Project to create a human chromosome 21 gene expression atlas in a mouse model involved in situ hybridisation
Tecan says its products significantly helped a landmark study to create a human chromosome 21 gene expression atlas in a mouse model.
The study, carried out by an international group of researchers from leading academic centres, used the GenePaint system to perform all steps required for in situ hybridisation, a technique used to analyse the expression of genes from the entire chromosome.
This process would have been extremely laborious and taken far longer without automation.
Tecan's GenePaint system was used as a tool to help identify genes associated with Down's syndrome in humans.
Down's syndrome, which has an overall incidence of around 0.1% of live births, is a chromosomal disorder that leads to pronounced mental retardation. Gene expression data provides essential information that may be used to understand the role that different genes play in this debilitating condition.
An automated microscope, which was used in conjunction with a Tecan pipetting instrument and the GenePaint system, enabled the analysis of about 6500 mouse tissue sections generated by this analysis.
With such a high level of automation, all identifiable mouse orthologs - genes derived directly from a common human gene ancestor - of human chromosome 21 genes (161 out of 178 confirmed human genes) were used.
To generate the human chromosome 21 gene expression atlas, these related genes were studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in four mouse developmental stages and 12 adult tissues.
Gregor Eichele, director of the department of molecular embryology at the Max-Planck-Institute in Hannover, is an internationally renowned expert in gene expression and was one of the leading authors of this study.
He remarked: "We have been working closely with Tecan to develop an automated system that overcomes one of the key bottlenecks in functional genomics studies, namely throughput.
The publication of this study not only shows the capabilities of the GenePaint system to produce an active gene expression map for a whole chromosome but also confirms its potential to assess the contribution of specific genes to pressing clinical challenges such as Down's syndrome." He added: "We believe this type of approach has considerable potential to transform the way researchers use gene hybridisation techniques in a wide range of functional genomic studies with important clinical applications.3 Mike Baronian, chairman and chief executive officer of Tecan, remarked: "It is always exciting to see at first hand how our solutions for technological bottlenecks are bringing major advances to different areas of the life sciences." He added: "This collaboration with leading academic research centres and publication in a journal of the calibre of Nature is a good indication of the value of innovation that we strive to bring to the life sciences."
