Applied Biosystems has introduced a set of molecular tools for investigating the role of specific genes involved in more than 80 key biological pathways.
The Taqman array gene signature plates enable scientists to measure the activity of multiple gene targets known to be expressed in biological pathways, processes or disease states.
This allows them to discover how changes in expression levels of those genes contribute to health and disease.
These tools enable researchers to adopt a systems biology approach to investigate the role gene networks play in complex biological processes and molecular pathologies by performing real-time PCR assays to develop biomarkers based on patterns of gene expression.
The Taqman array gene signature plates are 96-well reaction plates containing pre-formatted and dried gold-standard Taqman gene expression assays.
These molecular tools provide researchers with a fast and easy way to generate high-confidence gene expression data.
The initial release of these array plates supports pathways for research areas of interest such as lipidomics, apoptosis and signal transduction, among others.
Scientists at the University of Regensburg in Germany are using the Taqman array mouse lipid regulated genes plate to analyse gene expression patterns in cellular lipidomics pathways.
This research helps them to better understand how specific types of lipid molecules contribute to the regulation and control of cellular function and diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.
In their studies of microglia and macrophage cells, the scientists have found that these array plates enable quantitative analyses of the expression of highly informative lipid-related genes.
Dr Thomas Langmann, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Regensburg, said: 'The Taqman array gene signature plates are an ideal tool to study various aspects of lipid metabolism, relevant for basic science and biomarker discovery.
'They provide a convenient standardised format to rapidly and cost-effectively generate high-quality data, allowing researchers to focus time on how to interpret biological results,' he added.
