Fluidigm has published the spring 2011 edition of its community newsletter, which offers readers research, product updates and news featuring the company's integrated fluid circuit (IFC) technology.
Each issue of the newsletter is dedicated to providing information of interest, including products, applications and customer advances to researchers involved with gene expression, SNP genotyping and sample preparation for next-generation sequencing.
In the spring 2011 issue, researchers from the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine at Stanford University in the US report on how induced human pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into primordial germ cells under specific culture conditions.
Using quantitative real-time PCR carried out with Fluidigm 48.48 Dynamic Array IFCs on the Biomark system, increased expression of germ cell marker genes was found in the cells after differentiation.
A major cause of infertility in humans is production of few or no germ cells, yet little is known about human germ cell development because the process occurs early in embryos.
The culture system described in this article may provide a model to study human germ cell development.
Another paper presented in the newsletter is from the University of California.
It describes a microfluidic-based multiplex quantitative real-time PCR technique and how it was used to identify microRNA (miRNA) signatures in sera of prostate cancer patients.
The paper details a high-throughput, multiplex, quantitative real-time PCR method, using Fluidigm 96.96 Dynamic Array IFCs and the Biomark system, and how it was used to quantify miRNAs in sera from 48 patients.
In the study, several miRNAs were identified that correlate with presence and severity of disease.
The spring 2011 newsletter also provides an introduction to Fluidigm's advanced genomic analysis system, the Biomark HD, as well as providing access to a bibliography of single-cell research publications.
