About the device and how it will aid the department:
How genes are expressed and the amount of their transcript (i.e., gene expression) is a staple of many labs that can be analyzed by a method called quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). This is used by many different labs in the Neurology Department. A qPCR machine can often provide critical preliminary data for NIH grants for many of us and potentially act as a centerpiece for multi-lab collaborations.
Several basic science labs in the Neurology Department (Dr. Cohen, Dr. Khan, and Dr. Meeker) often need to analyze gene expression. Other Neurology faculty would certainly use this equipment if it were readily available. For example, any basic or clinical lab interested in transcript analysis from patient-derived tissues. The current machines on campus are already heavily used and usually have limited access to external users.
Therefore, the addition of a qPCR machine in the Department of Neurology would greatly improve the quality and productivity of many researchers and strengthen grant applications.
We will acquire an Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 6 Flex Real-Time PCR system that can detect very small changes, as low as 1.5 fold, in gene expression, that may be missed by other systems. It features six decoupled excitation and emission filter channels with 21 filter combinations for maximum multiplexing and chemistry flexibility. The system supports a broad range of genomic applications, such as analyses of gene expression, microRNAs and noncoding RNAs, copy number variation, drug metabolism enzymes, and protein expression; SNP genotyping; and mutation detection. We opted for the more versatile QuantStudio 6 Flex real-time PCR systems model that allows the interchange between 96-wells and 384-well formats. Both formats can be used, depending on the lab’s interests and experimental design.
We are overjoyed by the ability to help people in many more ways with the purchase of this device.