejera, Eduardo; Cruz-Monteagudo, Maykel; Burgos, Germán; Sánchez, María-Eugenia; Sánchez-Rodríguez, Aminael; Pérez-Castillo, Yunierkis; Borges, Fernanda; Cordeiro, Maria Natália Dias Soeiro; Paz-Y-Miño, César; Rebelo, Irene

    2017-08-08

    Preeclampsia is a multifactorial disease with unknown pathogenesis. Even when recent studies explored this disease using several bioinformatics tools, the main objective was not directed to pathogenesis. Additionally, consensus prioritization was proved to be highly efficient in the recognition of genes-disease association. However, not information is available about the consensus ability to early recognize genes directly involved in pathogenesis. Therefore our aim in this study is to apply several theoretical approaches to explore preeclampsia; specifically those genes directly involved in the pathogenesis. We firstly evaluated the consensus between 12 prioritization strategies to early recognize pathogenic genes related to preeclampsia. A communality analysis in the protein-protein interaction network of previously selected genes was done including further enrichment analysis. The enrichment analysis includes metabolic pathways as well as gene ontology. Microarray data was also collected and used in order to confirm our results or as a strategy to weight the previously enriched pathways. The consensus prioritized gene list was rationally filtered to 476 genes using several criteria. The communality analysis showed an enrichment of communities connected with VEGF-signaling pathway. This pathway is also enriched considering the microarray data. Our result point to VEGF, FLT1 and KDR as relevant pathogenic genes, as well as those connected with NO metabolism. Our results revealed that consensus strategy improve the detection and initial enrichment of pathogenic genes, at least in preeclampsia condition. Moreover the combination of the first percent of the prioritized genes with protein-protein interaction network followed by communality analysis reduces the gene space. This approach actually identifies well known genes related with pathogenesis. However, genes like HSP90, PAK2, CD247 and others included in the first 1% of the prioritized list need to be further explored in preeclampsia pathogenesis through experimental approaches.

  1. Methods to Assess the Direct Interaction of C. jejuni with Mucins.

    PubMed

    Clyne, Marguerite; Duggan, Gina; Naughton, Julie; Bourke, Billy

    2017-01-01

    Studies of the interaction of bacteria with mucus-secreting cells can be complemented at a more mechanistic level by exploring the interaction of bacteria with purified mucins. Here we describe a far Western blotting approach to show how C. jejuni proteins separated by SDS PAGE and transferred to a membrane or slot blotted directly onto a membrane can be probed using biotinylated mucin. In addition we describe the use of novel mucin microarrays to assess bacterial interactions with mucins in a high-throughput manner.

  2. Gene-Expression Biomarkers for Application to High-Throughput Radiation Biodosimetry

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-01-01

    nuclear disaster . Even with the delayed onset of symptoms, sometimes several days after exposure, gene-expression biomarkers can identify these exposed individuals very early after exposure, allowing for prompt medical intervention. This early assessment of a radiation dose after exposure would enhance the operational commander’s situational awareness of the radiation exposure status of deployed units and increase the prospect of reduced morbidity and mortality through early medical intervention. Candidate gene targets were selected from microarray studies of ex

  3. Transcriptome complexity in cardiac development and diseases--an expanding universe between genome and phenome.

    PubMed

    Gao, Chen; Wang, Yibin

    2014-01-01

    With the advancement of transcriptome profiling by micro-arrays and high-throughput RNA-sequencing, transcriptome complexity and its dynamics are revealed at different levels in cardiovascular development and diseases. In this review, we will highlight the recent progress in our knowledge of cardiovascular transcriptome complexity contributed by RNA splicing, RNA editing and noncoding RNAs. The emerging importance of many of these previously under-explored aspects of gene regulation in cardiovascular development and pathology will be discussed.

  4. Investigating Steroid Receptor Coactivator 3 (SRC3) as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Treating Advanced Prostate Cancer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-04-01

    to be a target of CHIP and knockdown of SRC-3 reduces Smad and Twist expression [81]. In human hepatocellular carcinoma , Hepatitis B virus X protein...stabilizes AIB1 protein and cooperates with it to promote human hepatocellular carcinoma cell invasiveness. Hepatology 2012. [Epub ahead of print] 83...amplification in hepatocellular carcinoma . A broad survey using high-throughput tissue microarray. Cancer 2002;95(11):2346-52 104. Xu Y, Chen Q, Li W, et al

  5. Bioinformatics/biostatistics: microarray analysis.

    PubMed

    Eichler, Gabriel S

    2012-01-01

    The quantity and complexity of the molecular-level data generated in both research and clinical settings require the use of sophisticated, powerful computational interpretation techniques. It is for this reason that bioinformatic analysis of complex molecular profiling data has become a fundamental technology in the development of personalized medicine. This chapter provides a high-level overview of the field of bioinformatics and outlines several, classic bioinformatic approaches. The highlighted approaches can be aptly applied to nearly any sort of high-dimensional genomic, proteomic, or metabolomic experiments. Reviewed technologies in this chapter include traditional clustering analysis, the Gene Expression Dynamics Inspector (GEDI), GoMiner (GoMiner), Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), and the Learner of Functional Enrichment (LeFE).

  6. Genome-wide polymorphisms and development of a microarray platform to detect genetic variations in Plasmodium yoelii.

    PubMed

    Nair, Sethu C; Pattaradilokrat, Sittiporn; Zilversmit, Martine M; Dommer, Jennifer; Nagarajan, Vijayaraj; Stephens, Melissa T; Xiao, Wenming; Tan, John C; Su, Xin-Zhuan

    2014-01-01

    The rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium yoelii is an important model for studying malaria immunity and pathogenesis. One approach for studying malaria disease phenotypes is genetic mapping, which requires typing a large number of genetic markers from multiple parasite strains and/or progeny from genetic crosses. Hundreds of microsatellite (MS) markers have been developed to genotype the P. yoelii genome; however, typing a large number of MS markers can be labor intensive, time consuming, and expensive. Thus, development of high-throughput genotyping tools such as DNA microarrays that enable rapid and accurate large-scale genotyping of the malaria parasite will be highly desirable. In this study, we sequenced the genomes of two P. yoelii strains (33X and N67) and obtained a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Based on the SNPs obtained, we designed sets of oligonucleotide probes to develop a microarray that could interrogate ∼11,000 SNPs across the 14 chromosomes of the parasite in a single hybridization. Results from hybridizations of DNA samples of five P. yoelii strains or cloned lines (17XNL, YM, 33X, N67 and N67C) and two progeny from a genetic cross (N67×17XNL) to the microarray showed that the array had a high call rate (∼97%) and accuracy (99.9%) in calling SNPs, providing a simple and reliable tool for typing the P. yoelii genome. Our data show that the P. yoelii genome is highly polymorphic, although isogenic pairs of parasites were also detected. Additionally, our results indicate that the 33X parasite is a progeny of 17XNL (or YM) and an unknown parasite. The highly accurate and reliable microarray developed in this study will greatly facilitate our ability to study the genetic basis of important traits and the disease it causes. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  7. Circular RNA Expression Profile of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Revealed by Microarray.

    PubMed

    Li, Haimin; Hao, Xiaokun; Wang, Huimin; Liu, Zhengcai; He, Yong; Pu, Meng; Zhang, Hongtao; Yu, Hengchao; Duan, Juanli; Qu, Shibin

    2016-01-01

    Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a special novel type of a stable, diverse and conserved noncoding RNA in mammalian cells. Particularly in cancer, circRNAs have been reported to be widely involved in the physiological/pathological process of life. However, it is unclear whether circRNAs are specifically involved in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We investigated the expression profile of circRNAs in six PDAC cancer samples and paired adjacent normal tissues using microarray. A high-throughput circRNA microarray was used to identify dysregulated circular RNAs in six PDAC patients. Bioinformatic analyses were applied to study these differentially expressed circRNAs. Furthermore, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to confirm these results. We revealed and confirmed that a number of circRNAs were dysregulated, which suggests a potential role in pancreatic cancer. this study demonstrates that clusters of circRNAs are aberrantly expressed in PDAC compared with normal samples and provides new potential targets for the future treatment of PDAC and novel insights into PDAC biology. © 2016 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

  8. Preliminary report for analysis of genome wide mutations from four ciprofloxacin resistant B. anthracis Sterne isolates generated by Illumina, 454 sequencing and microarrays for DHS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jaing, Crystal; Vergez, Lisa; Hinckley, Aubree

    2011-06-21

    The objective of this project is to provide DHS a comprehensive evaluation of the current genomic technologies including genotyping, Taqman PCR, multiple locus variable tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), microarray and high-throughput DNA sequencing in the analysis of biothreat agents from complex environmental samples. As the result of a different DHS project, we have selected for and isolated a large number of ciprofloxacin resistant B. anthracis Sterne isolates. These isolates vary in the concentrations of ciprofloxacin that they can tolerate, suggesting multiple mutations in the samples. In collaboration with University of Houston, Eureka Genomics and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we analyzedmore » the ciprofloxacin resistant B. anthracis Sterne isolates by microarray hybridization, Illumina and Roche 454 sequencing to understand the error rates and sensitivity of the different methods. The report provides an assessment of the results and a complete set of all protocols used and all data generated along with information to interpret the protocols and data sets.« less

  9. Peptidoglycan microarray as a novel tool to explore protein-ligand recognition.

    PubMed

    Wang, Ning; Hirata, Akiyoshi; Nokihara, Kiyoshi; Fukase, Koichi; Fujimoto, Yukari

    2016-11-04

    Peptidoglycan is a giant bag-shaped molecule essential for bacterial cell shape and resistance to osmotic stresses. The activity of a large number of bacterial surface proteins involved in cell growth and division requires binding to this macromolecule. Recognition of peptidoglycan by immune effectors is also crucial for the establishment of the immune response against pathogens. The availability of pure and chemically defined peptidoglycan fragments is a major technical bottleneck that has precluded systematic studies of the mechanisms underpinning protein-mediated peptidoglycan recognition. Here, we report a microarray strategy suitable to carry out comprehensive studies to characterize proteins-peptidoglycan interactions. We describe a method to introduce a functional group on peptidoglycan fragments allowing their stable immobilization on amorphous carbon chip plates to minimize nonspecific binding. Such peptidoglycan microarrays were used with a model peptidoglycan binding protein-the human peptidoglycan recognition protein-S (hPGRP-S). We propose that this strategy could be implemented to carry out high-throughput analyses to study peptidoglycan binding proteins. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 106: 422-429, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. GWASeq: targeted re-sequencing follow up to GWAS.

    PubMed

    Salomon, Matthew P; Li, Wai Lok Sibon; Edlund, Christopher K; Morrison, John; Fortini, Barbara K; Win, Aung Ko; Conti, David V; Thomas, Duncan C; Duggan, David; Buchanan, Daniel D; Jenkins, Mark A; Hopper, John L; Gallinger, Steven; Le Marchand, Loïc; Newcomb, Polly A; Casey, Graham; Marjoram, Paul

    2016-03-03

    For the last decade the conceptual framework of the Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) has dominated the investigation of human disease and other complex traits. While GWAS have been successful in identifying a large number of variants associated with various phenotypes, the overall amount of heritability explained by these variants remains small. This raises the question of how best to follow up on a GWAS, localize causal variants accounting for GWAS hits, and as a consequence explain more of the so-called "missing" heritability. Advances in high throughput sequencing technologies now allow for the efficient and cost-effective collection of vast amounts of fine-scale genomic data to complement GWAS. We investigate these issues using a colon cancer dataset. After QC, our data consisted of 1993 cases, 899 controls. Using marginal tests of associations, we identify 10 variants distributed among six targeted regions that are significantly associated with colorectal cancer, with eight of the variants being novel to this study. Additionally, we perform so-called 'SNP-set' tests of association and identify two sets of variants that implicate both common and rare variants in the etiology of colorectal cancer. Here we present a large-scale targeted re-sequencing resource focusing on genomic regions implicated in colorectal cancer susceptibility previously identified in several GWAS, which aims to 1) provide fine-scale targeted sequencing data for fine-mapping and 2) provide data resources to address methodological questions regarding the design of sequencing-based follow-up studies to GWAS. Additionally, we show that this strategy successfully identifies novel variants associated with colorectal cancer susceptibility and can implicate both common and rare variants.

  11. Photocleavage-based affinity purification of biomarkers from serum: Application to multiplex allergy testing.

    PubMed

    Wan, Zhi; Ostendorff, Heather P; Liu, Ziying; Schneider, Lynda C; Rothschild, Kenneth J; Lim, Mark J

    2018-01-01

    Multiplex serological immunoassays, such as implemented on microarray or microsphere-based platforms, provide greater information content and higher throughput, while lowering the cost and blood volume required. These features are particularly attractive in pediatric food allergy testing to facilitate high throughput multi-allergen analysis from finger- or heel-stick collected blood. However, the miniaturization and microfluidics necessary for creating multiplex assays make them highly susceptible to the "matrix effect" caused by interference from non-target agents in serum and other biofluids. Such interference can result in lower sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility and quantitative accuracy. These problems have in large part prevented wide-spread implementation of multiplex immunoassays in clinical laboratories. We report the development of a novel method to eliminate the matrix effect by utilizing photocleavable capture antibodies to purify and concentrate blood-based biomarkers (a process termed PC-PURE) prior to detection in a multiplex immunoassay. To evaluate this approach, it was applied to blood-based allergy testing. Patient total IgE was purified and enriched using PC-PURE followed by multiplex microsphere-based detection of allergen-specific IgEs (termed the AllerBead assay). AllerBead was formatted to detect the eight most common pediatric food allergens: milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fin fish and shellfish, which account for >90% of all pediatric food allergies. 205 serum samples obtained from Boston Children's Hospital were evaluated. When PC-PURE was employed with AllerBead, excellent agreement was obtained with the standard, non-multiplex, ImmunoCAP® assay (average sensitivity above published negative predictive cutoffs = 96% and average Pearson r = 0.90; average specificity = 97%). In contrast, poor ImmunoCAP®-correlation was observed when PC-PURE was not utilized (average sensitivity above published negative predictive cutoffs = 59% and average Pearson r = 0.61; average specificity = 97%). This approach should be adaptable to improve a wide range of multiplex immunoassays such as in cancer, infectious disease and autoimmune disease.

  12. Photocleavage-based affinity purification of biomarkers from serum: Application to multiplex allergy testing

    PubMed Central

    Wan, Zhi; Ostendorff, Heather P.; Liu, Ziying; Schneider, Lynda C.; Rothschild, Kenneth J.

    2018-01-01

    Multiplex serological immunoassays, such as implemented on microarray or microsphere-based platforms, provide greater information content and higher throughput, while lowering the cost and blood volume required. These features are particularly attractive in pediatric food allergy testing to facilitate high throughput multi-allergen analysis from finger- or heel-stick collected blood. However, the miniaturization and microfluidics necessary for creating multiplex assays make them highly susceptible to the “matrix effect” caused by interference from non-target agents in serum and other biofluids. Such interference can result in lower sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility and quantitative accuracy. These problems have in large part prevented wide-spread implementation of multiplex immunoassays in clinical laboratories. We report the development of a novel method to eliminate the matrix effect by utilizing photocleavable capture antibodies to purify and concentrate blood-based biomarkers (a process termed PC-PURE) prior to detection in a multiplex immunoassay. To evaluate this approach, it was applied to blood-based allergy testing. Patient total IgE was purified and enriched using PC-PURE followed by multiplex microsphere-based detection of allergen-specific IgEs (termed the AllerBead assay). AllerBead was formatted to detect the eight most common pediatric food allergens: milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fin fish and shellfish, which account for >90% of all pediatric food allergies. 205 serum samples obtained from Boston Children’s Hospital were evaluated. When PC-PURE was employed with AllerBead, excellent agreement was obtained with the standard, non-multiplex, ImmunoCAP® assay (average sensitivity above published negative predictive cutoffs = 96% and average Pearson r = 0.90; average specificity = 97%). In contrast, poor ImmunoCAP®-correlation was observed when PC-PURE was not utilized (average sensitivity above published negative predictive cutoffs = 59% and average Pearson r = 0.61; average specificity = 97%). This approach should be adaptable to improve a wide range of multiplex immunoassays such as in cancer, infectious disease and autoimmune disease. PMID:29389948

  13. Preparation of on-plate immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography platform via dopamine chemistry for highly selective isolation of phosphopeptides with matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry analysis.

    PubMed

    Shi, Chenyi; Lin, Qinrui; Deng, Chunhui

    2015-04-01

    In this study, a novel on-plate IMAC technique was developed for highly selective enrichment and isolation of phosphopeptides with high-throughput MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. At first, a MALDI plate was coated with polydopamine (PDA), and then Ti(4+) was immobilized on the PDA-coated plate. The obtained IMAC plate was successfully applied to the highly selective enrichment and isolation of phosphopeptides in protein digests and human serum. Because of no loss of samples, the on-plate IMAC platform exhibits excellent selectivity and sensitivity in the selective enrichment and isolation of phosphopeptides, which provides a potential technique for high selectivity in the detection of low-abundance phosphopeptides in biological samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Magnetite-doped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for phosphopeptide enrichment.

    PubMed

    Sandison, Mairi E; Jensen, K Tveen; Gesellchen, F; Cooper, J M; Pitt, A R

    2014-10-07

    Reversible phosphorylation plays a key role in numerous biological processes. Mass spectrometry-based approaches are commonly used to analyze protein phosphorylation, but such analysis is challenging, largely due to the low phosphorylation stoichiometry. Hence, a number of phosphopeptide enrichment strategies have been developed, including metal oxide affinity chromatography (MOAC). Here, we describe a new material for performing MOAC that employs a magnetite-doped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), that is suitable for the creation of microwell array and microfluidic systems to enable low volume, high throughput analysis. Incubation time and sample loading were explored and optimized and demonstrate that the embedded magnetite is able to enrich phosphopeptides. This substrate-based approach is rapid, straightforward and suitable for simultaneously performing multiple, low volume enrichments.

  15. Identification, Replication, and Functional Fine-Mapping of Expression Quantitative Trait Loci in Primary Human Liver Tissue

    PubMed Central

    Stanaway, Ian B.; Gamazon, Eric R.; Smith, Joshua D.; Mirkov, Snezana; Ramirez, Jacqueline; Liu, Wanqing; Lin, Yvonne S.; Moloney, Cliona; Aldred, Shelly Force; Trinklein, Nathan D.; Schuetz, Erin; Nickerson, Deborah A.; Thummel, Ken E.; Rieder, Mark J.; Rettie, Allan E.; Ratain, Mark J.; Cox, Nancy J.; Brown, Christopher D.

    2011-01-01

    The discovery of expression quantitative trait loci (“eQTLs”) can help to unravel genetic contributions to complex traits. We identified genetic determinants of human liver gene expression variation using two independent collections of primary tissue profiled with Agilent (n = 206) and Illumina (n = 60) expression arrays and Illumina SNP genotyping (550K), and we also incorporated data from a published study (n = 266). We found that ∼30% of SNP-expression correlations in one study failed to replicate in either of the others, even at thresholds yielding high reproducibility in simulations, and we quantified numerous factors affecting reproducibility. Our data suggest that drug exposure, clinical descriptors, and unknown factors associated with tissue ascertainment and analysis have substantial effects on gene expression and that controlling for hidden confounding variables significantly increases replication rate. Furthermore, we found that reproducible eQTL SNPs were heavily enriched near gene starts and ends, and subsequently resequenced the promoters and 3′UTRs for 14 genes and tested the identified haplotypes using luciferase assays. For three genes, significant haplotype-specific in vitro functional differences correlated directly with expression levels, suggesting that many bona fide eQTLs result from functional variants that can be mechanistically isolated in a high-throughput fashion. Finally, given our study design, we were able to discover and validate hundreds of liver eQTLs. Many of these relate directly to complex traits for which liver-specific analyses are likely to be relevant, and we identified dozens of potential connections with disease-associated loci. These included previously characterized eQTL contributors to diabetes, drug response, and lipid levels, and they suggest novel candidates such as a role for NOD2 expression in leprosy risk and C2orf43 in prostate cancer. In general, the work presented here will be valuable for future efforts to precisely identify and functionally characterize genetic contributions to a variety of complex traits. PMID:21637794

  16. Tumor immunology.

    PubMed

    Mocellin, Simone; Lise, Mario; Nitti, Donato

    2007-01-01

    Advances in tumor immunology are supporting the clinical implementation of several immunological approaches to cancer in the clinical setting. However, the alternate success of current immunotherapeutic regimens underscores the fact that the molecular mechanisms underlying immune-mediated tumor rejection are still poorly understood. Given the complexity of the immune system network and the multidimensionality of tumor/host interactions, the comprehension of tumor immunology might greatly benefit from high-throughput microarray analysis, which can portrait the molecular kinetics of immune response on a genome-wide scale, thus accelerating the discovery pace and ultimately catalyzing the development of new hypotheses in cell biology. Although in its infancy, the implementation of microarray technology in tumor immunology studies has already provided investigators with novel data and intriguing new hypotheses on the molecular cascade leading to an effective immune response against cancer. Although the general principles of microarray-based gene profiling have rapidly spread in the scientific community, the need for mastering this technique to produce meaningful data and correctly interpret the enormous output of information generated by this technology is critical and represents a tremendous challenge for investigators, as outlined in the first section of this book. In the present Chapter, we report on some of the most significant results obtained with the application of DNA microarray in this oncology field.

  17. High-throughput profiling of antibiotic resistance genes in drinking water treatment plants and distribution systems.

    PubMed

    Xu, Like; Ouyang, Weiying; Qian, Yanyun; Su, Chao; Su, Jianqiang; Chen, Hong

    2016-06-01

    Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are present in surface water and often cannot be completely eliminated by drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). Improper elimination of the ARG-harboring microorganisms contaminates the water supply and would lead to animal and human disease. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to determine the most effective ways by which DWTPs can eliminate ARGs. Here, we tested water samples from two DWTPs and distribution systems and detected the presence of 285 ARGs, 8 transposases, and intI-1 by utilizing high-throughput qPCR. The prevalence of ARGs differed in the two DWTPs, one of which employed conventional water treatments while the other had advanced treatment processes. The relative abundance of ARGs increased significantly after the treatment with biological activated carbon (BAC), raising the number of detected ARGs from 76 to 150. Furthermore, the final chlorination step enhanced the relative abundance of ARGs in the finished water generated from both DWTPs. The total enrichment of ARGs varied from 6.4-to 109.2-fold in tap water compared to finished water, among which beta-lactam resistance genes displayed the highest enrichment. Six transposase genes were detected in tap water samples, with the transposase gene TnpA-04 showing the greatest enrichment (up to 124.9-fold). We observed significant positive correlations between ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) during the distribution systems, indicating that transposases and intI-1 may contribute to antibiotic resistance in drinking water. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the diversity and abundance of ARGs in drinking water treatment systems utilizing high-throughput qPCR techniques in China. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. High-Throughput, Motility-Based Sorter for Microswimmers such as C. elegans

    PubMed Central

    Yuan, Jinzhou; Zhou, Jessie; Raizen, David M.; Bau, Haim H.

    2015-01-01

    Animal motility varies with genotype, disease, aging, and environmental conditions. In many studies, it is desirable to carry out high throughput motility-based sorting to isolate rare animals for, among other things, forward genetic screens to identify genetic pathways that regulate phenotypes of interest. Many commonly used screening processes are labor-intensive, lack sensitivity, and require extensive investigator training. Here, we describe a sensitive, high throughput, automated, motility-based method for sorting nematodes. Our method is implemented in a simple microfluidic device capable of sorting thousands of animals per hour per module, and is amenable to parallelism. The device successfully enriches for known C. elegans motility mutants. Furthermore, using this device, we isolate low-abundance mutants capable of suppressing the somnogenic effects of the flp-13 gene, which regulates C. elegans sleep. By performing genetic complementation tests, we demonstrate that our motility-based sorting device efficiently isolates mutants for the same gene identified by tedious visual inspection of behavior on an agar surface. Therefore, our motility-based sorter is capable of performing high throughput gene discovery approaches to investigate fundamental biological processes. PMID:26008643

  19. Genome-wide patterns of recombination, linkage disequilibrium and nucleotide diversity from pooled resequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping unlock the evolutionary history of Eucalyptus grandis.

    PubMed

    Silva-Junior, Orzenil B; Grattapaglia, Dario

    2015-11-01

    We used high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data and whole-genome pooled resequencing to examine the landscape of population recombination (ρ) and nucleotide diversity (ϴw ), assess the extent of linkage disequilibrium (r(2) ) and build the highest density linkage maps for Eucalyptus. At the genome-wide level, linkage disequilibrium (LD) decayed within c. 4-6 kb, slower than previously reported from candidate gene studies, but showing considerable variation from absence to complete LD up to 50 kb. A sharp decrease in the estimate of ρ was seen when going from short to genome-wide inter-SNP distances, highlighting the dependence of this parameter on the scale of observation adopted. Recombination was correlated with nucleotide diversity, gene density and distance from the centromere, with hotspots of recombination enriched for genes involved in chemical reactions and pathways of the normal metabolic processes. The high nucleotide diversity (ϴw = 0.022) of E. grandis revealed that mutation is more important than recombination in shaping its genomic diversity (ρ/ϴw = 0.645). Chromosome-wide ancestral recombination graphs allowed us to date the split of E. grandis (1.7-4.8 million yr ago) and identify a scenario for the recent demographic history of the species. Our results have considerable practical importance to Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS), while indicating bright prospects for genomic prediction of complex phenotypes in eucalypt breeding. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

  20. Natural and Unanticipated Modifiers of RNAi Activity in Caenorhabditis elegans

    PubMed Central

    Asad, Nadeem; Aw, Wen Yih; Timmons, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    Organisms used as model genomics systems are maintained as isogenic strains, yet evidence of sequence differences between independently maintained wild-type stocks has been substantiated by whole-genome resequencing data and strain-specific phenotypes. Sequence differences may arise from replication errors, transposon mobilization, meiotic gene conversion, or environmental or chemical assault on the genome. Low frequency alleles or mutations with modest effects on phenotypes can contribute to natural variation, and it has proven possible for such sequences to become fixed by adapted evolutionary enrichment and identified by resequencing. Our objective was to identify and analyze single locus genetic defects leading to RNAi resistance in isogenic strains of Caenorhabditis elegans. In so doing, we uncovered a mutation that arose de novo in an existing strain, which initially frustrated our phenotypic analysis. We also report experimental, environmental, and genetic conditions that can complicate phenotypic analysis of RNAi pathway defects. These observations highlight the potential for unanticipated mutations, coupled with genetic and environmental phenomena, to enhance or suppress the effects of known mutations and cause variation between wild-type strains. PMID:23209671

  1. HybPiper: Extracting coding sequence and introns for phylogenetics from high-throughput sequencing reads using target enrichment1

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Matthew G.; Gardner, Elliot M.; Liu, Yang; Medina, Rafael; Goffinet, Bernard; Shaw, A. Jonathan; Zerega, Nyree J. C.; Wickett, Norman J.

    2016-01-01

    Premise of the study: Using sequence data generated via target enrichment for phylogenetics requires reassembly of high-throughput sequence reads into loci, presenting a number of bioinformatics challenges. We developed HybPiper as a user-friendly platform for assembly of gene regions, extraction of exon and intron sequences, and identification of paralogous gene copies. We test HybPiper using baits designed to target 333 phylogenetic markers and 125 genes of functional significance in Artocarpus (Moraceae). Methods and Results: HybPiper implements parallel execution of sequence assembly in three phases: read mapping, contig assembly, and target sequence extraction. The pipeline was able to recover nearly complete gene sequences for all genes in 22 species of Artocarpus. HybPiper also recovered more than 500 bp of nontargeted intron sequence in over half of the phylogenetic markers and identified paralogous gene copies in Artocarpus. Conclusions: HybPiper was designed for Linux and Mac OS X and is freely available at https://github.com/mossmatters/HybPiper. PMID:27437175

  2. Isolation and mutational analysis of circulating tumor cells from lung cancer patients with magnetic sifters and biochips†

    PubMed Central

    Earhart, Christopher M.; Hughes, Casey E.; Gaster, Richard S.; Ooi, Chin Chun; Wilson, Robert J.; Zhou, Lisa Y.; Humke, Eric W.; Xu, Lingyun; Wong, Dawson J.; Willingham, Stephen B.; Schwartz, Erich J.; Weissman, Irving L.; Jeffrey, Stefanie S.; Neal, Joel W.; Rohatgi, Rajat; Wakelee, Heather A.; Wang, Shan X.

    2014-01-01

    Detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may reveal insights into the diagnosis and treatment of malignant disease. Technologies for isolating CTCs developed thus far suffer from one or more limitations, such as low throughput, inability to release captured cells, and reliance on expensive instrumentation for enrichment or subsequent characterization. We report a continuing development of a magnetic separation device, the magnetic sifter, which is a miniature microfluidic chip with a dense array of magnetic pores. It offers high efficiency capture of tumor cells, labeled with magnetic nanoparticles, from whole blood with high throughput and efficient release of captured cells. For subsequent characterization of CTCs, an assay, using a protein chip with giant magnetoresistive nanosensors, has been implemented for mutational analysis of CTCs enriched with the magnetic sifter. The use of these magnetic technologies, which are separate devices, may lead the way to routine preparation and characterization of “liquid biopsies” from cancer patients. PMID:23969419

  3. HOXB2, an adverse prognostic indicator for stage I lung adenocarcinomas, promotes invasion by transcriptional regulation of metastasis-related genes in HOP-62 non-small cell lung cancer cells.

    PubMed

    Inamura, Kentaro; Togashi, Yuki; Ninomiya, Hironori; Shimoji, Takashi; Noda, Tetsuo; Ishikawa, Yuichi

    2008-01-01

    Previously, using microarray and real-time RT-PCR analysis, we established that HOXB2 is an adverse prognostic indicator for Stage I lung adenocarcinomas. HOXB2 is one of the homeobox master development-controlling genes regulating morphogenesis and cell differentiation. The molecular functions of HOXB2 were analyzed with a small interfering RNA (siRNA) approach in HOP-62 human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells featuring high HOXB2 expression. Matrigel invasion assays and microarray gene expression analysis were compared between the HOXB2-siRNA cells and the control cells. The Matrigel invasion assays showed attenuation of HOXB2 expression by siRNA to result in a significant decrease of invasiveness compared to the control cells (p = 0.0013, paired t-test). On microarray gene expression analysis, up-regulation of many metastasis-related genes and others correlating with HOXB2 expression was observed in the control case. With attenuation of HOXB2 expression, downregulation was noted for laminins alpha 4 and 5, involved in enriched signaling, and for Mac-2BP (Mac-2 binding protein) and integrin beta 4 amongst the genes having an enriched glycoprotein ontology. HOXB2 promotes invasion of lung cancer cells through the regulation of metastasis-related genes.

  4. AmpliVar: mutation detection in high-throughput sequence from amplicon-based libraries.

    PubMed

    Hsu, Arthur L; Kondrashova, Olga; Lunke, Sebastian; Love, Clare J; Meldrum, Cliff; Marquis-Nicholson, Renate; Corboy, Greg; Pham, Kym; Wakefield, Matthew; Waring, Paul M; Taylor, Graham R

    2015-04-01

    Conventional means of identifying variants in high-throughput sequencing align each read against a reference sequence, and then call variants at each position. Here, we demonstrate an orthogonal means of identifying sequence variation by grouping the reads as amplicons prior to any alignment. We used AmpliVar to make key-value hashes of sequence reads and group reads as individual amplicons using a table of flanking sequences. Low-abundance reads were removed according to a selectable threshold, and reads above this threshold were aligned as groups, rather than as individual reads, permitting the use of sensitive alignment tools. We show that this approach is more sensitive, more specific, and more computationally efficient than comparable methods for the analysis of amplicon-based high-throughput sequencing data. The method can be extended to enable alignment-free confirmation of variants seen in hybridization capture target-enrichment data. © 2015 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

  5. Raman-Activated Droplet Sorting (RADS) for Label-Free High-Throughput Screening of Microalgal Single-Cells.

    PubMed

    Wang, Xixian; Ren, Lihui; Su, Yetian; Ji, Yuetong; Liu, Yaoping; Li, Chunyu; Li, Xunrong; Zhang, Yi; Wang, Wei; Hu, Qiang; Han, Danxiang; Xu, Jian; Ma, Bo

    2017-11-21

    Raman-activated cell sorting (RACS) has attracted increasing interest, yet throughput remains one major factor limiting its broader application. Here we present an integrated Raman-activated droplet sorting (RADS) microfluidic system for functional screening of live cells in a label-free and high-throughput manner, by employing AXT-synthetic industrial microalga Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis) as a model. Raman microspectroscopy analysis of individual cells is carried out prior to their microdroplet encapsulation, which is then directly coupled to DEP-based droplet sorting. To validate the system, H. pluvialis cells containing different levels of AXT were mixed and underwent RADS. Those AXT-hyperproducing cells were sorted with an accuracy of 98.3%, an enrichment ratio of eight folds, and a throughput of ∼260 cells/min. Of the RADS-sorted cells, 92.7% remained alive and able to proliferate, which is equivalent to the unsorted cells. Thus, the RADS achieves a much higher throughput than existing RACS systems, preserves the vitality of cells, and facilitates seamless coupling with downstream manipulations such as single-cell sequencing and cultivation.

  6. Microarray-Based Analysis of Methylation of 1st Trimester Trisomic Placentas from Down Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome and Patau Syndrome.

    PubMed

    Hatt, Lotte; Aagaard, Mads M; Bach, Cathrine; Graakjaer, Jesper; Sommer, Steffen; Agerholm, Inge E; Kølvraa, Steen; Bojesen, Anders

    2016-01-01

    Methylation-based non-invasive prenatal testing of fetal aneuploidies is an alternative method that could possibly improve fetal aneuploidy diagnosis, especially for trisomy 13(T13) and trisomy 18(T18). Our aim was to study the methylation landscape in placenta DNA from trisomy 13, 18 and 21 pregnancies in an attempt to find trisomy-specific methylation differences better suited for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. We have conducted high-resolution methylation specific bead chip microarray analyses assessing more than 450,000 CpGs analyzing placentas from 12 T21 pregnancies, 12 T18 pregnancies and 6 T13 pregnancies. We have compared the methylation landscape of the trisomic placentas to the methylation landscape from normal placental DNA and to maternal blood cell DNA. Comparing trisomic placentas to normal placentas we identified 217 and 219 differentially methylated CpGs for CVS T18 and CVS T13, respectively (delta β>0.2, FDR<0.05), but only three differentially methylated CpGs for T21. However, the methylation differences was only modest (delta β<0.4), making them less suitable as diagnostic markers. Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that the gene set connected to theT18 differentially methylated CpGs was highly enriched for GO terms related to"DNA binding" and "transcription factor binding" coupled to the RNA polymerase II transcription. In the gene set connected to the T13 differentially methylated CpGs we found no significant enrichments.

  7. Microarray-Based Analysis of Methylation of 1st Trimester Trisomic Placentas from Down Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome and Patau Syndrome

    PubMed Central

    Hatt, Lotte; Aagaard, Mads M.; Bach, Cathrine; Graakjaer, Jesper; Sommer, Steffen; Agerholm, Inge E.; Bojesen, Anders

    2016-01-01

    Methylation-based non-invasive prenatal testing of fetal aneuploidies is an alternative method that could possibly improve fetal aneuploidy diagnosis, especially for trisomy 13(T13) and trisomy 18(T18). Our aim was to study the methylation landscape in placenta DNA from trisomy 13, 18 and 21 pregnancies in an attempt to find trisomy–specific methylation differences better suited for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. We have conducted high-resolution methylation specific bead chip microarray analyses assessing more than 450,000 CpGs analyzing placentas from 12 T21 pregnancies, 12 T18 pregnancies and 6 T13 pregnancies. We have compared the methylation landscape of the trisomic placentas to the methylation landscape from normal placental DNA and to maternal blood cell DNA. Comparing trisomic placentas to normal placentas we identified 217 and 219 differentially methylated CpGs for CVS T18 and CVS T13, respectively (delta β>0.2, FDR<0.05), but only three differentially methylated CpGs for T21. However, the methylation differences was only modest (delta β<0.4), making them less suitable as diagnostic markers. Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that the gene set connected to theT18 differentially methylated CpGs was highly enriched for GO terms related to”DNA binding” and “transcription factor binding” coupled to the RNA polymerase II transcription. In the gene set connected to the T13 differentially methylated CpGs we found no significant enrichments. PMID:27490343

  8. MINER: exploratory analysis of gene interaction networks by machine learning from expression data.

    PubMed

    Kadupitige, Sidath Randeni; Leung, Kin Chun; Sellmeier, Julia; Sivieng, Jane; Catchpoole, Daniel R; Bain, Michael E; Gaëta, Bruno A

    2009-12-03

    The reconstruction of gene regulatory networks from high-throughput "omics" data has become a major goal in the modelling of living systems. Numerous approaches have been proposed, most of which attempt only "one-shot" reconstruction of the whole network with no intervention from the user, or offer only simple correlation analysis to infer gene dependencies. We have developed MINER (Microarray Interactive Network Exploration and Representation), an application that combines multivariate non-linear tree learning of individual gene regulatory dependencies, visualisation of these dependencies as both trees and networks, and representation of known biological relationships based on common Gene Ontology annotations. MINER allows biologists to explore the dependencies influencing the expression of individual genes in a gene expression data set in the form of decision, model or regression trees, using their domain knowledge to guide the exploration and formulate hypotheses. Multiple trees can then be summarised in the form of a gene network diagram. MINER is being adopted by several of our collaborators and has already led to the discovery of a new significant regulatory relationship with subsequent experimental validation. Unlike most gene regulatory network inference methods, MINER allows the user to start from genes of interest and build the network gene-by-gene, incorporating domain expertise in the process. This approach has been used successfully with RNA microarray data but is applicable to other quantitative data produced by high-throughput technologies such as proteomics and "next generation" DNA sequencing.

  9. Cyber-T web server: differential analysis of high-throughput data.

    PubMed

    Kayala, Matthew A; Baldi, Pierre

    2012-07-01

    The Bayesian regularization method for high-throughput differential analysis, described in Baldi and Long (A Bayesian framework for the analysis of microarray expression data: regularized t-test and statistical inferences of gene changes. Bioinformatics 2001: 17: 509-519) and implemented in the Cyber-T web server, is one of the most widely validated. Cyber-T implements a t-test using a Bayesian framework to compute a regularized variance of the measurements associated with each probe under each condition. This regularized estimate is derived by flexibly combining the empirical measurements with a prior, or background, derived from pooling measurements associated with probes in the same neighborhood. This approach flexibly addresses problems associated with low replication levels and technology biases, not only for DNA microarrays, but also for other technologies, such as protein arrays, quantitative mass spectrometry and next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq). Here we present an update to the Cyber-T web server, incorporating several useful new additions and improvements. Several preprocessing data normalization options including logarithmic and (Variance Stabilizing Normalization) VSN transforms are included. To augment two-sample t-tests, a one-way analysis of variance is implemented. Several methods for multiple tests correction, including standard frequentist methods and a probabilistic mixture model treatment, are available. Diagnostic plots allow visual assessment of the results. The web server provides comprehensive documentation and example data sets. The Cyber-T web server, with R source code and data sets, is publicly available at http://cybert.ics.uci.edu/.

  10. Winnowing DNA for rare sequences: highly specific sequence and methylation based enrichment.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Jason D; Shibahara, Gosuke; Rajan, Sweta; Pel, Joel; Marziali, Andre

    2012-01-01

    Rare mutations in cell populations are known to be hallmarks of many diseases and cancers. Similarly, differential DNA methylation patterns arise in rare cell populations with diagnostic potential such as fetal cells circulating in maternal blood. Unfortunately, the frequency of alleles with diagnostic potential, relative to wild-type background sequence, is often well below the frequency of errors in currently available methods for sequence analysis, including very high throughput DNA sequencing. We demonstrate a DNA preparation and purification method that through non-linear electrophoretic separation in media containing oligonucleotide probes, achieves 10,000 fold enrichment of target DNA with single nucleotide specificity, and 100 fold enrichment of unmodified methylated DNA differing from the background by the methylation of a single cytosine residue.

  11. Using scale and feather traits for module construction provides a functional approach to chicken epidermal development.

    PubMed

    Bao, Weier; Greenwold, Matthew J; Sawyer, Roger H

    2017-11-01

    Gene co-expression network analysis has been a research method widely used in systematically exploring gene function and interaction. Using the Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) approach to construct a gene co-expression network using data from a customized 44K microarray transcriptome of chicken epidermal embryogenesis, we have identified two distinct modules that are highly correlated with scale or feather development traits. Signaling pathways related to feather development were enriched in the traditional KEGG pathway analysis and functional terms relating specifically to embryonic epidermal development were also enriched in the Gene Ontology analysis. Significant enrichment annotations were discovered from customized enrichment tools such as Modular Single-Set Enrichment Test (MSET) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Hub genes in both trait-correlated modules showed strong specific functional enrichment toward epidermal development. Also, regulatory elements, such as transcription factors and miRNAs, were targeted in the significant enrichment result. This work highlights the advantage of this methodology for functional prediction of genes not previously associated with scale- and feather trait-related modules.

  12. Development of an oligo DNA microarray for the European sea bass and its application to expression profiling of jaw deformity

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a marine fish of great importance for fisheries and aquaculture. Functional genomics offers the possibility to discover the molecular mechanisms underlying productive traits in farmed fish, and a step towards the application of marker assisted selection methods in this species. To this end, we report here on the development of an oligo DNA microarray for D. labrax. Results A database consisting of 19,048 unique transcripts was constructed, of which 12,008 (63%) could be annotated by similarity and 4,692 received a GO functional annotation. Two non-overlapping 60mer probes were designed for each unique transcript and in-situ synthesized on glass slides using Agilent SurePrint™ technology. Probe design was positively completed for 19,035 target clusters; the oligo microarray was then applied to profile gene expression in mandibles and whole-heads of fish affected by prognathism, a skeletal malformation that strongly affects sea bass production. Statistical analysis identified 242 transcripts that are significantly down-regulated in deformed individuals compared to normal fish, with a significant enrichment in genes related to nervous system development and functioning. A set of genes spanning a wide dynamic range in gene expression level were selected for quantitative RT-PCR validation. Fold change correlation between microarray and qPCR data was always significant. Conclusions The microarray platform developed for the European sea bass has a high level of flexibility, reliability, and reproducibility. Despite the well known limitations in achieving a proper functional annotation in non-model species, sufficient information was obtained to identify biological processes that are significantly enriched among differentially expressed genes. New insights were obtained on putative mechanisms involved on mandibular prognathism, suggesting that bone/nervous system development might play a role in this phenomenon. PMID:20525278

  13. ReSeqTools: an integrated toolkit for large-scale next-generation sequencing based resequencing analysis.

    PubMed

    He, W; Zhao, S; Liu, X; Dong, S; Lv, J; Liu, D; Wang, J; Meng, Z

    2013-12-04

    Large-scale next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based resequencing detects sequence variations, constructs evolutionary histories, and identifies phenotype-related genotypes. However, NGS-based resequencing studies generate extraordinarily large amounts of data, making computations difficult. Effective use and analysis of these data for NGS-based resequencing studies remains a difficult task for individual researchers. Here, we introduce ReSeqTools, a full-featured toolkit for NGS (Illumina sequencing)-based resequencing analysis, which processes raw data, interprets mapping results, and identifies and annotates sequence variations. ReSeqTools provides abundant scalable functions for routine resequencing analysis in different modules to facilitate customization of the analysis pipeline. ReSeqTools is designed to use compressed data files as input or output to save storage space and facilitates faster and more computationally efficient large-scale resequencing studies in a user-friendly manner. It offers abundant practical functions and generates useful statistics during the analysis pipeline, which significantly simplifies resequencing analysis. Its integrated algorithms and abundant sub-functions provide a solid foundation for special demands in resequencing projects. Users can combine these functions to construct their own pipelines for other purposes.

  14. Identification of 99 novel mutations in a worldwide cohort of 1,056 patients with a nephronophthisis-related ciliopathy.

    PubMed

    Halbritter, Jan; Porath, Jonathan D; Diaz, Katrina A; Braun, Daniela A; Kohl, Stefan; Chaki, Moumita; Allen, Susan J; Soliman, Neveen A; Hildebrandt, Friedhelm; Otto, Edgar A

    2013-08-01

    Nephronophthisis-related ciliopathies (NPHP-RC) are autosomal-recessive cystic kidney diseases. More than 13 genes are implicated in its pathogenesis to date, accounting for only 40 % of all cases. High-throughput mutation screenings of large patient cohorts represent a powerful tool for diagnostics and identification of novel NPHP genes. We here performed a new high-throughput mutation analysis method to study 13 established NPHP genes (NPHP1-NPHP13) in a worldwide cohort of 1,056 patients diagnosed with NPHP-RC. We first applied multiplexed PCR-based amplification using Fluidigm Access-Array™ technology followed by barcoding and next-generation resequencing on an Illumina platform. As a result, we established the molecular diagnosis in 127/1,056 independent individuals (12.0 %) and identified a single heterozygous truncating mutation in an additional 31 individuals (2.9 %). Altogether, we detected 159 different mutations in 11 out of 13 different NPHP genes, 99 of which were novel. Phenotypically most remarkable were two patients with truncating mutations in INVS/NPHP2 who did not present as infants and did not exhibit extrarenal manifestations. In addition, we present the first case of Caroli disease due to mutations in WDR19/NPHP13 and the second case ever with a recessive mutation in GLIS2/NPHP7. This study represents the most comprehensive mutation analysis in NPHP-RC patients, identifying the largest number of novel mutations in a single study worldwide.

  15. A high-density transcript linkage map with 1,845 expressed genes positioned by microarray-based Single Feature Polymorphisms (SFP) in Eucalyptus

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Technological advances are progressively increasing the application of genomics to a wider array of economically and ecologically important species. High-density maps enriched for transcribed genes facilitate the discovery of connections between genes and phenotypes. We report the construction of a high-density linkage map of expressed genes for the heterozygous genome of Eucalyptus using Single Feature Polymorphism (SFP) markers. Results SFP discovery and mapping was achieved using pseudo-testcross screening and selective mapping to simultaneously optimize linkage mapping and microarray costs. SFP genotyping was carried out by hybridizing complementary RNA prepared from 4.5 year-old trees xylem to an SFP array containing 103,000 25-mer oligonucleotide probes representing 20,726 unigenes derived from a modest size expressed sequence tags collection. An SFP-mapping microarray with 43,777 selected candidate SFP probes representing 15,698 genes was subsequently designed and used to genotype SFPs in a larger subset of the segregating population drawn by selective mapping. A total of 1,845 genes were mapped, with 884 of them ordered with high likelihood support on a framework map anchored to 180 microsatellites with average density of 1.2 cM. Using more probes per unigene increased by two-fold the likelihood of detecting segregating SFPs eventually resulting in more genes mapped. In silico validation showed that 87% of the SFPs map to the expected location on the 4.5X draft sequence of the Eucalyptus grandis genome. Conclusions The Eucalyptus 1,845 gene map is the most highly enriched map for transcriptional information for any forest tree species to date. It represents a major improvement on the number of genes previously positioned on Eucalyptus maps and provides an initial glimpse at the gene space for this global tree genome. A general protocol is proposed to build high-density transcript linkage maps in less characterized plant species by SFP genotyping with a concurrent objective of reducing microarray costs. HIgh-density gene-rich maps represent a powerful resource to assist gene discovery endeavors when used in combination with QTL and association mapping and should be especially valuable to assist the assembly of reference genome sequences soon to come for several plant and animal species. PMID:21492453

  16. Ancient pathogen DNA in archaeological samples detected with a Microbial Detection Array.

    PubMed

    Devault, Alison M; McLoughlin, Kevin; Jaing, Crystal; Gardner, Shea; Porter, Teresita M; Enk, Jacob M; Thissen, James; Allen, Jonathan; Borucki, Monica; DeWitte, Sharon N; Dhody, Anna N; Poinar, Hendrik N

    2014-03-06

    Ancient human remains of paleopathological interest typically contain highly degraded DNA in which pathogenic taxa are often minority components, making sequence-based metagenomic characterization costly. Microarrays may hold a potential solution to these challenges, offering a rapid, affordable, and highly informative snapshot of microbial diversity in complex samples without the lengthy analysis and/or high cost associated with high-throughput sequencing. Their versatility is well established for modern clinical specimens, but they have yet to be applied to ancient remains. Here we report bacterial profiles of archaeological and historical human remains using the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array (LLMDA). The array successfully identified previously-verified bacterial human pathogens, including Vibrio cholerae (cholera) in a 19th century intestinal specimen and Yersinia pestis ("Black Death" plague) in a medieval tooth, which represented only minute fractions (0.03% and 0.08% alignable high-throughput shotgun sequencing reads) of their respective DNA content. This demonstrates that the LLMDA can identify primary and/or co-infecting bacterial pathogens in ancient samples, thereby serving as a rapid and inexpensive paleopathological screening tool to study health across both space and time.

  17. TimeXNet Web: Identifying cellular response networks from diverse omics time-course data.

    PubMed

    Tan, Phit Ling; López, Yosvany; Nakai, Kenta; Patil, Ashwini

    2018-05-14

    Condition-specific time-course omics profiles are frequently used to study cellular response to stimuli and identify associated signaling pathways. However, few online tools allow users to analyze multiple types of high-throughput time-course data. TimeXNet Web is a web server that extracts a time-dependent gene/protein response network from time-course transcriptomic, proteomic or phospho-proteomic data, and an input interaction network. It classifies the given genes/proteins into time-dependent groups based on the time of their highest activity and identifies the most probable paths connecting genes/proteins in consecutive groups. The response sub-network is enriched in activated genes/proteins and contains novel regulators that do not show any observable change in the input data. Users can view the resultant response network and analyze it for functional enrichment. TimeXNet Web supports the analysis of high-throughput data from multiple species by providing high quality, weighted protein-protein interaction networks for 12 model organisms. http://txnet.hgc.jp/. ashwini@hgc.jp. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  18. A gene expression signature associated with survival in metastatic melanoma

    PubMed Central

    Mandruzzato, Susanna; Callegaro, Andrea; Turcatel, Gianluca; Francescato, Samuela; Montesco, Maria C; Chiarion-Sileni, Vanna; Mocellin, Simone; Rossi, Carlo R; Bicciato, Silvio; Wang, Ena; Marincola, Francesco M; Zanovello, Paola

    2006-01-01

    Background Current clinical and histopathological criteria used to define the prognosis of melanoma patients are inadequate for accurate prediction of clinical outcome. We investigated whether genome screening by means of high-throughput gene microarray might provide clinically useful information on patient survival. Methods Forty-three tumor tissues from 38 patients with stage III and stage IV melanoma were profiled with a 17,500 element cDNA microarray. Expression data were analyzed using significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) to identify genes associated with patient survival, and supervised principal components (SPC) to determine survival prediction. Results SAM analysis revealed a set of 80 probes, corresponding to 70 genes, associated with survival, i.e. 45 probes characterizing longer and 35 shorter survival times, respectively. These transcripts were included in a survival prediction model designed using SPC and cross-validation which allowed identifying 30 predicting probes out of the 80 associated with survival. Conclusion The longer-survival group of genes included those expressed in immune cells, both innate and acquired, confirming the interplay between immunological mechanisms and the natural history of melanoma. Genes linked to immune cells were totally lacking in the poor-survival group, which was instead associated with a number of genes related to highly proliferative and invasive tumor cells. PMID:17129373

  19. Development and evaluation of the first high-throughput SNP array for common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background A large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) but, as yet, no high-throughput genotyping platform is available for this species. C. carpio is an important aquaculture species that accounts for nearly 14% of freshwater aquaculture production worldwide. We have developed an array for C. carpio with 250,000 SNPs and evaluated its performance using samples from various strains of C. carpio. Results The SNPs used on the array were selected from two resources: the transcribed sequences from RNA-seq data of four strains of C. carpio, and the genome re-sequencing data of five strains of C. carpio. The 250,000 SNPs on the resulting array are distributed evenly across the reference C.carpio genome with an average spacing of 6.6 kb. To evaluate the SNP array, 1,072 C. carpio samples were collected and tested. Of the 250,000 SNPs on the array, 185,150 (74.06%) were found to be polymorphic sites. Genotyping accuracy was checked using genotyping data from a group of full-siblings and their parents, and over 99.8% of the qualified SNPs were found to be reliable. Analysis of the linkage disequilibrium on all samples and on three domestic C.carpio strains revealed that the latter had the longer haplotype blocks. We also evaluated our SNP array on 80 samples from eight species related to C. carpio, with from 53,526 to 71,984 polymorphic SNPs. An identity by state analysis divided all the samples into three clusters; most of the C. carpio strains formed the largest cluster. Conclusions The Carp SNP array described here is the first high-throughput genotyping platform for C. carpio. Our evaluation of this array indicates that it will be valuable for farmed carp and for genetic and population biology studies in C. carpio and related species. PMID:24762296

  20. Development and evaluation of the first high-throughput SNP array for common carp (Cyprinus carpio).

    PubMed

    Xu, Jian; Zhao, Zixia; Zhang, Xiaofeng; Zheng, Xianhu; Li, Jiongtang; Jiang, Yanliang; Kuang, Youyi; Zhang, Yan; Feng, Jianxin; Li, Chuangju; Yu, Juhua; Li, Qiang; Zhu, Yuanyuan; Liu, Yuanyuan; Xu, Peng; Sun, Xiaowen

    2014-04-24

    A large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) but, as yet, no high-throughput genotyping platform is available for this species. C. carpio is an important aquaculture species that accounts for nearly 14% of freshwater aquaculture production worldwide. We have developed an array for C. carpio with 250,000 SNPs and evaluated its performance using samples from various strains of C. carpio. The SNPs used on the array were selected from two resources: the transcribed sequences from RNA-seq data of four strains of C. carpio, and the genome re-sequencing data of five strains of C. carpio. The 250,000 SNPs on the resulting array are distributed evenly across the reference C.carpio genome with an average spacing of 6.6 kb. To evaluate the SNP array, 1,072 C. carpio samples were collected and tested. Of the 250,000 SNPs on the array, 185,150 (74.06%) were found to be polymorphic sites. Genotyping accuracy was checked using genotyping data from a group of full-siblings and their parents, and over 99.8% of the qualified SNPs were found to be reliable. Analysis of the linkage disequilibrium on all samples and on three domestic C.carpio strains revealed that the latter had the longer haplotype blocks. We also evaluated our SNP array on 80 samples from eight species related to C. carpio, with from 53,526 to 71,984 polymorphic SNPs. An identity by state analysis divided all the samples into three clusters; most of the C. carpio strains formed the largest cluster. The Carp SNP array described here is the first high-throughput genotyping platform for C. carpio. Our evaluation of this array indicates that it will be valuable for farmed carp and for genetic and population biology studies in C. carpio and related species.

  1. Correcting for batch effects in case-control microbiome studies

    PubMed Central

    Gibbons, Sean M.; Duvallet, Claire

    2018-01-01

    High-throughput data generation platforms, like mass-spectrometry, microarrays, and second-generation sequencing are susceptible to batch effects due to run-to-run variation in reagents, equipment, protocols, or personnel. Currently, batch correction methods are not commonly applied to microbiome sequencing datasets. In this paper, we compare different batch-correction methods applied to microbiome case-control studies. We introduce a model-free normalization procedure where features (i.e. bacterial taxa) in case samples are converted to percentiles of the equivalent features in control samples within a study prior to pooling data across studies. We look at how this percentile-normalization method compares to traditional meta-analysis methods for combining independent p-values and to limma and ComBat, widely used batch-correction models developed for RNA microarray data. Overall, we show that percentile-normalization is a simple, non-parametric approach for correcting batch effects and improving sensitivity in case-control meta-analyses. PMID:29684016

  2. NCBI GEO: mining tens of millions of expression profiles--database and tools update.

    PubMed

    Barrett, Tanya; Troup, Dennis B; Wilhite, Stephen E; Ledoux, Pierre; Rudnev, Dmitry; Evangelista, Carlos; Kim, Irene F; Soboleva, Alexandra; Tomashevsky, Maxim; Edgar, Ron

    2007-01-01

    The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) archives and freely disseminates microarray and other forms of high-throughput data generated by the scientific community. The database has a minimum information about a microarray experiment (MIAME)-compliant infrastructure that captures fully annotated raw and processed data. Several data deposit options and formats are supported, including web forms, spreadsheets, XML and Simple Omnibus Format in Text (SOFT). In addition to data storage, a collection of user-friendly web-based interfaces and applications are available to help users effectively explore, visualize and download the thousands of experiments and tens of millions of gene expression patterns stored in GEO. This paper provides a summary of the GEO database structure and user facilities, and describes recent enhancements to database design, performance, submission format options, data query and retrieval utilities. GEO is accessible at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/

  3. Tissue microarrays and digital image analysis.

    PubMed

    Ryan, Denise; Mulrane, Laoighse; Rexhepaj, Elton; Gallagher, William M

    2011-01-01

    Tissue microarrays (TMAs) have recently emerged as very valuable tools for high-throughput pathological assessment, especially in the cancer research arena. This important technology, however, has yet to fully penetrate into the area of toxicology. Here, we describe the creation of TMAs representative of samples produced from conventional toxicology studies within a large-scale, multi-institutional pan-European project, PredTox. PredTox, short for Predictive Toxicology, formed part of an EU FP6 Integrated Project, Innovative Medicines for Europe (InnoMed), and aimed to study pre-clinically 16 compounds of known liver and/or kidney toxicity. In more detail, TMAs were constructed from materials corresponding to the full face sections of liver and kidney from rats treated with different drug candidates by members of the consortium. We also describe the process of digital slide scanning of kidney and liver sections, in the context of creating an online resource of histopathological data.

  4. Comparing microarrays and next-generation sequencing technologies for microbial ecology research.

    PubMed

    Roh, Seong Woon; Abell, Guy C J; Kim, Kyoung-Ho; Nam, Young-Do; Bae, Jin-Woo

    2010-06-01

    Recent advances in molecular biology have resulted in the application of DNA microarrays and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies to the field of microbial ecology. This review aims to examine the strengths and weaknesses of each of the methodologies, including depth and ease of analysis, throughput and cost-effectiveness. It also intends to highlight the optimal application of each of the individual technologies toward the study of a particular environment and identify potential synergies between the two main technologies, whereby both sample number and coverage can be maximized. We suggest that the efficient use of microarray and NGS technologies will allow researchers to advance the field of microbial ecology, and importantly, improve our understanding of the role of microorganisms in their various environments.

  5. Microarray expression technology: from start to finish.

    PubMed

    Elvidge, Gareth

    2006-01-01

    The recent introduction of new microarray expression technologies and the further development of established platforms ensure that the researcher is presented with a range of options for performing an experiment. Whilst this has opened up the possibilities for future applications, such as exon-specific arrays, increased sample throughput and 'chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) on chip' experiments, the initial decision processes and experiment planning are made more difficult. This review will give an overview of the various technologies that are available to perform a microarray expression experiment, from the initial planning stages through to the final data analysis. Both practical aspects and data analysis options will be considered. The relative advantages and disadvantages will be discussed with insights provided for future directions of the technology.

  6. Genome resequencing and comparative variome analysis in a Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea collection.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Feng; Wu, Jian; Cai, Chengcheng; Fu, Lixia; Liang, Jianli; Borm, Theo; Zhuang, Mu; Zhang, Yangyong; Zhang, Fenglan; Bonnema, Guusje; Wang, Xiaowu

    2016-12-20

    The closely related species Brassica rapa and B. oleracea encompass a wide range of vegetable, fodder and oil crops. The release of their reference genomes has facilitated resequencing collections of B. rapa and B. oleracea aiming to build their variome datasets. These data can be used to investigate the evolutionary relationships between and within the different species and the domestication of the crops, hereafter named morphotypes. These data can also be used in genetic studies aiming at the identification of genes that influence agronomic traits. We selected and resequenced 199 B. rapa and 119 B. oleracea accessions representing 12 and nine morphotypes, respectively. Based on these resequencing data, we obtained 2,249,473 and 3,852,169 high quality SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms), as well as 303,617 and 417,004 InDels for the B. rapa and B. oleracea populations, respectively. The variome datasets of B. rapa and B. oleracea represent valuable resources to researchers working on evolution, domestication or breeding of Brassica vegetable crops.

  7. High-throughput screening of Erwinia chrysanthemi pectin methylesterase variants using carbohydrate microarrays.

    PubMed

    Øbro, Jens; Sørensen, Iben; Derkx, Patrick; Madsen, Christian T; Drews, Martin; Willer, Martin; Mikkelsen, Jørn D; Willats, William G T

    2009-04-01

    Pectin methylesterases (PMEs) catalyse the removal of methyl esters from the homogalacturonan (HG) backbone domain of pectin, a ubiquitous polysaccharide in plant cell walls. The degree of methyl esterification (DE) impacts upon the functional properties of HG within cell walls and plants produce numerous PMEs that act upon HG in muro. Many microbial plant pathogens also produce PMEs, the activity of which renders HG more susceptible to cleavage by pectin lyase and polygalacturonase enzymes and hence aids cell wall degradation. We have developed a novel microarray-based approach to investigate the activity of a series of variant enzymes based on the PME from the important pathogen Erwinia chrysanthemi. A library of 99 E. chrysanthemi PME mutants was created in which seven amino acids were altered by various different substitutions. Each mutant PME was incubated with a highly methyl esterified lime pectin substrate and, after digestion the enzyme/substrate mixtures were printed as microarrays. The loss of activity that resulted from certain mutations was detected by probing arrays with a mAb (JIM7) that preferentially binds to HG with a relatively high DE. Active PMEs therefore resulted in diminished JIM7 binding to the lime pectin substrate, whereas inactive PMEs did not. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of our approach for rapidly testing the effects on PME activity of substituting a wide variety of amino acids at different positions.

  8. Genome-scale cluster analysis of replicated microarrays using shrinkage correlation coefficient.

    PubMed

    Yao, Jianchao; Chang, Chunqi; Salmi, Mari L; Hung, Yeung Sam; Loraine, Ann; Roux, Stanley J

    2008-06-18

    Currently, clustering with some form of correlation coefficient as the gene similarity metric has become a popular method for profiling genomic data. The Pearson correlation coefficient and the standard deviation (SD)-weighted correlation coefficient are the two most widely-used correlations as the similarity metrics in clustering microarray data. However, these two correlations are not optimal for analyzing replicated microarray data generated by most laboratories. An effective correlation coefficient is needed to provide statistically sufficient analysis of replicated microarray data. In this study, we describe a novel correlation coefficient, shrinkage correlation coefficient (SCC), that fully exploits the similarity between the replicated microarray experimental samples. The methodology considers both the number of replicates and the variance within each experimental group in clustering expression data, and provides a robust statistical estimation of the error of replicated microarray data. The value of SCC is revealed by its comparison with two other correlation coefficients that are currently the most widely-used (Pearson correlation coefficient and SD-weighted correlation coefficient) using statistical measures on both synthetic expression data as well as real gene expression data from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Two leading clustering methods, hierarchical and k-means clustering were applied for the comparison. The comparison indicated that using SCC achieves better clustering performance. Applying SCC-based hierarchical clustering to the replicated microarray data obtained from germinating spores of the fern Ceratopteris richardii, we discovered two clusters of genes with shared expression patterns during spore germination. Functional analysis suggested that some of the genetic mechanisms that control germination in such diverse plant lineages as mosses and angiosperms are also conserved among ferns. This study shows that SCC is an alternative to the Pearson correlation coefficient and the SD-weighted correlation coefficient, and is particularly useful for clustering replicated microarray data. This computational approach should be generally useful for proteomic data or other high-throughput analysis methodology.

  9. Improving Hierarchical Models Using Historical Data with Applications in High-Throughput Genomics Data Analysis.

    PubMed

    Li, Ben; Li, Yunxiao; Qin, Zhaohui S

    2017-06-01

    Modern high-throughput biotechnologies such as microarray and next generation sequencing produce a massive amount of information for each sample assayed. However, in a typical high-throughput experiment, only limited amount of data are observed for each individual feature, thus the classical 'large p , small n ' problem. Bayesian hierarchical model, capable of borrowing strength across features within the same dataset, has been recognized as an effective tool in analyzing such data. However, the shrinkage effect, the most prominent feature of hierarchical features, can lead to undesirable over-correction for some features. In this work, we discuss possible causes of the over-correction problem and propose several alternative solutions. Our strategy is rooted in the fact that in the Big Data era, large amount of historical data are available which should be taken advantage of. Our strategy presents a new framework to enhance the Bayesian hierarchical model. Through simulation and real data analysis, we demonstrated superior performance of the proposed strategy. Our new strategy also enables borrowing information across different platforms which could be extremely useful with emergence of new technologies and accumulation of data from different platforms in the Big Data era. Our method has been implemented in R package "adaptiveHM", which is freely available from https://github.com/benliemory/adaptiveHM.

  10. Improving Hierarchical Models Using Historical Data with Applications in High-Throughput Genomics Data Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Li, Ben; Li, Yunxiao; Qin, Zhaohui S.

    2016-01-01

    Modern high-throughput biotechnologies such as microarray and next generation sequencing produce a massive amount of information for each sample assayed. However, in a typical high-throughput experiment, only limited amount of data are observed for each individual feature, thus the classical ‘large p, small n’ problem. Bayesian hierarchical model, capable of borrowing strength across features within the same dataset, has been recognized as an effective tool in analyzing such data. However, the shrinkage effect, the most prominent feature of hierarchical features, can lead to undesirable over-correction for some features. In this work, we discuss possible causes of the over-correction problem and propose several alternative solutions. Our strategy is rooted in the fact that in the Big Data era, large amount of historical data are available which should be taken advantage of. Our strategy presents a new framework to enhance the Bayesian hierarchical model. Through simulation and real data analysis, we demonstrated superior performance of the proposed strategy. Our new strategy also enables borrowing information across different platforms which could be extremely useful with emergence of new technologies and accumulation of data from different platforms in the Big Data era. Our method has been implemented in R package “adaptiveHM”, which is freely available from https://github.com/benliemory/adaptiveHM. PMID:28919931

  11. Integrating Transcriptome and Genome Re-Sequencing Data to Identify Key Genes and Mutations Affecting Chicken Eggshell Qualities

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Long; Zheng, Chuan Wei; Wang, De He; Hou, Zhuo Cheng; Ning, Zhong Hua

    2015-01-01

    Eggshell damages lead to economic losses in the egg production industry and are a threat to human health. We examined 49-wk-old Rhode Island White hens (Gallus gallus) that laid eggs having shells with significantly different strengths and thicknesses. We used HiSeq 2000 (Illumina) sequencing to characterize the chicken transcriptome and whole genome to identify the key genes and genetic mutations associated with eggshell calcification. We identified a total of 14,234 genes expressed in the chicken uterus, representing 89% of all annotated chicken genes. A total of 889 differentially expressed genes were identified by comparing low eggshell strength (LES) and normal eggshell strength (NES) genomes. The DEGs are enriched in calcification-related processes, including calcium ion transport and calcium signaling pathways as reveled by gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Some important matrix proteins, such as OC-116, LTF and SPP1, were also expressed differentially between two groups. A total of 3,671,919 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 508,035 Indels were detected in protein coding genes by whole-genome re-sequencing, including 1775 non-synonymous variations and 19 frame-shift Indels in DEGs. SNPs and Indels found in this study could be further investigated for eggshell traits. This is the first report to integrate the transcriptome and genome re-sequencing to target the genetic variations which decreased the eggshell qualities. These findings further advance our understanding of eggshell calcification in the chicken uterus. PMID:25974068

  12. Identifying Fishes through DNA Barcodes and Microarrays.

    PubMed

    Kochzius, Marc; Seidel, Christian; Antoniou, Aglaia; Botla, Sandeep Kumar; Campo, Daniel; Cariani, Alessia; Vazquez, Eva Garcia; Hauschild, Janet; Hervet, Caroline; Hjörleifsdottir, Sigridur; Hreggvidsson, Gudmundur; Kappel, Kristina; Landi, Monica; Magoulas, Antonios; Marteinsson, Viggo; Nölte, Manfred; Planes, Serge; Tinti, Fausto; Turan, Cemal; Venugopal, Moleyur N; Weber, Hannes; Blohm, Dietmar

    2010-09-07

    International fish trade reached an import value of 62.8 billion Euro in 2006, of which 44.6% are covered by the European Union. Species identification is a key problem throughout the life cycle of fishes: from eggs and larvae to adults in fisheries research and control, as well as processed fish products in consumer protection. This study aims to evaluate the applicability of the three mitochondrial genes 16S rRNA (16S), cytochrome b (cyt b), and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) for the identification of 50 European marine fish species by combining techniques of "DNA barcoding" and microarrays. In a DNA barcoding approach, neighbour Joining (NJ) phylogenetic trees of 369 16S, 212 cyt b, and 447 COI sequences indicated that cyt b and COI are suitable for unambiguous identification, whereas 16S failed to discriminate closely related flatfish and gurnard species. In course of probe design for DNA microarray development, each of the markers yielded a high number of potentially species-specific probes in silico, although many of them were rejected based on microarray hybridisation experiments. None of the markers provided probes to discriminate the sibling flatfish and gurnard species. However, since 16S-probes were less negatively influenced by the "position of label" effect and showed the lowest rejection rate and the highest mean signal intensity, 16S is more suitable for DNA microarray probe design than cty b and COI. The large portion of rejected COI-probes after hybridisation experiments (>90%) renders the DNA barcoding marker as rather unsuitable for this high-throughput technology. Based on these data, a DNA microarray containing 64 functional oligonucleotide probes for the identification of 30 out of the 50 fish species investigated was developed. It represents the next step towards an automated and easy-to-handle method to identify fish, ichthyoplankton, and fish products.

  13. Quantitative multiplex quantum dot in-situ hybridisation based gene expression profiling in tissue microarrays identifies prognostic genes in acute myeloid leukaemia

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tholouli, Eleni; MacDermott, Sarah; Hoyland, Judith

    2012-08-24

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Development of a quantitative high throughput in situ expression profiling method. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Application to a tissue microarray of 242 AML bone marrow samples. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Identification of HOXA4, HOXA9, Meis1 and DNMT3A as prognostic markers in AML. -- Abstract: Measurement and validation of microarray gene signatures in routine clinical samples is problematic and a rate limiting step in translational research. In order to facilitate measurement of microarray identified gene signatures in routine clinical tissue a novel method combining quantum dot based oligonucleotide in situ hybridisation (QD-ISH) and post-hybridisation spectral image analysis was used for multiplex in-situ transcript detection inmore » archival bone marrow trephine samples from patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Tissue-microarrays were prepared into which white cell pellets were spiked as a standard. Tissue microarrays were made using routinely processed bone marrow trephines from 242 patients with AML. QD-ISH was performed for six candidate prognostic genes using triplex QD-ISH for DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, and for HOXA4, HOXA9, Meis1. Scrambled oligonucleotides were used to correct for background staining followed by normalisation of expression against the expression values for the white cell pellet standard. Survival analysis demonstrated that low expression of HOXA4 was associated with poorer overall survival (p = 0.009), whilst high expression of HOXA9 (p < 0.0001), Meis1 (p = 0.005) and DNMT3A (p = 0.04) were associated with early treatment failure. These results demonstrate application of a standardised, quantitative multiplex QD-ISH method for identification of prognostic markers in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded clinical samples, facilitating measurement of gene expression signatures in routine clinical samples.« less

  14. Particle-Based Microarrays of Oligonucleotides and Oligopeptides.

    PubMed

    Nesterov-Mueller, Alexander; Maerkle, Frieder; Hahn, Lothar; Foertsch, Tobias; Schillo, Sebastian; Bykovskaya, Valentina; Sedlmayr, Martyna; Weber, Laura K; Ridder, Barbara; Soehindrijo, Miriam; Muenster, Bastian; Striffler, Jakob; Bischoff, F Ralf; Breitling, Frank; Loeffler, Felix F

    2014-10-28

    In this review, we describe different methods of microarray fabrication based on the use of micro-particles/-beads and point out future tendencies in the development of particle-based arrays. First, we consider oligonucleotide bead arrays, where each bead is a carrier of one specific sequence of oligonucleotides. This bead-based array approach, appearing in the late 1990s, enabled high-throughput oligonucleotide analysis and had a large impact on genome research. Furthermore, we consider particle-based peptide array fabrication using combinatorial chemistry. In this approach, particles can directly participate in both the synthesis and the transfer of synthesized combinatorial molecules to a substrate. Subsequently, we describe in more detail the synthesis of peptide arrays with amino acid polymer particles, which imbed the amino acids inside their polymer matrix. By heating these particles, the polymer matrix is transformed into a highly viscous gel, and thereby, imbedded monomers are allowed to participate in the coupling reaction. Finally, we focus on combinatorial laser fusing of particles for the synthesis of high-density peptide arrays. This method combines the advantages of particles and combinatorial lithographic approaches.

  15. Particle-Based Microarrays of Oligonucleotides and Oligopeptides

    PubMed Central

    Nesterov-Mueller, Alexander; Maerkle, Frieder; Hahn, Lothar; Foertsch, Tobias; Schillo, Sebastian; Bykovskaya, Valentina; Sedlmayr, Martyna; Weber, Laura K.; Ridder, Barbara; Soehindrijo, Miriam; Muenster, Bastian; Striffler, Jakob; Bischoff, F. Ralf; Breitling, Frank; Loeffler, Felix F.

    2014-01-01

    In this review, we describe different methods of microarray fabrication based on the use of micro-particles/-beads and point out future tendencies in the development of particle-based arrays. First, we consider oligonucleotide bead arrays, where each bead is a carrier of one specific sequence of oligonucleotides. This bead-based array approach, appearing in the late 1990s, enabled high-throughput oligonucleotide analysis and had a large impact on genome research. Furthermore, we consider particle-based peptide array fabrication using combinatorial chemistry. In this approach, particles can directly participate in both the synthesis and the transfer of synthesized combinatorial molecules to a substrate. Subsequently, we describe in more detail the synthesis of peptide arrays with amino acid polymer particles, which imbed the amino acids inside their polymer matrix. By heating these particles, the polymer matrix is transformed into a highly viscous gel, and thereby, imbedded monomers are allowed to participate in the coupling reaction. Finally, we focus on combinatorial laser fusing of particles for the synthesis of high-density peptide arrays. This method combines the advantages of particles and combinatorial lithographic approaches. PMID:27600347

  16. Population resequencing reveals candidate genes associated with salinity adaptation of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas.

    PubMed

    She, Zhicai; Li, Li; Meng, Jie; Jia, Zhen; Que, Huayong; Zhang, Guofan

    2018-06-06

    The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas is an important cultivated shellfish. As a euryhaline species, it has evolved adaptive mechanisms responding to the complex and changeable intertidal environment that it inhabits. To investigate the genetic basis of this salinity adaptation mechanism, we conducted a genome-wide association study using phenotypically differentiated populations (hyposalinity and hypersalinity adaptation populations, and control population), and confirmed our results using an independent population, high-resolution melting, and mRNA expression analysis. For the hyposalinity adaptation, we determined 24 genes, including Cg_CLCN7 (chloride channel protein 7) and Cg_AP1 (apoptosis 1 inhibitor), involved in the ion/water channel and transporter mechanisms, free amino acid and reactive oxygen species metabolism, immune responses, and chemical defence. Three SNPs located on these two genes were significantly differentiated between groups, as was Cg_CLCN7. For the hypersalinity adaptation, the biological process for positive regulating the developmental process was enriched. Enriched gene functions were focused on transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, and cell growth and differentiation, including calmodulin (Cg_CaM) and ficolin-2 (Cg_FCN2). These genes and polymorphisms possibly play an important role in oyster hyposalinity and hypersalinity adaptation. They not only further our understanding of salinity adaptation mechanisms but also provide markers for highly adaptable oyster strains suitable for breeding.

  17. Simultaneous mutation and copy number variation (CNV) detection by multiplex PCR-based GS-FLX sequencing.

    PubMed

    Goossens, Dirk; Moens, Lotte N; Nelis, Eva; Lenaerts, An-Sofie; Glassee, Wim; Kalbe, Andreas; Frey, Bruno; Kopal, Guido; De Jonghe, Peter; De Rijk, Peter; Del-Favero, Jurgen

    2009-03-01

    We evaluated multiplex PCR amplification as a front-end for high-throughput sequencing, to widen the applicability of massive parallel sequencers for the detailed analysis of complex genomes. Using multiplex PCR reactions, we sequenced the complete coding regions of seven genes implicated in peripheral neuropathies in 40 individuals on a GS-FLX genome sequencer (Roche). The resulting dataset showed highly specific and uniform amplification. Comparison of the GS-FLX sequencing data with the dataset generated by Sanger sequencing confirmed the detection of all variants present and proved the sensitivity of the method for mutation detection. In addition, we showed that we could exploit the multiplexed PCR amplicons to determine individual copy number variation (CNV), increasing the spectrum of detected variations to both genetic and genomic variants. We conclude that our straightforward procedure substantially expands the applicability of the massive parallel sequencers for sequencing projects of a moderate number of amplicons (50-500) with typical applications in resequencing exons in positional or functional candidate regions and molecular genetic diagnostics. 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  18. Identification of Microbial Communities in Open and Closed Circuit Bioelectrochemical MBRs by High-Throughput 454 Pyrosequencing

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Jian; Wang, Zhiwei; Zhu, Chaowei; Ma, Jinxing; Zhang, Xingran; Wu, Zhichao

    2014-01-01

    Two bioelectrochemical membrane bioreactors (MBRs) developed by integrating microbial fuel cell and MBR technology were operated under closed-circuit and open-circuit modes, and high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing was used to investigate the effects of the power generation on the microbial community of bio-anode and bio-cathode. Microbes on the anode under open-circuit operation (AO) were enriched and highly diverse when compared to those on the anode under closed-circuit operation (AC). However, among the cathodes the closed-circuit mode (CC) had richer and more diverse microbial community compared to the cathode under open-circuit mode (CO). On the anodes AO and AC, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla, while Firmicutes was enriched only on AC. Deltaproteobacteria affiliated to Proteobacteria were also more abundant on AC than AO. Furthermore, the relative abundance of Desulfuromonas, which are well-known electrogenic bacteria, were much higher on AC (10.2%) when compared to AO (0.11%), indicating that closed-circuit operation was more conducive for the growth of electrogenic bacteria on the anodes. On the cathodes, Protebacteria was robust on CC while Bacteroidetes was more abundant on CO. Rhodobacter and Hydrogenophaga were also enriched on CC than CO, suggesting that these genera play a role in electron transfer from the cathode surface to the terminal electron acceptors in the bioelectrochemical MBR under closed-circuit operation. PMID:24705450

  19. Diversity arrays technology: a generic genome profiling technology on open platforms.

    PubMed

    Kilian, Andrzej; Wenzl, Peter; Huttner, Eric; Carling, Jason; Xia, Ling; Blois, Hélène; Caig, Vanessa; Heller-Uszynska, Katarzyna; Jaccoud, Damian; Hopper, Colleen; Aschenbrenner-Kilian, Malgorzata; Evers, Margaret; Peng, Kaiman; Cayla, Cyril; Hok, Puthick; Uszynski, Grzegorz

    2012-01-01

    In the last 20 years, we have observed an exponential growth of the DNA sequence data and simular increase in the volume of DNA polymorphism data generated by numerous molecular marker technologies. Most of the investment, and therefore progress, concentrated on human genome and genomes of selected model species. Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT), developed over a decade ago, was among the first "democratizing" genotyping technologies, as its performance was primarily driven by the level of DNA sequence variation in the species rather than by the level of financial investment. DArT also proved more robust to genome size and ploidy-level differences among approximately 60 organisms for which DArT was developed to date compared to other high-throughput genotyping technologies. The success of DArT in a number of organisms, including a wide range of "orphan crops," can be attributed to the simplicity of underlying concepts: DArT combines genome complexity reduction methods enriching for genic regions with a highly parallel assay readout on a number of "open-access" microarray platforms. The quantitative nature of the assay enabled a number of applications in which allelic frequencies can be estimated from DArT arrays. A typical DArT assay tests for polymorphism tens of thousands of genomic loci with the final number of markers reported (hundreds to thousands) reflecting the level of DNA sequence variation in the tested loci. Detailed DArT methods, protocols, and a range of their application examples as well as DArT's evolution path are presented.

  20. A model of binding on DNA microarrays: understanding the combined effect of probe synthesis failure, cross-hybridization, DNA fragmentation and other experimental details of affymetrix arrays

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background DNA microarrays are used both for research and for diagnostics. In research, Affymetrix arrays are commonly used for genome wide association studies, resequencing, and for gene expression analysis. These arrays provide large amounts of data. This data is analyzed using statistical methods that quite often discard a large portion of the information. Most of the information that is lost comes from probes that systematically fail across chips and from batch effects. The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive model for hybridization that predicts probe intensities for Affymetrix arrays and that could provide a basis for improved microarray analysis and probe development. The first part of the model calculates probe binding affinities to all the possible targets in the hybridization solution using the Langmuir isotherm. In the second part of the model we integrate details that are specific to each experiment and contribute to the differences between hybridization in solution and on the microarray. These details include fragmentation, wash stringency, temperature, salt concentration, and scanner settings. Furthermore, the model fits probe synthesis efficiency and target concentration parameters directly to the data. All the parameters used in the model have a well-established physical origin. Results For the 302 chips that were analyzed the mean correlation between expected and observed probe intensities was 0.701 with a range of 0.88 to 0.55. All available chips were included in the analysis regardless of the data quality. Our results show that batch effects arise from differences in probe synthesis, scanner settings, wash strength, and target fragmentation. We also show that probe synthesis efficiencies for different nucleotides are not uniform. Conclusions To date this is the most complete model for binding on microarrays. This is the first model that includes both probe synthesis efficiency and hybridization kinetics/cross-hybridization. These two factors are sequence dependent and have a large impact on probe intensity. The results presented here provide novel insight into the effect of probe synthesis errors on Affymetrix microarrays; furthermore, the algorithms developed in this work provide useful tools for the analysis of cross-hybridization, probe synthesis efficiency, fragmentation, wash stringency, temperature, and salt concentration on microarray intensities. PMID:23270536

  1. Reverse Engineering of Genome-wide Gene Regulatory Networks from Gene Expression Data

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Zhi-Ping

    2015-01-01

    Transcriptional regulation plays vital roles in many fundamental biological processes. Reverse engineering of genome-wide regulatory networks from high-throughput transcriptomic data provides a promising way to characterize the global scenario of regulatory relationships between regulators and their targets. In this review, we summarize and categorize the main frameworks and methods currently available for inferring transcriptional regulatory networks from microarray gene expression profiling data. We overview each of strategies and introduce representative methods respectively. Their assumptions, advantages, shortcomings, and possible improvements and extensions are also clarified and commented. PMID:25937810

  2. DAnTE: a statistical tool for quantitative analysis of –omics data

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Polpitiya, Ashoka D.; Qian, Weijun; Jaitly, Navdeep

    2008-05-03

    DAnTE (Data Analysis Tool Extension) is a statistical tool designed to address challenges unique to quantitative bottom-up, shotgun proteomics data. This tool has also been demonstrated for microarray data and can easily be extended to other high-throughput data types. DAnTE features selected normalization methods, missing value imputation algorithms, peptide to protein rollup methods, an extensive array of plotting functions, and a comprehensive ANOVA scheme that can handle unbalanced data and random effects. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) is designed to be very intuitive and user friendly.

  3. An Optimization-Driven Analysis Pipeline to Uncover Biomarkers and Signaling Paths: Cervix Cancer.

    PubMed

    Lorenzo, Enery; Camacho-Caceres, Katia; Ropelewski, Alexander J; Rosas, Juan; Ortiz-Mojer, Michael; Perez-Marty, Lynn; Irizarry, Juan; Gonzalez, Valerie; Rodríguez, Jesús A; Cabrera-Rios, Mauricio; Isaza, Clara

    2015-06-01

    Establishing how a series of potentially important genes might relate to each other is relevant to understand the origin and evolution of illnesses, such as cancer. High-throughput biological experiments have played a critical role in providing information in this regard. A special challenge, however, is that of trying to conciliate information from separate microarray experiments to build a potential genetic signaling path. This work proposes a two-step analysis pipeline, based on optimization, to approach meta-analysis aiming to build a proxy for a genetic signaling path.

  4. Increasing Electrochemiluminescence Intensity of a Wireless Electrode Array Chip by Thousands of Times Using a Diode for Sensitive Visual Detection by a Digital Camera.

    PubMed

    Qi, Liming; Xia, Yong; Qi, Wenjing; Gao, Wenyue; Wu, Fengxia; Xu, Guobao

    2016-01-19

    Both a wireless electrochemiluminescence (ECL) electrode microarray chip and the dramatic increase in ECL by embedding a diode in an electromagnetic receiver coil have been first reported. The newly designed device consists of a chip and a transmitter. The chip has an electromagnetic receiver coil, a mini-diode, and a gold electrode array. The mini-diode can rectify alternating current into direct current and thus enhance ECL intensities by 18 thousand times, enabling a sensitive visual detection using common cameras or smart phones as low cost detectors. The detection limit of hydrogen peroxide using a digital camera is comparable to that using photomultiplier tube (PMT)-based detectors. Coupled with a PMT-based detector, the device can detect luminol with higher sensitivity with linear ranges from 10 nM to 1 mM. Because of the advantages including high sensitivity, high throughput, low cost, high portability, and simplicity, it is promising in point of care testing, drug screening, and high throughput analysis.

  5. Phenotypic diversification by enhanced genome restructuring after induction of multiple DNA double-strand breaks.

    PubMed

    Muramoto, Nobuhiko; Oda, Arisa; Tanaka, Hidenori; Nakamura, Takahiro; Kugou, Kazuto; Suda, Kazuki; Kobayashi, Aki; Yoneda, Shiori; Ikeuchi, Akinori; Sugimoto, Hiroki; Kondo, Satoshi; Ohto, Chikara; Shibata, Takehiko; Mitsukawa, Norihiro; Ohta, Kunihiro

    2018-05-18

    DNA double-strand break (DSB)-mediated genome rearrangements are assumed to provide diverse raw genetic materials enabling accelerated adaptive evolution; however, it remains unclear about the consequences of massive simultaneous DSB formation in cells and their resulting phenotypic impact. Here, we establish an artificial genome-restructuring technology by conditionally introducing multiple genomic DSBs in vivo using a temperature-dependent endonuclease TaqI. Application in yeast and Arabidopsis thaliana generates strains with phenotypes, including improved ethanol production from xylose at higher temperature and increased plant biomass, that are stably inherited to offspring after multiple passages. High-throughput genome resequencing revealed that these strains harbor diverse rearrangements, including copy number variations, translocations in retrotransposons, and direct end-joinings at TaqI-cleavage sites. Furthermore, large-scale rearrangements occur frequently in diploid yeasts (28.1%) and tetraploid plants (46.3%), whereas haploid yeasts and diploid plants undergo minimal rearrangement. This genome-restructuring system (TAQing system) will enable rapid genome breeding and aid genome-evolution studies.

  6. Sensitive immunoassay detection of multiple environmental chemicals on protein microarrays using DNA/dye conjugate as a fluorescent label.

    PubMed

    Fan, Ziyan; Keum, Young Soo; Li, Qing X; Shelver, Weilin L; Guo, Liang-Hong

    2012-05-01

    Indirect competitive immunoassays were developed on protein microarrays for the sensitive and simultaneous detection of multiple environmental chemicals in one sample. In this assay, a DNA/SYTOX Orange conjugate was employed as an antibody label to increase the fluorescence signal and sensitivity of the immunoassays. Epoxy-modified glass slides were selected as the substrate for the production of 4 × 4 coating antigen microarrays. With this signal-enhancing system, competition curves for 17β-estradiol (E2), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) were obtained individually on the protein microarray. The IC(50) and calculated limit of detection (LOD) are 0.32 μg L(-1) and 0.022 μg L(-1) for E2, 37.2 μg L(-1) and 24.5 μg L(-1) for BaP, and 31.6 μg L(-1) and 2.8 μg L(-1) for BDE-47, respectively. LOD of E2 is 14-fold lower than the value reported in a previous study using Cy3 labeled antibody (Du et al., Clin. Chem, 2005, 51, 368-375). The results of the microarray immunoassay were within 15% of chromatographic analysis for all three pollutants in spiked river water samples, thus verifying the immunoassay. Simultaneous detection of E2, BaP and BDE-47 in one sample was demonstrated. There was no cross-reaction in the immunoassay between these three environmental chemicals. These results suggest that microarray-based immunoassays with DNA/dye conjugate labels are useful tools for the rapid, sensitive, and high throughput screening of multiple environmental contaminants.

  7. Human Leukocyte Antigen Typing Using a Knowledge Base Coupled with a High-Throughput Oligonucleotide Probe Array Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Guang Lan; Keskin, Derin B.; Lin, Hsin-Nan; Lin, Hong Huang; DeLuca, David S.; Leppanen, Scott; Milford, Edgar L.; Reinherz, Ellis L.; Brusic, Vladimir

    2014-01-01

    Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) are important biomarkers because multiple diseases, drug toxicity, and vaccine responses reveal strong HLA associations. Current clinical HLA typing is an elimination process requiring serial testing. We present an alternative in situ synthesized DNA-based microarray method that contains hundreds of thousands of probes representing a complete overlapping set covering 1,610 clinically relevant HLA class I alleles accompanied by computational tools for assigning HLA type to 4-digit resolution. Our proof-of-concept experiment included 21 blood samples, 18 cell lines, and multiple controls. The method is accurate, robust, and amenable to automation. Typing errors were restricted to homozygous samples or those with very closely related alleles from the same locus, but readily resolved by targeted DNA sequencing validation of flagged samples. High-throughput HLA typing technologies that are effective, yet inexpensive, can be used to analyze the world’s populations, benefiting both global public health and personalized health care. PMID:25505899

  8. High-throughput Identification of Bacteria Repellent Polymers for Medical Devices

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Mei; Hardman, Ailsa; Lilienkampf, Annamaria; Pernagallo, Salvatore; Blakely, Garry; Swann, David G.; Bradley, Mark; Gallagher, Maurice P.

    2016-01-01

    Medical devices are often associated with hospital-acquired infections, which place enormous strain on patients and the healthcare system as well as contributing to antimicrobial resistance. One possible avenue for the reduction of device-associated infections is the identification of bacteria-repellent polymer coatings for these devices, which would prevent bacterial binding at the initial attachment step. A method for the identification of such repellent polymers, based on the parallel screening of hundreds of polymers using a microarray, is described here. This high-throughput method resulted in the identification of a range of promising polymers that resisted binding of various clinically relevant bacterial species individually and also as multi-species communities. One polymer, PA13 (poly(methylmethacrylate-co-dimethylacrylamide)), demonstrated significant reduction in attachment of a number of hospital isolates when coated onto two commercially available central venous catheters. The method described could be applied to identify polymers for a wide range of applications in which modification of bacterial attachment is important. PMID:27842360

  9. Interim Report on SNP analysis and forensic microarray probe design for South American hemorrhagic fever viruses, tick-borne encephalitis virus, henipaviruses, Old World Arenaviruses, filoviruses, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses, Rift Valley fever

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jaing, C; Gardner, S

    The goal of this project is to develop forensic genotyping assays for select agent viruses, enhancing the current capabilities for the viral bioforensics and law enforcement community. We used a multipronged approach combining bioinformatics analysis, PCR-enriched samples, microarrays and TaqMan assays to develop high resolution and cost effective genotyping methods for strain level forensic discrimination of viruses. We have leveraged substantial experience and efficiency gained through year 1 on software development, SNP discovery, TaqMan signature design and phylogenetic signature mapping to scale up the development of forensics signatures in year 2. In this report, we have summarized the whole genomemore » wide SNP analysis and microarray probe design for forensics characterization of South American hemorrhagic fever viruses, tick-borne encephalitis viruses and henipaviruses, Old World Arenaviruses, filoviruses, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Rift Valley fever virus and Japanese encephalitis virus.« less

  10. Confident difference criterion: a new Bayesian differentially expressed gene selection algorithm with applications.

    PubMed

    Yu, Fang; Chen, Ming-Hui; Kuo, Lynn; Talbott, Heather; Davis, John S

    2015-08-07

    Recently, the Bayesian method becomes more popular for analyzing high dimensional gene expression data as it allows us to borrow information across different genes and provides powerful estimators for evaluating gene expression levels. It is crucial to develop a simple but efficient gene selection algorithm for detecting differentially expressed (DE) genes based on the Bayesian estimators. In this paper, by extending the two-criterion idea of Chen et al. (Chen M-H, Ibrahim JG, Chi Y-Y. A new class of mixture models for differential gene expression in DNA microarray data. J Stat Plan Inference. 2008;138:387-404), we propose two new gene selection algorithms for general Bayesian models and name these new methods as the confident difference criterion methods. One is based on the standardized differences between two mean expression values among genes; the other adds the differences between two variances to it. The proposed confident difference criterion methods first evaluate the posterior probability of a gene having different gene expressions between competitive samples and then declare a gene to be DE if the posterior probability is large. The theoretical connection between the proposed first method based on the means and the Bayes factor approach proposed by Yu et al. (Yu F, Chen M-H, Kuo L. Detecting differentially expressed genes using alibrated Bayes factors. Statistica Sinica. 2008;18:783-802) is established under the normal-normal-model with equal variances between two samples. The empirical performance of the proposed methods is examined and compared to those of several existing methods via several simulations. The results from these simulation studies show that the proposed confident difference criterion methods outperform the existing methods when comparing gene expressions across different conditions for both microarray studies and sequence-based high-throughput studies. A real dataset is used to further demonstrate the proposed methodology. In the real data application, the confident difference criterion methods successfully identified more clinically important DE genes than the other methods. The confident difference criterion method proposed in this paper provides a new efficient approach for both microarray studies and sequence-based high-throughput studies to identify differentially expressed genes.

  11. Extracellular Vesicle (EV) Array: microarray capturing of exosomes and other extracellular vesicles for multiplexed phenotyping.

    PubMed

    Jørgensen, Malene; Bæk, Rikke; Pedersen, Shona; Søndergaard, Evo K L; Kristensen, Søren R; Varming, Kim

    2013-01-01

    Exosomes are one of the several types of cell-derived vesicles with a diameter of 30-100 nm. These extracellular vesicles are recognized as potential markers of human diseases such as cancer. However, their use in diagnostic tests requires an objective and high-throughput method to define their phenotype and determine their concentration in biological fluids. To identify circulating as well as cell culture-derived vesicles, the current standard is immunoblotting or a flow cytometrical analysis for specific proteins, both of which requires large amounts of purified vesicles. Based on the technology of protein microarray, we hereby present a highly sensitive Extracellular Vesicle (EV) Array capable of detecting and phenotyping exosomes and other extracellular vesicles from unpurified starting material in a high-throughput manner. To only detect the exosomes captured on the EV Array, a cocktail of antibodies against the tetraspanins CD9, CD63 and CD81 was used. These antibodies were selected to ensure that all exosomes captured are detected, and concomitantly excluding the detection of other types of microvesicles. The limit of detection (LOD) was determined on exosomes derived from the colon cancer cell line LS180. It clarified that supernatant from only approximately 10(4) cells was needed to obtain signals or that only 2.5×10(4) exosomes were required for each microarray spot (~1 nL). Phenotyping was performed on plasma (1-10 µL) from 7 healthy donors, which were applied to the EV Array with a panel of antibodies against 21 different cellular surface antigens and cancer antigens. For each donor, there was considerable heterogeneity in the expression levels of individual markers. The protein profiles of the exosomes (defined as positive for CD9, CD63 and CD81) revealed that only the expression level of CD9 and CD81 was approximately equal in the 7 donors. This implies questioning the use of CD63 as a standard exosomal marker since the expression level of this tetraspanin was considerably lower.

  12. Whole mitochondrial genome sequencing of domestic horses reveals incorporation of extensive wild horse diversity during domestication

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background DNA target enrichment by micro-array capture combined with high throughput sequencing technologies provides the possibility to obtain large amounts of sequence data (e.g. whole mitochondrial DNA genomes) from multiple individuals at relatively low costs. Previously, whole mitochondrial genome data for domestic horses (Equus caballus) were limited to only a few specimens and only short parts of the mtDNA genome (especially the hypervariable region) were investigated for larger sample sets. Results In this study we investigated whole mitochondrial genomes of 59 domestic horses from 44 breeds and a single Przewalski horse (Equus przewalski) using a recently described multiplex micro-array capture approach. We found 473 variable positions within the domestic horses, 292 of which are parsimony-informative, providing a well resolved phylogenetic tree. Our divergence time estimate suggests that the mitochondrial genomes of modern horse breeds shared a common ancestor around 93,000 years ago and no later than 38,000 years ago. A Bayesian skyline plot (BSP) reveals a significant population expansion beginning 6,000-8,000 years ago with an ongoing exponential growth until the present, similar to other domestic animal species. Our data further suggest that a large sample of wild horse diversity was incorporated into the domestic population; specifically, at least 46 of the mtDNA lineages observed in domestic horses (73%) already existed before the beginning of domestication about 5,000 years ago. Conclusions Our study provides a window into the maternal origins of extant domestic horses and confirms that modern domestic breeds present a wide sample of the mtDNA diversity found in ancestral, now extinct, wild horse populations. The data obtained allow us to detect a population expansion event coinciding with the beginning of domestication and to estimate both the minimum number of female horses incorporated into the domestic gene pool and the time depth of the domestic horse mtDNA gene pool. PMID:22082251

  13. Crossword: A Fully Automated Algorithm for the Segmentation and Quality Control of Protein Microarray Images

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Biological assays formatted as microarrays have become a critical tool for the generation of the comprehensive data sets required for systems-level understanding of biological processes. Manual annotation of data extracted from images of microarrays, however, remains a significant bottleneck, particularly for protein microarrays due to the sensitivity of this technology to weak artifact signal. In order to automate the extraction and curation of data from protein microarrays, we describe an algorithm called Crossword that logically combines information from multiple approaches to fully automate microarray segmentation. Automated artifact removal is also accomplished by segregating structured pixels from the background noise using iterative clustering and pixel connectivity. Correlation of the location of structured pixels across image channels is used to identify and remove artifact pixels from the image prior to data extraction. This component improves the accuracy of data sets while reducing the requirement for time-consuming visual inspection of the data. Crossword enables a fully automated protocol that is robust to significant spatial and intensity aberrations. Overall, the average amount of user intervention is reduced by an order of magnitude and the data quality is increased through artifact removal and reduced user variability. The increase in throughput should aid the further implementation of microarray technologies in clinical studies. PMID:24417579

  14. Winnowing DNA for Rare Sequences: Highly Specific Sequence and Methylation Based Enrichment

    PubMed Central

    Thompson, Jason D.; Shibahara, Gosuke; Rajan, Sweta; Pel, Joel; Marziali, Andre

    2012-01-01

    Rare mutations in cell populations are known to be hallmarks of many diseases and cancers. Similarly, differential DNA methylation patterns arise in rare cell populations with diagnostic potential such as fetal cells circulating in maternal blood. Unfortunately, the frequency of alleles with diagnostic potential, relative to wild-type background sequence, is often well below the frequency of errors in currently available methods for sequence analysis, including very high throughput DNA sequencing. We demonstrate a DNA preparation and purification method that through non-linear electrophoretic separation in media containing oligonucleotide probes, achieves 10,000 fold enrichment of target DNA with single nucleotide specificity, and 100 fold enrichment of unmodified methylated DNA differing from the background by the methylation of a single cytosine residue. PMID:22355378

  15. Extending Immunological Profiling in the Gilthead Sea Bream, Sparus aurata, by Enriched cDNA Library Analysis, Microarray Design and Initial Studies upon the Inflammatory Response to PAMPs.

    PubMed

    Boltaña, Sebastian; Castellana, Barbara; Goetz, Giles; Tort, Lluis; Teles, Mariana; Mulero, Victor; Novoa, Beatriz; Figueras, Antonio; Goetz, Frederick W; Gallardo-Escarate, Cristian; Planas, Josep V; Mackenzie, Simon

    2017-02-03

    This study describes the development and validation of an enriched oligonucleotide-microarray platform for Sparus aurata (SAQ) to provide a platform for transcriptomic studies in this species. A transcriptome database was constructed by assembly of gilthead sea bream sequences derived from public repositories of mRNA together with reads from a large collection of expressed sequence tags (EST) from two extensive targeted cDNA libraries characterizing mRNA transcripts regulated by both bacterial and viral challenge. The developed microarray was further validated by analysing monocyte/macrophage activation profiles after challenge with two Gram-negative bacterial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs; lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and peptidoglycan (PGN)). Of the approximately 10,000 EST sequenced, we obtained a total of 6837 EST longer than 100 nt, with 3778 and 3059 EST obtained from the bacterial-primed and from the viral-primed cDNA libraries, respectively. Functional classification of contigs from the bacterial- and viral-primed cDNA libraries by Gene Ontology (GO) showed that the top five represented categories were equally represented in the two libraries: metabolism (approximately 24% of the total number of contigs), carrier proteins/membrane transport (approximately 15%), effectors/modulators and cell communication (approximately 11%), nucleoside, nucleotide and nucleic acid metabolism (approximately 7.5%) and intracellular transducers/signal transduction (approximately 5%). Transcriptome analyses using this enriched oligonucleotide platform identified differential shifts in the response to PGN and LPS in macrophage-like cells, highlighting responsive gene-cassettes tightly related to PAMP host recognition. As observed in other fish species, PGN is a powerful activator of the inflammatory response in S. aurata macrophage-like cells. We have developed and validated an oligonucleotide microarray (SAQ) that provides a platform enriched for the study of gene expression in S. aurata with an emphasis upon immunity and the immune response.

  16. Characterization of Bovine Serum Albumin Blocking Efficiency on Epoxy-Functionalized Substrates for Microarray Applications.

    PubMed

    Sun, Yung-Shin; Zhu, Xiangdong

    2016-10-01

    Microarrays provide a platform for high-throughput characterization of biomolecular interactions. To increase the sensitivity and specificity of microarrays, surface blocking is required to minimize the nonspecific interactions between analytes and unprinted yet functionalized surfaces. To block amine- or epoxy-functionalized substrates, bovine serum albumin (BSA) is one of the most commonly used blocking reagents because it is cheap and easy to use. Based on standard protocols from microarray manufactories, a BSA concentration of 1% (10 mg/mL or 200 μM) and reaction time of at least 30 min are required to efficiently block epoxy-coated slides. In this paper, we used both fluorescent and label-free methods to characterize the BSA blocking efficiency on epoxy-functionalized substrates. The blocking efficiency of BSA was characterized using a fluorescent scanner and a label-free oblique-incidence reflectivity difference (OI-RD) microscope. We found that (1) a BSA concentration of 0.05% (0.5 mg/mL or 10 μM) could give a blocking efficiency of 98%, and (2) the BSA blocking step took only about 5 min to be complete. Also, from real-time and in situ measurements, we were able to calculate the conformational properties (thickness, mass density, and number density) of BSA molecules deposited on the epoxy surface. © 2015 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

  17. Direct Detection of Drug-Resistant Hepatitis B Virus in Serum Using a Dendron-Modified Microarray

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Doo Hyun; Kang, Hong Seok; Hur, Seong-Suk; Sim, Seobo; Ahn, Sung Hyun; Park, Yong Kwang; Park, Eun-Sook; Lee, Ah Ram; Park, Soree; Kwon, So Young; Lee, Jeong-Hoon

    2018-01-01

    Background/Aims Direct sequencing is the gold standard for the detection of drug-resistance mutations in hepatitis B virus (HBV); however, this procedure is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and difficult to adapt to high-throughput screening. In this study, we aimed to develop a dendron-modified DNA microarray for the detection of genotypic resistance mutations and evaluate its efficiency. Methods The specificity, sensitivity, and selectivity of dendron-modified slides for the detection of representative drug-resistance mutations were evaluated and compared to those of conventional slides. The diagnostic accuracy was validated using sera obtained from 13 patients who developed viral breakthrough during lamivudine, adefovir, or entecavir therapy and compared with the accuracy of restriction fragment mass polymorphism and direct sequencing data. Results The dendron-modified slides significantly outperformed the conventional microarray slides and were able to detect HBV DNA at a very low level (1 copy/μL). Notably, HBV mutants could be detected in the chronic hepatitis B patient sera without virus purification. The validation of our data revealed that this technique is fully compatible with sequencing data of drug-resistant HBV. Conclusions We developed a novel diagnostic technique for the simultaneous detection of several drug-resistance mutations using a dendron-modified DNA microarray. This technique can be directly applied to sera from chronic hepatitis B patients who show resistance to several nucleos(t)ide analogues. PMID:29271185

  18. MMASS: an optimized array-based method for assessing CpG island methylation.

    PubMed

    Ibrahim, Ashraf E K; Thorne, Natalie P; Baird, Katie; Barbosa-Morais, Nuno L; Tavaré, Simon; Collins, V Peter; Wyllie, Andrew H; Arends, Mark J; Brenton, James D

    2006-01-01

    We describe an optimized microarray method for identifying genome-wide CpG island methylation called microarray-based methylation assessment of single samples (MMASS) which directly compares methylated to unmethylated sequences within a single sample. To improve previous methods we used bioinformatic analysis to predict an optimized combination of methylation-sensitive enzymes that had the highest utility for CpG-island probes and different methods to produce unmethylated representations of test DNA for more sensitive detection of differential methylation by hybridization. Subtraction or methylation-dependent digestion with McrBC was used with optimized (MMASS-v2) or previously described (MMASS-v1, MMASS-sub) methylation-sensitive enzyme combinations and compared with a published McrBC method. Comparison was performed using DNA from the cell line HCT116. We show that the distribution of methylation microarray data is inherently skewed and requires exogenous spiked controls for normalization and that analysis of digestion of methylated and unmethylated control sequences together with linear fit models of replicate data showed superior statistical power for the MMASS-v2 method. Comparison with previous methylation data for HCT116 and validation of CpG islands from PXMP4, SFRP2, DCC, RARB and TSEN2 confirmed the accuracy of MMASS-v2 results. The MMASS-v2 method offers improved sensitivity and statistical power for high-throughput microarray identification of differential methylation.

  19. Phylogeonomics and Ecogenomics of the Mycorrhizal Symbiosis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kuo, Alan; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Kohler, Annegret

    Mycorrhizal fungi play critical roles in host plant health, soil community structure and chemistry, and carbon and nutrient cycling, all areas of intense interest to the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI). To this end we are building on our earlier sequencing of the Laccaria bicolor genome by partnering with INRA-Nancy and the mycorrhizal research community in the MGI to sequence and analyze 2 dozen mycorrhizal genomes of numerous known mycorrhizal orders and several ecological types (ectomycorrhizal [ECM], ericoid, orchid, and arbuscular). JGI has developed and deployed high-throughput pipelines for genomic, transcriptomic, and re-sequencing, and platforms formore » assembly, annotation, and analysis. In the last 2 years we have sequenced 21 genomes of mycorrhizal fungi, and resequenced 6 additional strains of L. bicolor. Most of this data is publicly available on JGI MycoCosm?s Mycorrhizal Fungi Portal (http://jgi.doe.gov/Mycorrhizal_fungi/), which provides access to both the genome data and tools with which to analyze the data. These data allow us to address long-standing issues in mycorrhizal evolution and ecology. For example, a major observation of mycorrhizal evolution is that each of the major ecological types appears to have evolved independently in multiple fungal clades. Using an ecogenomic approach we provide preliminary evidence that 2 clades (Cantharellales and Sebacinales) of a single symbiotic ecotype (orchid) utilize some common regulatory (protein tyrosine kinase) and metabolic (lipase) paths, the latter of which may be the product of HGT. Using a phylogenomic approach we provide preliminary evidence that a particular ecotype (ericoid) may have evolved more than once within a major clade (Leotiomycetes).« less

  20. Prediction of epigenetically regulated genes in breast cancer cell lines

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Loss, Leandro A; Sadanandam, Anguraj; Durinck, Steffen

    Methylation of CpG islands within the DNA promoter regions is one mechanism that leads to aberrant gene expression in cancer. In particular, the abnormal methylation of CpG islands may silence associated genes. Therefore, using high-throughput microarrays to measure CpG island methylation will lead to better understanding of tumor pathobiology and progression, while revealing potentially new biomarkers. We have examined a recently developed high-throughput technology for measuring genome-wide methylation patterns called mTACL. Here, we propose a computational pipeline for integrating gene expression and CpG island methylation profles to identify epigenetically regulated genes for a panel of 45 breast cancer cell lines,more » which is widely used in the Integrative Cancer Biology Program (ICBP). The pipeline (i) reduces the dimensionality of the methylation data, (ii) associates the reduced methylation data with gene expression data, and (iii) ranks methylation-expression associations according to their epigenetic regulation. Dimensionality reduction is performed in two steps: (i) methylation sites are grouped across the genome to identify regions of interest, and (ii) methylation profles are clustered within each region. Associations between the clustered methylation and the gene expression data sets generate candidate matches within a fxed neighborhood around each gene. Finally, the methylation-expression associations are ranked through a logistic regression, and their significance is quantified through permutation analysis. Our two-step dimensionality reduction compressed 90% of the original data, reducing 137,688 methylation sites to 14,505 clusters. Methylation-expression associations produced 18,312 correspondences, which were used to further analyze epigenetic regulation. Logistic regression was used to identify 58 genes from these correspondences that showed a statistically signifcant negative correlation between methylation profles and gene expression in the panel of breast cancer cell lines. Subnetwork enrichment of these genes has identifed 35 common regulators with 6 or more predicted markers. In addition to identifying epigenetically regulated genes, we show evidence of differentially expressed methylation patterns between the basal and luminal subtypes. Our results indicate that the proposed computational protocol is a viable platform for identifying epigenetically regulated genes. Our protocol has generated a list of predictors including COL1A2, TOP2A, TFF1, and VAV3, genes whose key roles in epigenetic regulation is documented in the literature. Subnetwork enrichment of these predicted markers further suggests that epigenetic regulation of individual genes occurs in a coordinated fashion and through common regulators.« less

  1. Segment and fit thresholding: a new method for image analysis applied to microarray and immunofluorescence data.

    PubMed

    Ensink, Elliot; Sinha, Jessica; Sinha, Arkadeep; Tang, Huiyuan; Calderone, Heather M; Hostetter, Galen; Winter, Jordan; Cherba, David; Brand, Randall E; Allen, Peter J; Sempere, Lorenzo F; Haab, Brian B

    2015-10-06

    Experiments involving the high-throughput quantification of image data require algorithms for automation. A challenge in the development of such algorithms is to properly interpret signals over a broad range of image characteristics, without the need for manual adjustment of parameters. Here we present a new approach for locating signals in image data, called Segment and Fit Thresholding (SFT). The method assesses statistical characteristics of small segments of the image and determines the best-fit trends between the statistics. Based on the relationships, SFT identifies segments belonging to background regions; analyzes the background to determine optimal thresholds; and analyzes all segments to identify signal pixels. We optimized the initial settings for locating background and signal in antibody microarray and immunofluorescence data and found that SFT performed well over multiple, diverse image characteristics without readjustment of settings. When used for the automated analysis of multicolor, tissue-microarray images, SFT correctly found the overlap of markers with known subcellular localization, and it performed better than a fixed threshold and Otsu's method for selected images. SFT promises to advance the goal of full automation in image analysis.

  2. Segment and Fit Thresholding: A New Method for Image Analysis Applied to Microarray and Immunofluorescence Data

    PubMed Central

    Ensink, Elliot; Sinha, Jessica; Sinha, Arkadeep; Tang, Huiyuan; Calderone, Heather M.; Hostetter, Galen; Winter, Jordan; Cherba, David; Brand, Randall E.; Allen, Peter J.; Sempere, Lorenzo F.; Haab, Brian B.

    2016-01-01

    Certain experiments involve the high-throughput quantification of image data, thus requiring algorithms for automation. A challenge in the development of such algorithms is to properly interpret signals over a broad range of image characteristics, without the need for manual adjustment of parameters. Here we present a new approach for locating signals in image data, called Segment and Fit Thresholding (SFT). The method assesses statistical characteristics of small segments of the image and determines the best-fit trends between the statistics. Based on the relationships, SFT identifies segments belonging to background regions; analyzes the background to determine optimal thresholds; and analyzes all segments to identify signal pixels. We optimized the initial settings for locating background and signal in antibody microarray and immunofluorescence data and found that SFT performed well over multiple, diverse image characteristics without readjustment of settings. When used for the automated analysis of multi-color, tissue-microarray images, SFT correctly found the overlap of markers with known subcellular localization, and it performed better than a fixed threshold and Otsu’s method for selected images. SFT promises to advance the goal of full automation in image analysis. PMID:26339978

  3. A Versatile Method for Functionalizing Surfaces with Bioactive Glycans

    PubMed Central

    Cheng, Fang; Shang, Jing; Ratner, Daniel M.

    2011-01-01

    Microarrays and biosensors owe their functionality to our ability to display surface-bound biomolecules with retained biological function. Versatile, stable, and facile methods for the immobilization of bioactive compounds on surfaces have expanded the application of high-throughput ‘omics’-scale screening of molecular interactions by non-expert laboratories. Herein, we demonstrate the potential of simplified chemistries to fabricate a glycan microarray, utilizing divinyl sulfone (DVS)-modified surfaces for the covalent immobilization of natural and chemically derived carbohydrates, as well as glycoproteins. The bioactivity of the captured glycans was quantitatively examined by surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi). Composition and spectroscopic evidence of carbohydrate species on the DVS-modified surface were obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), respectively. The site-selective immobilization of glycans based on relative nucleophilicity (reducing sugar vs. amine- and sulfhydryl-derived saccharides) and anomeric configuration was also examined. Our results demonstrate straightforward and reproducible conjugation of a variety of functional biomolecules onto a vinyl sulfone-modified biosensor surface. The simplicity of this method will have a significant impact on glycomics research, as it expands the ability of non-synthetic laboratories to rapidly construct functional glycan microarrays and quantitative biosensors. PMID:21142056

  4. A microarray for assessing transcription from pelagic marine microbial taxa

    PubMed Central

    Shilova, Irina N; Robidart, Julie C; James Tripp, H; Turk-Kubo, Kendra; Wawrik, Boris; Post, Anton F; Thompson, Anne W; Ward, Bess; Hollibaugh, James T; Millard, Andy; Ostrowski, Martin; J Scanlan, David; Paerl, Ryan W; Stuart, Rhona; Zehr, Jonathan P

    2014-01-01

    Metagenomic approaches have revealed unprecedented genetic diversity within microbial communities across vast expanses of the world's oceans. Linking this genetic diversity with key metabolic and cellular activities of microbial assemblages is a fundamental challenge. Here we report on a collaborative effort to design MicroTOOLs (Microbiological Targets for Ocean Observing Laboratories), a high-density oligonucleotide microarray that targets functional genes of diverse taxa in pelagic and coastal marine microbial communities. MicroTOOLs integrates nucleotide sequence information from disparate data types: genomes, PCR-amplicons, metagenomes, and metatranscriptomes. It targets 19 400 unique sequences over 145 different genes that are relevant to stress responses and microbial metabolism across the three domains of life and viruses. MicroTOOLs was used in a proof-of-concept experiment that compared the functional responses of microbial communities following Fe and P enrichments of surface water samples from the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. We detected transcription of 68% of the gene targets across major taxonomic groups, and the pattern of transcription indicated relief from Fe limitation and transition to N limitation in some taxa. Prochlorococcus (eHLI), Synechococcus (sub-cluster 5.3) and Alphaproteobacteria SAR11 clade (HIMB59) showed the strongest responses to the Fe enrichment. In addition, members of uncharacterized lineages also responded. The MicroTOOLs microarray provides a robust tool for comprehensive characterization of major functional groups of microbes in the open ocean, and the design can be easily amended for specific environments and research questions. PMID:24477198

  5. High-throughput rare cell separation from blood samples using steric hindrance and inertial microfluidics.

    PubMed

    Shen, Shaofei; Ma, Chao; Zhao, Lei; Wang, Yaolei; Wang, Jian-Chun; Xu, Juan; Li, Tianbao; Pang, Long; Wang, Jinyi

    2014-07-21

    The presence and quantity of rare cells in the bloodstream of cancer patients provide a potentially accessible source for the early detection of invasive cancer and for monitoring the treatment of advanced diseases. The separation of rare cells from peripheral blood, as a "virtual and real-time liquid biopsy", is expected to replace conventional tissue biopsies of metastatic tumors for therapy guidance. However, technical obstacles, similar to looking for a needle in a haystack, have hindered the broad clinical utility of this method. In this study, we developed a multistage microfluidic device for continuous label-free separation and enrichment of rare cells from blood samples based on cell size and deformability. We successfully separated tumor cells (MCF-7 and HeLa cells) and leukemic (K562) cells spiked in diluted whole blood using a unique complementary combination of inertial microfluidics and steric hindrance in a microfluidic system. The processing parameters of the inertial focusing and steric hindrance regions were optimized to achieve high-throughput and high-efficiency separation, significant advantages compared with existing rare cell isolation technologies. The results from experiments with rare cells spiked in 1% hematocrit blood indicated >90% cell recovery at a throughput of 2.24 × 10(7) cells min(-1). The enrichment of rare cells was >2.02 × 10(5)-fold. Thus, this microfluidic system driven by purely hydrodynamic forces has practical potential to be applied either alone or as a sample preparation platform for fundamental studies and clinical applications.

  6. A New Microarray Substrate for Ultra-Sensitive Genotyping of KRAS and BRAF Gene Variants in Colorectal Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Pinzani, Pamela; Mancini, Irene; Vinci, Serena; Chiari, Marcella; Orlando, Claudio; Cremonesi, Laura; Ferrari, Maurizio

    2013-01-01

    Molecular diagnostics of human cancers may increase accuracy in prognosis, facilitate the selection of the optimal therapeutic regimen, improve patient outcome, reduce costs of treatment and favour development of personalized approaches to patient care. Moreover sensitivity and specificity are fundamental characteristics of any diagnostic method. We developed a highly sensitive microarray for the detection of common KRAS and BRAF oncogenic mutations. In colorectal cancer, KRAS and BRAF mutations have been shown to identify a cluster of patients that does not respond to anti-EGFR therapies; the identification of these mutations is therefore clinically extremely important. To verify the technical characteristics of the microarray system for the correct identification of the KRAS mutational status at the two hotspot codons 12 and 13 and of the BRAFV600E mutation in colorectal tumor, we selected 75 samples previously characterized by conventional and CO-amplification at Lower Denaturation temperature-PCR (COLD-PCR) followed by High Resolution Melting analysis and direct sequencing. Among these samples, 60 were collected during surgery and immediately steeped in RNAlater while the 15 remainders were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. The detection limit of the proposed method was different for the 7 KRAS mutations tested and for the V600E BRAF mutation. In particular, the microarray system has been able to detect a minimum of about 0.01% of mutated alleles in a background of wild-type DNA. A blind validation displayed complete concordance of results. The excellent agreement of the results showed that the new microarray substrate is highly specific in assigning the correct genotype without any enrichment strategy. PMID:23536897

  7. A new DPYD genotyping assay for improving the safety of 5-fluorouracil therapy.

    PubMed

    Sistonen, Johanna; Smith, Chingying; Fu, Yung-Kang; Largiadèr, Carlo R

    2012-12-24

    Chemotherapeutic use of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) is compromised by 10-20% of patients developing severe toxicity. Recently described genetic variation in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD) has been shown to be a major predictor of 5FU toxicity. Here, we describe a new genotyping assay for routine clinical use that covers all the major DPYD risk variants. Genomic regions targeting DPYD risk variants (c.1129-5923C>G, c.1679T>G/A, c.1905+1G>A, c.2846A>T) and additional markers (c.234-123G>C, c.496A>G, c.775A>G) were amplified in a multiplex PCR reaction. The subsequent steps including allele-specific primer extension, hybridization of the primers to a microarray, scanning of the array, and data analysis were automated within the INFINITI® Analyzer (AutoGenomics). The assay was validated by analyzing 107 blood samples obtained from patients previously re-sequenced for the DPYD. The genotypes obtained with the developed assay were 100% concordant with the re-sequencing. The procedure is suitable for routine clinical use since the results are obtained within one day. For heterozygous risk variant carriers (~7% of Europeans), the treatment can be adjusted by 5FU dose reduction, whereas carriers of two risk alleles should be treated with an alternative therapy. The developed assay provides a novel tool to improve the safety of commonly used 5FU-based chemotherapies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. SSHscreen and SSHdb, generic software for microarray based gene discovery: application to the stress response in cowpea

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Suppression subtractive hybridization is a popular technique for gene discovery from non-model organisms without an annotated genome sequence, such as cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp). We aimed to use this method to enrich for genes expressed during drought stress in a drought tolerant cowpea line. However, current methods were inefficient in screening libraries and management of the sequence data, and thus there was a need to develop software tools to facilitate the process. Results Forward and reverse cDNA libraries enriched for cowpea drought response genes were screened on microarrays, and the R software package SSHscreen 2.0.1 was developed (i) to normalize the data effectively using spike-in control spot normalization, and (ii) to select clones for sequencing based on the calculation of enrichment ratios with associated statistics. Enrichment ratio 3 values for each clone showed that 62% of the forward library and 34% of the reverse library clones were significantly differentially expressed by drought stress (adjusted p value < 0.05). Enrichment ratio 2 calculations showed that > 88% of the clones in both libraries were derived from rare transcripts in the original tester samples, thus supporting the notion that suppression subtractive hybridization enriches for rare transcripts. A set of 118 clones were chosen for sequencing, and drought-induced cowpea genes were identified, the most interesting encoding a late embryogenesis abundant Lea5 protein, a glutathione S-transferase, a thaumatin, a universal stress protein, and a wound induced protein. A lipid transfer protein and several components of photosynthesis were down-regulated by the drought stress. Reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR confirmed the enrichment ratio values for the selected cowpea genes. SSHdb, a web-accessible database, was developed to manage the clone sequences and combine the SSHscreen data with sequence annotations derived from BLAST and Blast2GO. The self-BLAST function within SSHdb grouped redundant clones together and illustrated that the SSHscreen plots are a useful tool for choosing anonymous clones for sequencing, since redundant clones cluster together on the enrichment ratio plots. Conclusions We developed the SSHscreen-SSHdb software pipeline, which greatly facilitates gene discovery using suppression subtractive hybridization by improving the selection of clones for sequencing after screening the library on a small number of microarrays. Annotation of the sequence information and collaboration was further enhanced through a web-based SSHdb database, and we illustrated this through identification of drought responsive genes from cowpea, which can now be investigated in gene function studies. SSH is a popular and powerful gene discovery tool, and therefore this pipeline will have application for gene discovery in any biological system, particularly non-model organisms. SSHscreen 2.0.1 and a link to SSHdb are available from http://microarray.up.ac.za/SSHscreen. PMID:20359330

  9. Shrink-induced sorting using integrated nanoscale magnetic traps.

    PubMed

    Nawarathna, Dharmakeerthi; Norouzi, Nazila; McLane, Jolie; Sharma, Himanshu; Sharac, Nicholas; Grant, Ted; Chen, Aaron; Strayer, Scott; Ragan, Regina; Khine, Michelle

    2013-02-11

    We present a plastic microfluidic device with integrated nanoscale magnetic traps (NSMTs) that separates magnetic from non-magnetic beads with high purity and throughput, and unprecedented enrichments. Numerical simulations indicate significantly higher localized magnetic field gradients than previously reported. We demonstrated >20 000-fold enrichment for 0.001% magnetic bead mixtures. Since we achieve high purity at all flow-rates tested, this is a robust, rapid, portable, and simple solution to sort target species from small volumes amenable for point-of-care applications. We used the NSMT in a 96 well format to extract DNA from small sample volumes for quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).

  10. Analysis and modelling of septic shock microarray data using Singular Value Decomposition.

    PubMed

    Allanki, Srinivas; Dixit, Madhulika; Thangaraj, Paul; Sinha, Nandan Kumar

    2017-06-01

    Being a high throughput technique, enormous amounts of microarray data has been generated and there arises a need for more efficient techniques of analysis, in terms of speed and accuracy. Finding the differentially expressed genes based on just fold change and p-value might not extract all the vital biological signals that occur at a lower gene expression level. Besides this, numerous mathematical models have been generated to predict the clinical outcome from microarray data, while very few, if not none, aim at predicting the vital genes that are important in a disease progression. Such models help a basic researcher narrow down and concentrate on a promising set of genes which leads to the discovery of gene-based therapies. In this article, as a first objective, we have used the lesser known and used Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) technique to build a microarray data analysis tool that works with gene expression patterns and intrinsic structure of the data in an unsupervised manner. We have re-analysed a microarray data over the clinical course of Septic shock from Cazalis et al. (2014) and have shown that our proposed analysis provides additional information compared to the conventional method. As a second objective, we developed a novel mathematical model that predicts a set of vital genes in the disease progression that works by generating samples in the continuum between health and disease, using a simple normal-distribution-based random number generator. We also verify that most of the predicted genes are indeed related to septic shock. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Gene set analysis approaches for RNA-seq data: performance evaluation and application guideline

    PubMed Central

    Rahmatallah, Yasir; Emmert-Streib, Frank

    2016-01-01

    Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) is gradually replacing microarrays for high-throughput studies of gene expression. The main challenge of analyzing microarray data is not in finding differentially expressed genes, but in gaining insights into the biological processes underlying phenotypic differences. To interpret experimental results from microarrays, gene set analysis (GSA) has become the method of choice, in particular because it incorporates pre-existing biological knowledge (in a form of functionally related gene sets) into the analysis. Here we provide a brief review of several statistically different GSA approaches (competitive and self-contained) that can be adapted from microarrays practice as well as those specifically designed for RNA-seq. We evaluate their performance (in terms of Type I error rate, power, robustness to the sample size and heterogeneity, as well as the sensitivity to different types of selection biases) on simulated and real RNA-seq data. Not surprisingly, the performance of various GSA approaches depends only on the statistical hypothesis they test and does not depend on whether the test was developed for microarrays or RNA-seq data. Interestingly, we found that competitive methods have lower power as well as robustness to the samples heterogeneity than self-contained methods, leading to poor results reproducibility. We also found that the power of unsupervised competitive methods depends on the balance between up- and down-regulated genes in tested gene sets. These properties of competitive methods have been overlooked before. Our evaluation provides a concise guideline for selecting GSA approaches, best performing under particular experimental settings in the context of RNA-seq. PMID:26342128

  12. ARACNe-based inference, using curated microarray data, of Arabidopsis thaliana root transcriptional regulatory networks

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Uncovering the complex transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) that underlie plant and animal development remains a challenge. However, a vast amount of data from public microarray experiments is available, which can be subject to inference algorithms in order to recover reliable TRN architectures. Results In this study we present a simple bioinformatics methodology that uses public, carefully curated microarray data and the mutual information algorithm ARACNe in order to obtain a database of transcriptional interactions. We used data from Arabidopsis thaliana root samples to show that the transcriptional regulatory networks derived from this database successfully recover previously identified root transcriptional modules and to propose new transcription factors for the SHORT ROOT/SCARECROW and PLETHORA pathways. We further show that these networks are a powerful tool to integrate and analyze high-throughput expression data, as exemplified by our analysis of a SHORT ROOT induction time-course microarray dataset, and are a reliable source for the prediction of novel root gene functions. In particular, we used our database to predict novel genes involved in root secondary cell-wall synthesis and identified the MADS-box TF XAL1/AGL12 as an unexpected participant in this process. Conclusions This study demonstrates that network inference using carefully curated microarray data yields reliable TRN architectures. In contrast to previous efforts to obtain root TRNs, that have focused on particular functional modules or tissues, our root transcriptional interactions provide an overview of the transcriptional pathways present in Arabidopsis thaliana roots and will likely yield a plethora of novel hypotheses to be tested experimentally. PMID:24739361

  13. Meta-analysis of published transcriptional and translational fold changes reveals a preference for low-fold inductions.

    PubMed

    Wren, Jonathan D; Conway, Tyrrell

    2006-01-01

    The goals of this study were to gain a better quantitative understanding of the dynamic range of transcriptional and translational response observed in biological systems and to examine the reporting of regulatory events for trends and biases. A straightforward pattern-matching routine extracted 3,408 independent observations regarding transcriptional fold-changes and 1,125 regarding translational fold-changes from over 15 million MEDLINE abstracts. Approximately 95% of reported changes were > or =2-fold. Further, the historical trend of reporting individual fold-changes is declining in favor of high-throughput methods for transcription but not translation. Where it was possible to compare the average fold-changes in transcription and translation for the same gene/product (203 examples), approximately 53% were a < or =2-fold difference, suggesting a loose tendency for the two to be coupled in magnitude. We found also that approximately three-fourths of reported regulatory events have been at the transcriptional level. The frequency distribution appears to be normally distributed and peaks near 2-fold, suggesting that nature selects for a low-energy solution to regulatory responses. Because high-throughput technologies ordinarily sacrifice measurement quality for quantity, this also suggests that many regulatory events may not be reliably detectable by such technologies. Text mining of regulatory events and responses provides additional information incorporable into microarray analysis, such as prior fold-change observations and flagging genes that are regulated post-transcription. All extracted regulation and response patterns can be downloaded at the following website: www.ou.edu/microarray/ oumcf/Meta_analysis.xls.

  14. Blood group genotyping: from patient to high-throughput donor screening.

    PubMed

    Veldhuisen, B; van der Schoot, C E; de Haas, M

    2009-10-01

    Blood group antigens, present on the cell membrane of red blood cells and platelets, can be defined either serologically or predicted based on the genotypes of genes encoding for blood group antigens. At present, the molecular basis of many antigens of the 30 blood group systems and 17 human platelet antigens is known. In many laboratories, blood group genotyping assays are routinely used for diagnostics in cases where patient red cells cannot be used for serological typing due to the presence of auto-antibodies or after recent transfusions. In addition, DNA genotyping is used to support (un)-expected serological findings. Fetal genotyping is routinely performed when there is a risk of alloimmune-mediated red cell or platelet destruction. In case of patient blood group antigen typing, it is important that a genotyping result is quickly available to support the selection of donor blood, and high-throughput of the genotyping method is not a prerequisite. In addition, genotyping of blood donors will be extremely useful to obtain donor blood with rare phenotypes, for example lacking a high-frequency antigen, and to obtain a fully typed donor database to be used for a better matching between recipient and donor to prevent adverse transfusion reactions. Serological typing of large cohorts of donors is a labour-intensive and expensive exercise and hampered by the lack of sufficient amounts of approved typing reagents for all blood group systems of interest. Currently, high-throughput genotyping based on DNA micro-arrays is a very feasible method to obtain a large pool of well-typed blood donors. Several systems for high-throughput blood group genotyping are developed and will be discussed in this review.

  15. Detection of high-risk mucosal human papillomavirus DNA in human specimens by a novel and sensitive multiplex PCR method combined with DNA microarray.

    PubMed

    Gheit, Tarik; Tommasino, Massimo

    2011-01-01

    Epidemiological and functional studies have clearly demonstrated that certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) from the genus alpha of the HPV phylogenetic tree, referred to as high-risk (HR) types, are the etiological cause of cervical cancer. Several methods for HPV detection and typing have been developed, and their importance in clinical and epidemiological studies has been well demonstrated. However, comparative studies have shown that several assays have different sensitivities for the detection of specific HPV types, particularly in the case of multiple infections. In this chapter, we describe a novel one-shot method for the detection and typing of 19 mucosal HR HPV types (types 16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, 70, 73, and 82). The assay combines the advantages of the multiplex PCR methods, i.e., high sensitivity and the possibility to perform multiple amplifications in a single reaction, with an array primer extension (APEX) assay. The latter method offers the benefits of Sanger dideoxy sequencing with the high-throughput potential of the microarray. Initial studies have revealed that the assay is very sensitive in detecting multiple HPV infections.

  16. High-Throughput, Motility-Based Sorter for Microswimmers and Gene Discovery Platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yuan, Jinzhou; Raizen, David; Bau, Haim

    2015-11-01

    Animal motility varies with genotype, disease progression, aging, and environmental conditions. In many studies, it is desirable to carry out high throughput motility-based sorting to isolate rare animals for, among other things, forward genetic screens to identify genetic pathways that regulate phenotypes of interest. Many commonly used screening processes are labor-intensive, lack sensitivity, and require extensive investigator training. Here, we describe a sensitive, high throughput, automated, motility-based method for sorting nematodes. Our method was implemented in a simple microfluidic device capable of sorting many thousands of animals per hour per module, and is amenable to parallelism. The device successfully enriched for known C. elegans motility mutants. Furthermore, using this device, we isolated low-abundance mutants capable of suppressing the somnogenic effects of the flp-13 gene, which regulates sleep-like quiescence in C. elegans. Subsequent genomic sequencing led to the identification of a flp-13-suppressor gene. This research was supported, in part, by NIH NIA Grant 5R03AG042690-02.

  17. A short insertion mutation disrupts genesis of miR-16 and causes increased body weight in domesticated chicken.

    PubMed

    Jia, Xinzheng; Lin, Huiran; Nie, Qinghua; Zhang, Xiquan; Lamont, Susan J

    2016-11-03

    Body weight is one of the most important quantitative traits with high heritability in chicken. We previously mapped a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for body weight by genome-wide association study (GWAS) in an F2 chicken resource population. To identify the causal mutations linked to this QTL, expression profiles were determined on livers of high-weight and low-weight chicken lines by microarray. Combining the expression pattern with SNP effects by GWAS, miR-16 was identified as the most likely potential candidate with a 3.8-fold decrease in high-weight lines. Re-sequencing revealed that a 54-bp insertion mutation in the upstream region of miR-15a-16 displayed high allele frequencies in high-weight commercial broiler line. This mutation resulted in lower miR-16 expression by introducing three novel splicing sites instead of the missing 5' terminal splicing of mature miR-16. Elevating miR-16 significantly inhibited DF-1 chicken embryo cell proliferation, consistent with a role in suppression of cellular growth. The 54-bp insertion was significantly associated with increased body weight, bone size and muscle mass. Also, the insertion mutation tended towards fixation in commercial broilers (Fst > 0.4). Our findings revealed a novel causative mutation for body weight regulation that aids our basic understanding of growth regulation in birds.

  18. A short insertion mutation disrupts genesis of miR-16 and causes increased body weight in domesticated chicken

    PubMed Central

    Jia, Xinzheng; Lin, Huiran; Nie, Qinghua; Zhang, Xiquan; Lamont, Susan J.

    2016-01-01

    Body weight is one of the most important quantitative traits with high heritability in chicken. We previously mapped a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for body weight by genome-wide association study (GWAS) in an F2 chicken resource population. To identify the causal mutations linked to this QTL, expression profiles were determined on livers of high-weight and low-weight chicken lines by microarray. Combining the expression pattern with SNP effects by GWAS, miR-16 was identified as the most likely potential candidate with a 3.8-fold decrease in high-weight lines. Re-sequencing revealed that a 54-bp insertion mutation in the upstream region of miR-15a-16 displayed high allele frequencies in high-weight commercial broiler line. This mutation resulted in lower miR-16 expression by introducing three novel splicing sites instead of the missing 5′ terminal splicing of mature miR-16. Elevating miR-16 significantly inhibited DF-1 chicken embryo cell proliferation, consistent with a role in suppression of cellular growth. The 54-bp insertion was significantly associated with increased body weight, bone size and muscle mass. Also, the insertion mutation tended towards fixation in commercial broilers (Fst > 0.4). Our findings revealed a novel causative mutation for body weight regulation that aids our basic understanding of growth regulation in birds. PMID:27808177

  19. Performance of automated scoring of ER, PR, HER2, CK5/6 and EGFR in breast cancer tissue microarrays in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium

    PubMed Central

    Howat, William J; Blows, Fiona M; Provenzano, Elena; Brook, Mark N; Morris, Lorna; Gazinska, Patrycja; Johnson, Nicola; McDuffus, Leigh‐Anne; Miller, Jodi; Sawyer, Elinor J; Pinder, Sarah; van Deurzen, Carolien H M; Jones, Louise; Sironen, Reijo; Visscher, Daniel; Caldas, Carlos; Daley, Frances; Coulson, Penny; Broeks, Annegien; Sanders, Joyce; Wesseling, Jelle; Nevanlinna, Heli; Fagerholm, Rainer; Blomqvist, Carl; Heikkilä, Päivi; Ali, H Raza; Dawson, Sarah‐Jane; Figueroa, Jonine; Lissowska, Jolanta; Brinton, Louise; Mannermaa, Arto; Kataja, Vesa; Kosma, Veli‐Matti; Cox, Angela; Brock, Ian W; Cross, Simon S; Reed, Malcolm W; Couch, Fergus J; Olson, Janet E; Devillee, Peter; Mesker, Wilma E; Seyaneve, Caroline M; Hollestelle, Antoinette; Benitez, Javier; Perez, Jose Ignacio Arias; Menéndez, Primitiva; Bolla, Manjeet K; Easton, Douglas F; Schmidt, Marjanka K; Pharoah, Paul D; Sherman, Mark E

    2014-01-01

    Abstract Breast cancer risk factors and clinical outcomes vary by tumour marker expression. However, individual studies often lack the power required to assess these relationships, and large‐scale analyses are limited by the need for high throughput, standardized scoring methods. To address these limitations, we assessed whether automated image analysis of immunohistochemically stained tissue microarrays can permit rapid, standardized scoring of tumour markers from multiple studies. Tissue microarray sections prepared in nine studies containing 20 263 cores from 8267 breast cancers stained for two nuclear (oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor), two membranous (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 and epidermal growth factor receptor) and one cytoplasmic (cytokeratin 5/6) marker were scanned as digital images. Automated algorithms were used to score markers in tumour cells using the Ariol system. We compared automated scores against visual reads, and their associations with breast cancer survival. Approximately 65–70% of tissue microarray cores were satisfactory for scoring. Among satisfactory cores, agreement between dichotomous automated and visual scores was highest for oestrogen receptor (Kappa = 0.76), followed by human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Kappa = 0.69) and progesterone receptor (Kappa = 0.67). Automated quantitative scores for these markers were associated with hazard ratios for breast cancer mortality in a dose‐response manner. Considering visual scores of epidermal growth factor receptor or cytokeratin 5/6 as the reference, automated scoring achieved excellent negative predictive value (96–98%), but yielded many false positives (positive predictive value = 30–32%). For all markers, we observed substantial heterogeneity in automated scoring performance across tissue microarrays. Automated analysis is a potentially useful tool for large‐scale, quantitative scoring of immunohistochemically stained tissue microarrays available in consortia. However, continued optimization, rigorous marker‐specific quality control measures and standardization of tissue microarray designs, staining and scoring protocols is needed to enhance results. PMID:27499890

  20. Evaluation of artificial time series microarray data for dynamic gene regulatory network inference.

    PubMed

    Xenitidis, P; Seimenis, I; Kakolyris, S; Adamopoulos, A

    2017-08-07

    High-throughput technology like microarrays is widely used in the inference of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). We focused on time series data since we are interested in the dynamics of GRNs and the identification of dynamic networks. We evaluated the amount of information that exists in artificial time series microarray data and the ability of an inference process to produce accurate models based on them. We used dynamic artificial gene regulatory networks in order to create artificial microarray data. Key features that characterize microarray data such as the time separation of directly triggered genes, the percentage of directly triggered genes and the triggering function type were altered in order to reveal the limits that are imposed by the nature of microarray data on the inference process. We examined the effect of various factors on the inference performance such as the network size, the presence of noise in microarray data, and the network sparseness. We used a system theory approach and examined the relationship between the pole placement of the inferred system and the inference performance. We examined the relationship between the inference performance in the time domain and the true system parameter identification. Simulation results indicated that time separation and the percentage of directly triggered genes are crucial factors. Also, network sparseness, the triggering function type and noise in input data affect the inference performance. When two factors were simultaneously varied, it was found that variation of one parameter significantly affects the dynamic response of the other. Crucial factors were also examined using a real GRN and acquired results confirmed simulation findings with artificial data. Different initial conditions were also used as an alternative triggering approach. Relevant results confirmed that the number of datasets constitutes the most significant parameter with regard to the inference performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andersen, G.L.; He, Z.; DeSantis, T.Z.

    Microarrays have proven to be a useful and high-throughput method to provide targeted DNA sequence information for up to many thousands of specific genetic regions in a single test. A microarray consists of multiple DNA oligonucleotide probes that, under high stringency conditions, hybridize only to specific complementary nucleic acid sequences (targets). A fluorescent signal indicates the presence and, in many cases, the abundance of genetic regions of interest. In this chapter we will look at how microarrays are used in microbial ecology, especially with the recent increase in microbial community DNA sequence data. Of particular interest to microbial ecologists, phylogeneticmore » microarrays are used for the analysis of phylotypes in a community and functional gene arrays are used for the analysis of functional genes, and, by inference, phylotypes in environmental samples. A phylogenetic microarray that has been developed by the Andersen laboratory, the PhyloChip, will be discussed as an example of a microarray that targets the known diversity within the 16S rRNA gene to determine microbial community composition. Using multiple, confirmatory probes to increase the confidence of detection and a mismatch probe for every perfect match probe to minimize the effect of cross-hybridization by non-target regions, the PhyloChip is able to simultaneously identify any of thousands of taxa present in an environmental sample. The PhyloChip is shown to reveal greater diversity within a community than rRNA gene sequencing due to the placement of the entire gene product on the microarray compared with the analysis of up to thousands of individual molecules by traditional sequencing methods. A functional gene array that has been developed by the Zhou laboratory, the GeoChip, will be discussed as an example of a microarray that dynamically identifies functional activities of multiple members within a community. The recent version of GeoChip contains more than 24,000 50mer oligonucleotide probes and covers more than 10,000 gene sequences in 150 gene categories involved in carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus cycling, metal resistance and reduction, and organic contaminant degradation. GeoChip can be used as a generic tool for microbial community analysis, and also link microbial community structure to ecosystem functioning. Examples of the application of both arrays in different environmental samples will be described in the two subsequent sections.« less

  2. Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy for Rapid, High-Resolution Imaging of Circulating Tumor Cells Enriched by Microfiltration.

    PubMed

    Williams, Anthony; Chung, Jaebum; Yang, Changhuei; Cote, Richard J

    2017-01-01

    Examining the hematogenous compartment for evidence of metastasis has increased significantly within the oncology research community in recent years, due to the development of technologies aimed at the enrichment of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), the subpopulation of primary tumor cells that gain access to the circulatory system and are responsible for colonization at distant sites. In contrast to other technologies, filtration-based CTC enrichment, which exploits differences in size between larger tumor cells and surrounding smaller, non-tumor blood cells, has the potential to improve CTC characterization through isolation of tumor cell populations with greater molecular heterogeneity. However, microscopic analysis of uneven filtration surfaces containing CTCs is laborious, time-consuming, and inconsistent, preventing widespread use of filtration-based enrichment technologies. Here, integrated with a microfiltration-based CTC and rare cell enrichment device we have previously described, we present a protocol for Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy (FPM), a method that, unlike many automated imaging platforms, produces high-speed, high-resolution images that can be digitally refocused, allowing users to observe objects of interest present on multiple focal planes within the same image frame. The development of a cost-effective and high-throughput CTC analysis system for filtration-based enrichment technologies could have profound clinical implications for improved CTC detection and analysis.

  3. Whole-transcriptome, high-throughput RNA sequence analysis of the bovine macrophage response to Mycobacterium bovis infection in vitro.

    PubMed

    Nalpas, Nicolas C; Park, Stephen D E; Magee, David A; Taraktsoglou, Maria; Browne, John A; Conlon, Kevin M; Rue-Albrecht, Kévin; Killick, Kate E; Hokamp, Karsten; Lohan, Amanda J; Loftus, Brendan J; Gormley, Eamonn; Gordon, Stephen V; MacHugh, David E

    2013-04-08

    Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis, is an intracellular pathogen that can persist inside host macrophages during infection via a diverse range of mechanisms that subvert the host immune response. In the current study, we have analysed and compared the transcriptomes of M. bovis-infected monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) purified from six Holstein-Friesian females with the transcriptomes of non-infected control MDM from the same animals over a 24 h period using strand-specific RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). In addition, we compare gene expression profiles generated using RNA-seq with those previously generated by us using the high-density Affymetrix® GeneChip® Bovine Genome Array platform from the same MDM-extracted RNA. A mean of 7.2 million reads from each MDM sample mapped uniquely and unambiguously to single Bos taurus reference genome locations. Analysis of these mapped reads showed 2,584 genes (1,392 upregulated; 1,192 downregulated) and 757 putative natural antisense transcripts (558 upregulated; 119 downregulated) that were differentially expressed based on sense and antisense strand data, respectively (adjusted P-value ≤ 0.05). Of the differentially expressed genes, 694 were common to both the sense and antisense data sets, with the direction of expression (i.e. up- or downregulation) positively correlated for 693 genes and negatively correlated for the remaining gene. Gene ontology analysis of the differentially expressed genes revealed an enrichment of immune, apoptotic and cell signalling genes. Notably, the number of differentially expressed genes identified from RNA-seq sense strand analysis was greater than the number of differentially expressed genes detected from microarray analysis (2,584 genes versus 2,015 genes). Furthermore, our data reveal a greater dynamic range in the detection and quantification of gene transcripts for RNA-seq compared to microarray technology. This study highlights the value of RNA-seq in identifying novel immunomodulatory mechanisms that underlie host-mycobacterial pathogen interactions during infection, including possible complex post-transcriptional regulation of host gene expression involving antisense RNA.

  4. Size-dependent cell separation and enrichment using double spiral microchannels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Guoqing; Liu, Chao; Sun, Jiashu; Jiang, Xingyu

    2012-11-01

    Much attention has been directed toward microfluidic technologies that can help improve circulating tumor cells (CTCs) separation from the blood sample. In the present work, we develop a double spiral microfluidic platform with one inlet and three outlets that allows for passive, label-free tumor cell enrichment with high throughput and efficiency, inspired by the single spiral cell sorter. The curved channel induces a Dean drag force acting on cells to compete with the inertial lift, resulting in large tumor cells to be focused and deflected into the middle outlet while small hematologic cells are removed from the inner outlet. We continuously isolated and enriched the rare tumor cells (MCF-7 and Hela cells) from diluted whole blood using the same geometry. At a spike ratio of 100 tumor cells per million hematologic cells, 92.28% of blood cells and 96.77% of tumor cells were collected at the inner and middle outlet, respectively, at the throughput of 33.3 million cells per minute. A numerical model is developed to simulate the Dean flows inside the curved geometry and to track the particle/cell trajectories, which is validated against the experimental observations and serves as a theoretical foundation in optimizing the operating conditions.

  5. High-throughput SISCAPA quantitation of peptides from human plasma digests by ultrafast, liquid chromatography-free mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Razavi, Morteza; Frick, Lauren E; LaMarr, William A; Pope, Matthew E; Miller, Christine A; Anderson, N Leigh; Pearson, Terry W

    2012-12-07

    We investigated the utility of an SPE-MS/MS platform in combination with a modified SISCAPA workflow for chromatography-free MRM analysis of proteotypic peptides in digested human plasma. This combination of SISCAPA and SPE-MS/MS technology allows sensitive, MRM-based quantification of peptides from plasma digests with a sample cycle time of ∼7 s, a 300-fold improvement over typical MRM analyses with analysis times of 30-40 min that use liquid chromatography upstream of MS. The optimized system includes capture and enrichment to near purity of target proteotypic peptides using rigorously selected, high affinity, antipeptide monoclonal antibodies and reduction of background peptides using a novel treatment of magnetic bead immunoadsorbents. Using this method, we have successfully quantitated LPS-binding protein and mesothelin (concentrations of ∼5000 ng/mL and ∼10 ng/mL, respectively) in human plasma. The method eliminates the need for upstream liquid-chromatography and can be multiplexed, thus facilitating quantitative analysis of proteins, including biomarkers, in large sample sets. The method is ideal for high-throughput biomarker validation after affinity enrichment and has the potential for applications in clinical laboratories.

  6. Transcriptomic Responses of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) to Environmental Enrichment during Juvenile Rearing

    PubMed Central

    Evans, Melissa L.; Hori, Tiago S.; Rise, Matthew L.; Fleming, Ian A.

    2015-01-01

    Captive rearing programs (hatcheries) are often used in conservation and management efforts for at-risk salmonid fish populations. However, hatcheries typically rear juveniles in environments that contrast starkly with natural conditions, which may lead to phenotypic and/or genetic changes that adversely affect the performance of juveniles upon their release to the wild. Environmental enrichment has been proposed as a mechanism to improve the efficacy of population restoration efforts from captive-rearing programs; in this study, we examine the influence of environmental enrichment during embryo and yolk-sac larval rearing on the transcriptome of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Full siblings were reared in either a hatchery environment devoid of structure or an environment enriched with gravel substrate. At the end of endogenous feeding by juveniles, we examined patterns of gene transcript abundance in head tissues using the cGRASP-designed Agilent 4×44K microarray. Significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) indicated that 808 genes were differentially transcribed between the rearing environments and a total of 184 gene ontological (GO) terms were over- or under-represented in this gene list, several associated with mitosis/cell cycle and muscle and heart development. There were also pronounced differences among families in the degree of transcriptional response to rearing environment enrichment, suggesting that gene-by-environment effects, possibly related to parental origin, could influence the efficacy of enrichment interventions. PMID:25742646

  7. Transcriptomic responses of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) to environmental enrichment during juvenile rearing.

    PubMed

    Evans, Melissa L; Hori, Tiago S; Rise, Matthew L; Fleming, Ian A

    2015-01-01

    Captive rearing programs (hatcheries) are often used in conservation and management efforts for at-risk salmonid fish populations. However, hatcheries typically rear juveniles in environments that contrast starkly with natural conditions, which may lead to phenotypic and/or genetic changes that adversely affect the performance of juveniles upon their release to the wild. Environmental enrichment has been proposed as a mechanism to improve the efficacy of population restoration efforts from captive-rearing programs; in this study, we examine the influence of environmental enrichment during embryo and yolk-sac larval rearing on the transcriptome of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Full siblings were reared in either a hatchery environment devoid of structure or an environment enriched with gravel substrate. At the end of endogenous feeding by juveniles, we examined patterns of gene transcript abundance in head tissues using the cGRASP-designed Agilent 4×44K microarray. Significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) indicated that 808 genes were differentially transcribed between the rearing environments and a total of 184 gene ontological (GO) terms were over- or under-represented in this gene list, several associated with mitosis/cell cycle and muscle and heart development. There were also pronounced differences among families in the degree of transcriptional response to rearing environment enrichment, suggesting that gene-by-environment effects, possibly related to parental origin, could influence the efficacy of enrichment interventions.

  8. Mining the LIPG Allelic Spectrum Reveals the Contribution of Rare and Common Regulatory Variants to HDL Cholesterol

    PubMed Central

    Raghavan, Avanthi; Neeli, Hemanth; Jin, Weijun; Badellino, Karen O.; Demissie, Serkalem; Manning, Alisa K.; DerOhannessian, Stephanie L.; Wolfe, Megan L.; Cupples, L. Adrienne; Li, Mingyao; Kathiresan, Sekar; Rader, Daniel J.

    2011-01-01

    Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified loci associated with quantitative traits, such as blood lipids. Deep resequencing studies are being utilized to catalogue the allelic spectrum at GWAS loci. The goal of these studies is to identify causative variants and missing heritability, including heritability due to low frequency and rare alleles with large phenotypic impact. Whereas rare variant efforts have primarily focused on nonsynonymous coding variants, we hypothesized that noncoding variants in these loci are also functionally important. Using the HDL-C gene LIPG as an example, we explored the effect of regulatory variants identified through resequencing of subjects at HDL-C extremes on gene expression, protein levels, and phenotype. Resequencing a portion of the LIPG promoter and 5′ UTR in human subjects with extreme HDL-C, we identified several rare variants in individuals from both extremes. Luciferase reporter assays were used to measure the effect of these rare variants on LIPG expression. Variants conferring opposing effects on gene expression were enriched in opposite extremes of the phenotypic distribution. Minor alleles of a common regulatory haplotype and noncoding GWAS SNPs were associated with reduced plasma levels of the LIPG gene product endothelial lipase (EL), consistent with its role in HDL-C catabolism. Additionally, we found that a common nonfunctional coding variant associated with HDL-C (rs2000813) is in linkage disequilibrium with a 5′ UTR variant (rs34474737) that decreases LIPG promoter activity. We attribute the gene regulatory role of rs34474737 to the observed association of the coding variant with plasma EL levels and HDL-C. Taken together, the findings show that both rare and common noncoding regulatory variants are important contributors to the allelic spectrum in complex trait loci. PMID:22174694

  9. Validation of Biomarker Proteins Using Reverse Capture Protein Microarrays.

    PubMed

    Jozwik, Catherine; Eidelman, Ofer; Starr, Joshua; Pollard, Harvey B; Srivastava, Meera

    2017-01-01

    Genomics has revolutionized large-scale and high-throughput sequencing and has led to the discovery of thousands of new proteins. Protein chip technology is emerging as a miniaturized and highly parallel platform that is suited to rapid, simultaneous screening of large numbers of proteins and the analysis of various protein-binding activities, enzyme substrate relationships, and posttranslational modifications. Specifically, reverse capture protein microarrays provide the most appropriate platform for identifying low-abundance, disease-specific biomarker proteins in a sea of high-abundance proteins from biological fluids such as blood, serum, plasma, saliva, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid as well as tissues and cells obtained by biopsy. Samples from hundreds of patients can be spotted in serial dilutions on many replicate glass slides. Each slide can then be probed with one specific antibody to the biomarker of interest. That antibody's titer can then be determined quantitatively for each patient, allowing for the statistical assessment and validation of the diagnostic or prognostic utility of that particular antigen. As the technology matures and the availability of validated, platform-compatible antibodies increases, the platform will move further into the desirable realm of discovery science for detecting and quantitating low-abundance signaling proteins. In this chapter, we describe methods for the successful application of the reverse capture protein microarray platform for which we have made substantial contributions to the development and application of this method, particularly in the use of body fluids other than serum/plasma.

  10. Plug-and-actuate on demand: multimodal individual addressability of microarray plates using modular hybrid acoustic wave technology.

    PubMed

    Rezk, Amgad R; Ramesan, Shwathy; Yeo, Leslie Y

    2018-01-30

    The microarray titre plate remains a fundamental workhorse in genomic, proteomic and cellomic analyses that underpin the drug discovery process. Nevertheless, liquid handling technologies for sample dispensing, processing and transfer have not progressed significantly beyond conventional robotic micropipetting techniques, which are not only at their fundamental sample size limit, but are also prone to mechanical failure and contamination. This is because alternative technologies to date suffer from a number of constraints, mainly their limitation to carry out only a single liquid operation such as dispensing or mixing at a given time, and their inability to address individual wells, particularly at high throughput. Here, we demonstrate the possibility for true sequential or simultaneous single- and multi-well addressability in a 96-well plate using a reconfigurable modular platform from which MHz-order hybrid surface and bulk acoustic waves can be coupled to drive a variety of microfluidic modes including mixing, sample preconcentration and droplet jetting/ejection in individual or multiple wells on demand, thus constituting a highly versatile yet simple setup capable of improving the functionality of existing laboratory protocols and processes.

  11. efficient association study design via power-optimized tag SNP selection

    PubMed Central

    HAN, BUHM; KANG, HYUN MIN; SEO, MYEONG SEONG; ZAITLEN, NOAH; ESKIN, ELEAZAR

    2008-01-01

    Discovering statistical correlation between causal genetic variation and clinical traits through association studies is an important method for identifying the genetic basis of human diseases. Since fully resequencing a cohort is prohibitively costly, genetic association studies take advantage of local correlation structure (or linkage disequilibrium) between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by selecting a subset of SNPs to be genotyped (tag SNPs). While many current association studies are performed using commercially available high-throughput genotyping products that define a set of tag SNPs, choosing tag SNPs remains an important problem for both custom follow-up studies as well as designing the high-throughput genotyping products themselves. The most widely used tag SNP selection method optimizes over the correlation between SNPs (r2). However, tag SNPs chosen based on an r2 criterion do not necessarily maximize the statistical power of an association study. We propose a study design framework that chooses SNPs to maximize power and efficiently measures the power through empirical simulation. Empirical results based on the HapMap data show that our method gains considerable power over a widely used r2-based method, or equivalently reduces the number of tag SNPs required to attain the desired power of a study. Our power-optimized 100k whole genome tag set provides equivalent power to the Affymetrix 500k chip for the CEU population. For the design of custom follow-up studies, our method provides up to twice the power increase using the same number of tag SNPs as r2-based methods. Our method is publicly available via web server at http://design.cs.ucla.edu. PMID:18702637

  12. Bimodal imprint chips for peptide screening: integration of high-throughput sequencing by MS and affinity analyses by surface plasmon resonance imaging.

    PubMed

    Wang, Weizhi; Li, Menglin; Wei, Zewen; Wang, Zihua; Bu, Xiangli; Lai, Wenjia; Yang, Shu; Gong, He; Zheng, Hui; Wang, Yuqiao; Liu, Ying; Li, Qin; Fang, Qiaojun; Hu, Zhiyuan

    2014-04-15

    Peptide probes and drugs have widespread applications in disease diagnostics and therapy. The demand for peptides ligands with high affinity and high specificity toward various targets has surged in the biomedical field in recent years. The traditional peptide screening procedure involves selection, sequencing, and characterization steps, and each step is manual and tedious. Herein, we developed a bimodal imprint microarray system to embrace the whole peptide screening process. Silver-sputtered silicon chip fabricated with microwell array can trap and pattern the candidate peptide beads in a one-well-one-bead manner. Peptides on beads were photocleaved in situ. A portion of the peptide in each well was transferred to a gold-coated chip to print the peptide array for high-throughput affinity analyses by surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi), and the peptide left in the silver-sputtered chip was ready for in situ single bead sequencing by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Using the bimodal imprint chip system, affinity peptides toward AHA were efficiently screened out from the 7 × 10(4) peptide library. The method provides a solution for high efficiency peptide screening.

  13. Methods for processing high-throughput RNA sequencing data.

    PubMed

    Ares, Manuel

    2014-11-03

    High-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods for analyzing RNA populations (RNA-Seq) are gaining rapid application to many experimental situations. The steps in an RNA-Seq experiment require thought and planning, especially because the expense in time and materials is currently higher and the protocols are far less routine than those used for other high-throughput methods, such as microarrays. As always, good experimental design will make analysis and interpretation easier. Having a clear biological question, an idea about the best way to do the experiment, and an understanding of the number of replicates needed will make the entire process more satisfying. Whether the goal is capturing transcriptome complexity from a tissue or identifying small fragments of RNA cross-linked to a protein of interest, conversion of the RNA to cDNA followed by direct sequencing using the latest methods is a developing practice, with new technical modifications and applications appearing every day. Even more rapid are the development and improvement of methods for analysis of the very large amounts of data that arrive at the end of an RNA-Seq experiment, making considerations regarding reproducibility, validation, visualization, and interpretation increasingly important. This introduction is designed to review and emphasize a pathway of analysis from experimental design through data presentation that is likely to be successful, with the recognition that better methods are right around the corner. © 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  14. Bi-directional gene set enrichment and canonical correlation analysis identify key diet-sensitive pathways and biomarkers of metabolic syndrome.

    PubMed

    Morine, Melissa J; McMonagle, Jolene; Toomey, Sinead; Reynolds, Clare M; Moloney, Aidan P; Gormley, Isobel C; Gaora, Peadar O; Roche, Helen M

    2010-10-07

    Currently, a number of bioinformatics methods are available to generate appropriate lists of genes from a microarray experiment. While these lists represent an accurate primary analysis of the data, fewer options exist to contextualise those lists. The development and validation of such methods is crucial to the wider application of microarray technology in the clinical setting. Two key challenges in clinical bioinformatics involve appropriate statistical modelling of dynamic transcriptomic changes, and extraction of clinically relevant meaning from very large datasets. Here, we apply an approach to gene set enrichment analysis that allows for detection of bi-directional enrichment within a gene set. Furthermore, we apply canonical correlation analysis and Fisher's exact test, using plasma marker data with known clinical relevance to aid identification of the most important gene and pathway changes in our transcriptomic dataset. After a 28-day dietary intervention with high-CLA beef, a range of plasma markers indicated a marked improvement in the metabolic health of genetically obese mice. Tissue transcriptomic profiles indicated that the effects were most dramatic in liver (1270 genes significantly changed; p < 0.05), followed by muscle (601 genes) and adipose (16 genes). Results from modified GSEA showed that the high-CLA beef diet affected diverse biological processes across the three tissues, and that the majority of pathway changes reached significance only with the bi-directional test. Combining the liver tissue microarray results with plasma marker data revealed 110 CLA-sensitive genes showing strong canonical correlation with one or more plasma markers of metabolic health, and 9 significantly overrepresented pathways among this set; each of these pathways was also significantly changed by the high-CLA diet. Closer inspection of two of these pathways--selenoamino acid metabolism and steroid biosynthesis--illustrated clear diet-sensitive changes in constituent genes, as well as strong correlations between gene expression and plasma markers of metabolic syndrome independent of the dietary effect. Bi-directional gene set enrichment analysis more accurately reflects dynamic regulatory behaviour in biochemical pathways, and as such highlighted biologically relevant changes that were not detected using a traditional approach. In such cases where transcriptomic response to treatment is exceptionally large, canonical correlation analysis in conjunction with Fisher's exact test highlights the subset of pathways showing strongest correlation with the clinical markers of interest. In this case, we have identified selenoamino acid metabolism and steroid biosynthesis as key pathways mediating the observed relationship between metabolic health and high-CLA beef. These results indicate that this type of analysis has the potential to generate novel transcriptome-based biomarkers of disease.

  15. Bi-directional gene set enrichment and canonical correlation analysis identify key diet-sensitive pathways and biomarkers of metabolic syndrome

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Currently, a number of bioinformatics methods are available to generate appropriate lists of genes from a microarray experiment. While these lists represent an accurate primary analysis of the data, fewer options exist to contextualise those lists. The development and validation of such methods is crucial to the wider application of microarray technology in the clinical setting. Two key challenges in clinical bioinformatics involve appropriate statistical modelling of dynamic transcriptomic changes, and extraction of clinically relevant meaning from very large datasets. Results Here, we apply an approach to gene set enrichment analysis that allows for detection of bi-directional enrichment within a gene set. Furthermore, we apply canonical correlation analysis and Fisher's exact test, using plasma marker data with known clinical relevance to aid identification of the most important gene and pathway changes in our transcriptomic dataset. After a 28-day dietary intervention with high-CLA beef, a range of plasma markers indicated a marked improvement in the metabolic health of genetically obese mice. Tissue transcriptomic profiles indicated that the effects were most dramatic in liver (1270 genes significantly changed; p < 0.05), followed by muscle (601 genes) and adipose (16 genes). Results from modified GSEA showed that the high-CLA beef diet affected diverse biological processes across the three tissues, and that the majority of pathway changes reached significance only with the bi-directional test. Combining the liver tissue microarray results with plasma marker data revealed 110 CLA-sensitive genes showing strong canonical correlation with one or more plasma markers of metabolic health, and 9 significantly overrepresented pathways among this set; each of these pathways was also significantly changed by the high-CLA diet. Closer inspection of two of these pathways - selenoamino acid metabolism and steroid biosynthesis - illustrated clear diet-sensitive changes in constituent genes, as well as strong correlations between gene expression and plasma markers of metabolic syndrome independent of the dietary effect. Conclusion Bi-directional gene set enrichment analysis more accurately reflects dynamic regulatory behaviour in biochemical pathways, and as such highlighted biologically relevant changes that were not detected using a traditional approach. In such cases where transcriptomic response to treatment is exceptionally large, canonical correlation analysis in conjunction with Fisher's exact test highlights the subset of pathways showing strongest correlation with the clinical markers of interest. In this case, we have identified selenoamino acid metabolism and steroid biosynthesis as key pathways mediating the observed relationship between metabolic health and high-CLA beef. These results indicate that this type of analysis has the potential to generate novel transcriptome-based biomarkers of disease. PMID:20929581

  16. Targeted next-generation sequencing in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a high-throughput yet tailored approach will facilitate implementation in a clinical setting.

    PubMed

    Sutton, Lesley-Ann; Ljungström, Viktor; Mansouri, Larry; Young, Emma; Cortese, Diego; Navrkalova, Veronika; Malcikova, Jitka; Muggen, Alice F; Trbusek, Martin; Panagiotidis, Panagiotis; Davi, Frederic; Belessi, Chrysoula; Langerak, Anton W; Ghia, Paolo; Pospisilova, Sarka; Stamatopoulos, Kostas; Rosenquist, Richard

    2015-03-01

    Next-generation sequencing has revealed novel recurrent mutations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, particularly in patients with aggressive disease. Here, we explored targeted re-sequencing as a novel strategy to assess the mutation status of genes with prognostic potential. To this end, we utilized HaloPlex targeted enrichment technology and designed a panel including nine genes: ATM, BIRC3, MYD88, NOTCH1, SF3B1 and TP53, which have been linked to the prognosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and KLHL6, POT1 and XPO1, which are less characterized but were found to be recurrently mutated in various sequencing studies. A total of 188 chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with poor prognostic features (unmutated IGHV, n=137; IGHV3-21 subset #2, n=51) were sequenced on the HiSeq 2000 and data were analyzed using well-established bioinformatics tools. Using a conservative cutoff of 10% for the mutant allele, we found that 114/180 (63%) patients carried at least one mutation, with mutations in ATM, BIRC3, NOTCH1, SF3B1 and TP53 accounting for 149/177 (84%) of all mutations. We selected 155 mutations for Sanger validation (variant allele frequency, 10-99%) and 93% (144/155) of mutations were confirmed; notably, all 11 discordant variants had a variant allele frequency between 11-27%, hence at the detection limit of conventional Sanger sequencing. Technical precision was assessed by repeating the entire HaloPlex procedure for 63 patients; concordance was found for 77/82 (94%) mutations. In summary, this study demonstrates that targeted next-generation sequencing is an accurate and reproducible technique potentially suitable for routine screening, eventually as a stand-alone test without the need for confirmation by Sanger sequencing. Copyright© Ferrata Storti Foundation.

  17. Analysis of Genes Involved in Body Weight Regulation by Targeted Re-Sequencing.

    PubMed

    Volckmar, Anna-Lena; Han, Chung Ting; Pütter, Carolin; Haas, Stefan; Vogel, Carla I G; Knoll, Nadja; Struve, Christoph; Göbel, Maria; Haas, Katharina; Herrfurth, Nikolas; Jarick, Ivonne; Grallert, Harald; Schürmann, Annette; Al-Hasani, Hadi; Hebebrand, Johannes; Sauer, Sascha; Hinney, Anke

    2016-01-01

    Genes involved in body weight regulation that were previously investigated in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and in animal models were target-enriched followed by massive parallel next generation sequencing. We enriched and re-sequenced continuous genomic regions comprising FTO, MC4R, TMEM18, SDCCAG8, TKNS, MSRA and TBC1D1 in a screening sample of 196 extremely obese children and adolescents with age and sex specific body mass index (BMI) ≥ 99th percentile and 176 lean adults (BMI ≤ 15th percentile). 22 variants were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Genotyping was performed in up to 705 independent obesity trios (extremely obese child and both parents), 243 extremely obese cases and 261 lean adults. We detected 20 different non-synonymous variants, one frame shift and one nonsense mutation in the 7 continuous genomic regions in study groups of different weight extremes. For SNP Arg695Cys (rs58983546) in TBC1D1 we detected nominal association with obesity (pTDT = 0.03 in 705 trios). Eleven of the variants were rare, thus were only detected heterozygously in up to ten individual(s) of the complete screening sample of 372 individuals. Two of them (in FTO and MSRA) were found in lean individuals, nine in extremely obese. In silico analyses of the 11 variants did not reveal functional implications for the mutations. Concordant with our hypothesis we detected a rare variant that potentially leads to loss of FTO function in a lean individual. For TBC1D1, in contrary to our hypothesis, the loss of function variant (Arg443Stop) was found in an obese individual. Functional in vitro studies are warranted.

  18. Effect of different enrichment strategies on microbial community structure in petroleum-contaminated marine sediment in Dalian, China.

    PubMed

    Chen, Chao; Liu, Qiu; Liu, Changjian; Yu, Jicheng

    2017-04-15

    An oil spill occurred at Xingang Port, Dalian, China in 2010. Four years after this spill, oil contamination was still detected in samples collected nearby. In this study, the strains that evolved in the sediment were screened by high-throughput sequencing technology. Most of these strains were genera reported to have functions associated with crude oil biodegradation. The diversities and numbers of microbes were monitored through enrichment culturing; the dominant strains propagated at first, but the enrichment could not be continued, which indicated that the prolonged culture was not effective in the enrichment of the micro-consortium. Oxygen was also observed to affect the propagation of the dominant microbes. The results showed the role of culture strategies and oxygen in the enrichment of the petroleum-degrading microbes. Therefore, dominant strains could be screened by optimizing both the enrichment time and oxygen concentration used for culturing to facilitate oil biodegradation in the marine ecosystem. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Pathway Distiller - multisource biological pathway consolidation

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background One method to understand and evaluate an experiment that produces a large set of genes, such as a gene expression microarray analysis, is to identify overrepresentation or enrichment for biological pathways. Because pathways are able to functionally describe the set of genes, much effort has been made to collect curated biological pathways into publicly accessible databases. When combining disparate databases, highly related or redundant pathways exist, making their consolidation into pathway concepts essential. This will facilitate unbiased, comprehensive yet streamlined analysis of experiments that result in large gene sets. Methods After gene set enrichment finds representative pathways for large gene sets, pathways are consolidated into representative pathway concepts. Three complementary, but different methods of pathway consolidation are explored. Enrichment Consolidation combines the set of the pathways enriched for the signature gene list through iterative combining of enriched pathways with other pathways with similar signature gene sets; Weighted Consolidation utilizes a Protein-Protein Interaction network based gene-weighting approach that finds clusters of both enriched and non-enriched pathways limited to the experiments' resultant gene list; and finally the de novo Consolidation method uses several measurements of pathway similarity, that finds static pathway clusters independent of any given experiment. Results We demonstrate that the three consolidation methods provide unified yet different functional insights of a resultant gene set derived from a genome-wide profiling experiment. Results from the methods are presented, demonstrating their applications in biological studies and comparing with a pathway web-based framework that also combines several pathway databases. Additionally a web-based consolidation framework that encompasses all three methods discussed in this paper, Pathway Distiller (http://cbbiweb.uthscsa.edu/PathwayDistiller), is established to allow researchers access to the methods and example microarray data described in this manuscript, and the ability to analyze their own gene list by using our unique consolidation methods. Conclusions By combining several pathway systems, implementing different, but complementary pathway consolidation methods, and providing a user-friendly web-accessible tool, we have enabled users the ability to extract functional explanations of their genome wide experiments. PMID:23134636

  20. Pathway Distiller - multisource biological pathway consolidation.

    PubMed

    Doderer, Mark S; Anguiano, Zachry; Suresh, Uthra; Dashnamoorthy, Ravi; Bishop, Alexander J R; Chen, Yidong

    2012-01-01

    One method to understand and evaluate an experiment that produces a large set of genes, such as a gene expression microarray analysis, is to identify overrepresentation or enrichment for biological pathways. Because pathways are able to functionally describe the set of genes, much effort has been made to collect curated biological pathways into publicly accessible databases. When combining disparate databases, highly related or redundant pathways exist, making their consolidation into pathway concepts essential. This will facilitate unbiased, comprehensive yet streamlined analysis of experiments that result in large gene sets. After gene set enrichment finds representative pathways for large gene sets, pathways are consolidated into representative pathway concepts. Three complementary, but different methods of pathway consolidation are explored. Enrichment Consolidation combines the set of the pathways enriched for the signature gene list through iterative combining of enriched pathways with other pathways with similar signature gene sets; Weighted Consolidation utilizes a Protein-Protein Interaction network based gene-weighting approach that finds clusters of both enriched and non-enriched pathways limited to the experiments' resultant gene list; and finally the de novo Consolidation method uses several measurements of pathway similarity, that finds static pathway clusters independent of any given experiment. We demonstrate that the three consolidation methods provide unified yet different functional insights of a resultant gene set derived from a genome-wide profiling experiment. Results from the methods are presented, demonstrating their applications in biological studies and comparing with a pathway web-based framework that also combines several pathway databases. Additionally a web-based consolidation framework that encompasses all three methods discussed in this paper, Pathway Distiller (http://cbbiweb.uthscsa.edu/PathwayDistiller), is established to allow researchers access to the methods and example microarray data described in this manuscript, and the ability to analyze their own gene list by using our unique consolidation methods. By combining several pathway systems, implementing different, but complementary pathway consolidation methods, and providing a user-friendly web-accessible tool, we have enabled users the ability to extract functional explanations of their genome wide experiments.

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