Enabling microRNA Discoveries - LC Sciences Tops 100th Customer
Publication
Released
on: September 4, 2009, 4:28 am
Author: LC Sciences
LLC
Industry: Biotech
Houston,
TX – LC Sciences announced today the publication of the
100th peer-reviewed study by one of its customers using the company’s
microarray service for analyzing microRNA
(miRNA) expression profiles and for discovery of novel small RNAs.
These studies, by leading researchers in the field, contribute
to a fast growing body of knowledge defining this recently discovered
class of regulatory RNAs.
To
date, miRNAs have proven to be extremely important part of the
gene expression regulation mechanism. Expression profiling and
functional studies conducted so far indicate that miRNAs participate
in the regulation of almost every cellular process investigated
and this is evident in the amount of relevant findings being translating
into published reports.
The publications to date by LC Sciences’ customers span
a diverse range of study areas, including cancer research, neuroscience,
cardiovascular research, MicroRNA Publications reproductive biology,
plant science, virology, stem cell research, immunology, and small
RNA discovery. Their miRNA profiling service has provided a tool
for many researchers to explore and examine a wide assortment
of miRNA cellular networks and the resulting publications are
often the first description of miRNA activity in these systems.
LC Sciences’ miRNA profiling service, powered by its µParaflo®
microfluidic technology, provides quick, reliable, fully analyzed
data enabling researchers to immediately move forward with innovative
research, and publish their results faster. Microarray results
require extensive validation prior to publication. The speed with
which researchers using this miRNA profiling service have published
their discoveries demonstrates the high-quality and reliability
of these results.
The 100th study, entitled “MicroRNA-146a feedback inhibits
RIG-I-dependent Type I IFN production in macrophages by targeting
TRAF6, IRAK1, and IRAK2” appeared in the September issue
of The Journal of Immunology and was one of a group of articles
published recently by LC Sciences’ customers describing
miRNA involvement in the immune system. Researchers at the National
Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, China studied the fine tuning
effect that miRNA has on inflammatory response to viral infection
and even propose a new mechanism for the evasion of innate immune
control by viruses. MiRNA
microarray data revealed, and real-time quantitative PCR confirmed,
many up-regulated miRNAs in vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infected
mouse macrophages. Specifically miR-146a expression was significantly
up-regulated. Further studies revealed that miR-146a negatively
regulated VSV-triggered interferon production (which is necessary
to exert feedback control over inflammation) promoting VSV replication
in macrophages. The identification of miRNAs and a better understanding
of their expression in response to various stimuli/pathogens may
reveal that miRNAs offer multiple new therapeutic targets/strategies
for fine tuning the immune response to treat and prevent of a
number of inflammatory diseases.
“We are very excited about the announcement of the 100th
peer-viewed publication by one of our customers,” says Chris
Hebel, VP of Business Development at LC Sciences. “MiRNA
has become a very hot area of research and many scientists would
like to be the first to describe the mechanism of miRNA as it
relates to their field of study. We are happy to provide a first
look into this exciting new field for them and are proud that
our technology has been a part of such groundbreaking work”.
About µParaflo® Technology - The µParaflo®
technology is a microfluidic platform for in situ parallel synthesis
of biomolecular chips and miniaturization of bioassays including
binding and enzymatic reactions. This unique platform technology
is based on a new class of three-dimensional pico-liter microfluidic
reaction devices, and a digital light controlled synthesis method
that employs conventional oligonucleotide or peptide synthesis
chemistry; a completely programmable process. The seamless integration
of these multidisciplinary technologies enables a significant
advance in parallelization, miniaturization, customization, and
automation.
About LC Sciences - LC Sciences is a genomics
and proteomics products company offering a comprehensive line
of DNA, RNA, and peptide microarrays for nucleic acid/protein
profiling and functional analysis, biomarker-discovery, novel
drug screening, and the custom development of miniaturized assay
devices for diagnostics and biosensing applications. Based on
the µParaflo® microfluidics technology, LC Sciences’
innovative products offer significant flexibility and customization
capability for rapidly evolving, diverse customer needs. In an
era of rapid technological advancement, LC Sciences offers service
products which enable efficient one-stop solution for assays of
DNA, RNA, protein, enzymes, antibodies, or small molecules. LC
Sciences also provides unique synthetic DNA and RNA products such
as OligoMix®, generated using their microfluidic biochip synthesizer.
These innovative products drive synthetic biology and systems
biology applications by reducing the cost and increasing the speed
of highly multiplexing large-scale nucleic acid and protein engineering
experiments.
More information about LC Sciences is available at www.lcsciences.com.
Hou J, Wang P, Lin L, Liu X, Ma F, An H, Wang Z, Cao X. (2009)
MicroRNA-146a feedback inhibits RIG-I-dependent Type I IFN production
in macrophages by targeting TRAF6, IRAK1, and IRAK2. J Immunol
183(3), 2150-58.
Contact:
Chris Hebel
VP of Business Development
713-664-7087
chebel@lcsciences.com
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