Reverse-Format Arrays Facilitate Cancer Profiling

Courtesy of BD Biosciences Clontech

Palo Alto, Calif.-based BD Biosciences Clontech has expanded its family of reverse-format patient and cell-line cDNA arrays. Most arrays spot single genes, and scientists probe them with labeled mRNA or cDNA pools. But with reverse formatting, each spot represents the entire mRNA population of a given sample, explains Marcum Bell, product manager. Researchers probe these arrays one gene at a time. "It's just so different from anything else on the market," Bell says.

Each cDNA pool spotted on these nylon membrane-based arrays is synthesized, using BD's SMART™ technology, from total RNA representing matched normal and tumor human tissues. This method preserves the abundance and complexity of the original samples, says Bell.

The product lineup includes the original Cancer Profiling Array (CPA) I, plus three sibling products: CPA II, the Tissue-Specific Profiling Array, and the Cancer Cell Line Profiling Array. These products serve to both extend...