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Instruments


SAMPLE STORAGE

Liquid Nitrogen Storage System

The TRCL has a 38K Cryostorage System from Worthington Industries which is used for preserving viable PBMC, BAL cells and other human cells isolated from blood, BAL and other samples banked by TRCL. The system has auto-fill capability for liquid nitrogen and is consistently monitored by alarm system for both liquid nitrogen filled levels and temperature in the vapor phase. It has the capacity of storing 38,000 frozen vials of cells in vapor phase. The system has emergency electrical backup that will automatically turn on if any power outage occurs.

   
   
Ultra-Low Sample Storage Freezer

The TRCL currently has 14 -80 freezers with storage capacity of 48,600 vials per freezer. They are consistently monitored by alarm system for temperature fluctuations. All freezers are under emergency electrical backup system that will automatically turn on if any power outage occurs.

   
   

 


BIOMARKER ANALYSIS

BioPlex 100 System (Bio-Rad)

The BioPlex 100 is powered with Luminex xMAP technology. It performs simultaneous analysis of multiple biomarkers in a single well. It is compatible with bioassays consisting of magnetic particles or polystyrene beads. Both commercial and custom-designed kits can be performed with this instrument. Samples ranging from serum, plasma, urine, BAL, tissue lysate to cell culture supernatant are suitable for biomarker analyses using BioPlex 100.

   
   
QuickPlex SQ 120 (MSD)

The QuickPlex SQ 120 offers affordable access to high-performance electrochemiluminescence immunoassays. This compact system has been engineered for reliability, ease of use, and low cost of ownership. The combination of rapid read times and the ability to perform multiple, simultaneous tests on a single sample increases productivity, saves sample, and delivers results quickly. The QuickPlex instrument has a wide menu of commercially available assay kits and a full line of components and reagents for developing your own assays. Samples ranging from serum, plasma, urine, BAL, tissue lysate to cell culture supernatant are suitable for biomarker analyses using this instrument.

   
   
Elecsys 2010 Immunoassay Analyzer (Roche)

The Elecsys 2010 Immunoassay Analyzer offers high precision immunoassays using Elecsys ElectroChemiLuminescence (ECL) technology. It has a wide menu of commercially available clinical tests. To date, we have used serum and plasma samples for many biomarkers using this instrument.

   
   
Infinite M200 Pro (Tecan)

The Infinite M200 Pro is an easy-to-use multimode plate reader that offers affordable, high performance detection solution. It is used for nucleic acid and protein quantification, absorbance and fluorescence intensity, and immunoassay plate quantification. It is equipped with Magellan™, an easy managing software for all analysis.

   
   
SpectraMaxPlus (Molecular Devices)

The SpectraMaxPlus is a microplate luminometer equipped with dual injector for introducing assay reagents. It offers high performance detection solution for analysis using luminescence. It is equipped with SoftMax Pro6 software for operating the assays and analysis.

   
   

 


NUCLEIC ACID ISOLATION, QUANTIFICATION, AND GENOTYPING

FLEX STAR (AutoGen)

The AutoGen FLEX STAR combines AutoGen’s robust and reliable instrumentation and Qiagen’s proven FlexiGene chemistry. The FLEX STAR automates DNA extraction from up to 10ml of whole blood. It isolates up to 30 whole blood samples per run and produces consistently high quality and high yield genomic DNA for long-term storage in biorepositories.

   
   
QIACUBE (Qiagen)

The innovative QIAcube uses advanced technology for nuclei acid isolation through the processing of QIAGEN spin columns, enabling seamless integration of automated, low-throughput sample prep into the laboratory workflow. No change of purification chemistry is required, assuring fast startup and immediate results. All steps in the purification procedure are fully automated and up to 12 samples can be processed per run.

   
   
2100 Bioanalyzer System (Agilent)

With automated electrophoresis, the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer system provides sizing, quantitation, and purity assessments for DNA, RNA, and protein samples. It uses ready-to-use assays and pre-packaged reagent kits. The assay requires minimal sample consumption (1-4 µL) and easy to use format by simply loading the chip and pressing “start”. The instrument does the rest. The digital data is convenient for analysis, archiving and data storage.

   
   
 
PCR Instrument (ABI) and Gel Documentation System (Bio-Rad)

The TRCL has multiple PCR machines with capability of 96 and 384 micro plate formats and a gel documentation system. These instruments are used for various genotyping methods.