Syngene has announced that its G:Box Chemi XT imaging system is being used by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) to help understand the cellular basis of how tumours develop and progress.
Researchers in the Section of Cell and Molecular Biology at the ICR are using a G:Box Chemi XT system to analyse protein gels stained with Coomassie blue and agarose gels of DNA stained with Gelred.
The system is also used to image chemiluminescent Western blots labelled with ECL.
The information from the gels and blots is helping to determine the involvement of enzymes controlling inositol lipid signalling pathways in processes underlying tumour generation and progression.
Dr Tom Bunney, staff scientist at the ICR, said: 'We are studying lipid signalling pathways in various tumour cell lines.
'To do this we look at regulation and de-regulation of inositol lipid signalling by performing DNA manipulations and then protein expression.
'We run a large number of DNA gels using Gelred because it is less toxic than ethidium bromide, but this stain does require a system that is more sensitive to detect it.
'We also perform blots of proteins using chemiluminescent technology, which can be expensive when using film to develop blot images and has environmental consequences.
'To solve these problems we need a sensitive gel doc system that can also image chemiluminescence.
'In the year we have been using the G:Box Chemi XT system we have produced some good images and it detects well at the nanogram level,' he added.
