Ghent University (Belgium) will use Roche's Lightcycler 1536 in various cancer research projects after the two companies signed an agreement.
The research projects will include multigene expression signature profiling on cancer-research samples and digital PCR for sensitive detection of mutant cancer cells in a background of normal cells.
Other experiments will include DNA methylation analysis studies, copy-number variant screening (CNV) and amplicon generation for next-generation sequencing.
One potentially groundbreaking study is a qPCR-based transcriptome-wide profiling, which represents a tremendous undertaking and novel approach in this research area.
In a pilot experiment, Ghent University plans to measure all human genes in the four MAQC reference RNA samples.
The Lightcycler 1536 is based on the Lightcycler 480 Platform architecture.
It supports the combination of two excitation filters with two detection filters, which are optimised for detecting green intercalating dyes as well as mono-colour and dual-colour hydrolysis probes.
This makes optical read-out as specific as possible for chemical-detection formats, while reducing the overall complexity of experimental layouts in a high-throughput scenario.
The systems software is particularly suited to enhancing compatibility for automated high-throughput data-analysis workflows.
The Lightcycler 1536 Multiwell Plate is the first high-density PCR plate for real-time PCR applications.
By using Thermaxis technology, this multiwell plate enables unsurpassed thermal performance in miniaturised reaction volumes of only 0.5 - 2ul.
The plate consists of two components: a thermally conductive unit containing well-like structures for the reaction liquid and an insulating top layer that prevents the heated lid of the instrument from affecting the analysis.
