CORE--MICROARRAY TECHNOLOGIES

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The CCR established a Microarray Facility in 1999 with support from a supplement to this CCSG in recognition of the growing importance of being able to study gene-expression changes on a genome-wide level. Since that time, this microarray technology has expanded to include the use of arrays to study DNA-protein and protein-protein interactions in a global manner. To remain on the cutting edge of this technology, the MIT CCR Faculty has pooled resources with other groups at MIT to generate a single Microarray Technologies Core Facility. Its mission is to provide researchers with integrated facilities for microarray fabrication, scanning, processing and image analysis. The predominant focus of the Microarray Technologies Core Facility is on mRNA analysis. Most CCR Investigators choose to use commercial arrays for gene profiling experiments and the facility provides outstanding technical and intellectual support for both Affymetrix GeneChips and Agilent microarrays. In addition, the facility fabricates high-density oligo, cDNA and genomic arrays for a variety of CCR Investigators. In most cases, these arrays are custom designed to address a specific research problem that is not well served by commercial reagents. Finally, the facility helps users with the pre-processing and normalization of their expression array data and up-loads it onto an Iobion LabShare database. CCR researchers can then access their data in a standardized format through specialized workstations within the CCR building, creating a smooth transition from the wet-bench to the data analysis phase. CCR researchers can then conduct their own statistical analysis and data mining using software packages provided through the Microarray Technologies Core Facility or can seek expert advice from the a Bioinformaticists Specialist in the Bioinformatics and Computing Core Facility.