GeneChip Automation and MegAllele System for Microarray Analysis at Yale Univ.

描述(申请人提供)：Affymetrix基因芯片微阵列技术在新阵列的开发、表达和基因分型分析以及改进的仪器设备方面不断发展。阵列的大小和种类的增加，加上它们的使用呈指数级增长，极大地加剧了对更先进和更高度自动化的仪器的需求。自动化的微阵列分析方法劳动密集度更低，每个样本的成本更低，重复性更好，而且更容易在不同的实验室之间标准化。Keck基因芯片设备被大量用于分析基因表达和对DNA进行分型。自2003年成立以来，基因芯片公司已经分析了来自耶鲁大学115名研究人员和其他22家机构的4000份样本。在过去的三年里，对服务的需求每年都增长了50%。此外，凯克基因芯片资源是新资助的耶鲁大学神经系统微阵列研究中心的一部分。作为负责向NIH神经科学蓝图中15个研究所的10,000名神经科学家提供微阵列技术的四个实验室之一，最近的这一奖项将极大地增加对Keck基因芯片服务的需求，并将确保所要求的仪器得到充分利用。在这方面，所要求的基因芯片自动化平台和MegAllele系统将使Keck实验室能够满足对现有服务需求的预期增长，使用户能够接受定制的基因分型，并通过减少操作员对操作员的可变性来提高结果数据的可靠性。为这一应用程序提供资金将使基因芯片资源能够将最先进的微阵列技术应用于几种重要的疾病，包括癫痫、精神障碍、自闭症、心血管疾病和癌症。这项建议的优势包括：非常多样化和富有成效的研究人员用户群；国际生物研究所在监督Keck Affymetrix实验室及其相关的耶鲁/NIH微阵列中心方面的经验；K·威廉姆斯共同-PI在监督许多大型、多研究者NIH合同和中心方面的经验；国际生物科学研究所和其他关键人员的生物技术、统计和数据库专业知识；以及Keck实验室及其相关的NIH资助的中心(如耶鲁/NIDA神经蛋白质组学中心和新的高性能生物医学计算中心)提供的广泛的基础设施和补充支持。如果有机会，PI和关键人员将尽其所能确保所要求的仪器对远远超出耶鲁大学的生物医学研究产生非常积极和持久的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Affymetrix GeneChip microarray technology is constantly evolving with regard to the development of new arrays, expression and genotyping assays, and improved instrumentation. The increase in the size and variety of arrays coupled with their exponentially increasing use has greatly exacerbated the need for more advanced and more highly automated instrumentation. Automated methods for microarray analysis are less labor-intensive, less costly on a per sample basis, more reproducible, and are much easier to standardize across different laboratories. The Keck GeneChip facility is very heavily used to analyze gene expression and to genotype DNA. Since its founding in 2003, the GeneChip facility has analyzed >4,000 samples from >115 investigators at Yale and at 22 other institutions. The demand for services has increased by >50% in each of the last three years. Additionally, the Keck GeneChip Resource is part of the newly funded Yale Microarray Center for Research on the Nervous System. As one of four laboratories responsible for providing microarray technologies to 10,000 neuroscientists from 15 institutes in the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint, this recent award will very substantially increase the demand for Keck GeneChip services and will ensure that the requested instrumentation is used to its full capacity. In this regard, the requested GeneChip Automation Platform and MegAllele System would allow the Keck Lab to meet the anticipated increase in demand for existing services, to bring custom genotyping within reach of its users, and also would improve the reliability of the resulting data by reducing operator-to-operator variability. Funding this application would enable the GeneChip Resource to bring state-of-the-art microarray technologies to bear on several important diseases including epilepsy, psychiatric disorders, autism, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer. The strengths of this proposal include a very diverse and productive investigator user base; the experience of the PI in overseeing the Keck Affymetrix Lab and its associated Yale/NIH Microarray Center; the experience of Co-PI, K. Williams, in overseeing numerous large, multi-investigator NIH contracts and Centers; the biotechnological, statistical and database expertise of the PI and other key personnel; and the extensive infrastructure and complementary support from the Keck Lab and its associated NIH-funded Centers (e.g., the Yale/NIDA Neuroproteomics Center and the new Center for High Performance Computation in Biomedicine). If given the opportunity, the PI and key personnel will do absolutely everything in their power to ensure that the requested instrumentation has a very positive and long-lasting impact on biomedical research that will extend well beyond Yale.