omation mbers - Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening

3:30 pm Wednesday, February 4 Emerging Technologies – Automation Systems Room A3
Bruce Seligmann
High Throughput Genomics, Inc.
6296 E. Grant Road
Tucson, Arizonia 85712
bseligmann@htgenomics.com
The ArrayPlate: A Novel, High Throughput, Multiplexed, mRNA Assay for Toxicological
Research and Development
High Throughput Genomics (HTG) has developed an easy-to-implement, industrial scale gene expression assay
in a two-stage microplate multiplexed array format that eliminates the need for RNA extraction, purification,
and amplification. The assay produces sensitive, reproducible, repeatable from day-to-day, and lab-to-lab,
quantitative gene expression data with CV’s in the range of 10 percent or less. Utilizing transcriptomics technology,
toxicologists can now overcome some of the problems with studying gene expression using chip or amplification
technologies, particularly when analyzing in vivo animal studies. HTG’s ArrayPlate, when compared with
current chip technologies, allows toxicologists to examine small gene expression changes and develop a highly
reproducible pattern of gene expression that may indicate a toxic event and assemble highly accurate dose/
response curves. The technology’s multiplexed gene expression capability makes the assay a high throughput
screening tool that can be deployed in early stage drug development and compound screening efforts. No RNA
purification or sample amplification is necessary to obtain excellent data making the ArrayPlate a highly cost
effective platform for compound testing. Thousands of samples can be analyzed in one week. HTG’s technology
is currently in use by pharmaceutical companies (such as Johnson & Johnson, Celgene) in research and
development, discovery, toxicology, metabolism, diagnostics, clinical trial monitoring, and many other life science
applications.
3:45 pm Wednesday, February 4 Emerging Technologies – Automation Systems Room A3
David Huber
Stanford University
Building 500
Stanford, California 94305-3030
david.huber@stanford.edu
Temperature Gradient Focusing, Modeling and Experiments
132
Co-Author(s)
Juan G. Santiago
A key challenge yet to be addressed by miniaturized bioanalytical devices is the detection of analytes with
nanomolar or lower initial concentrations in volumes of order one microliter or less. Temperature gradient
focusing (TGF) is an emerging analytical technology that simultaneously concentrates and separates charged
species according to their electrophoretic mobilities. In TGF, an axial temperature gradient is applied along
an electrophoretic channel. Within the channel, the local electric field is inversely proportional to conductivity,
which in turn is a function of local viscosity and ion density. By selecting a buffer with a temperature dependent
conductivity, we create an electric field gradient that causes a decrease in electrophoretic mass flux along one
direction in the channel. We then impose a net bulk flow in the opposite direction. Species in the system focus at
points where the local, area-averaged liquid velocity and electrophoretic velocity sum to zero. Dispersion in TGF
results from a combination of molecular diffusion and advective dispersion. Advective dispersion, the dominant
component, is caused by both externally-imposed and internally-generated pressure gradients. We leverage a
dispersion model similar to classical Taylor dispersion analysis to produce a one-dimensional convective diffusion
equation in terms of an axially-dependent dispersion coefficient. In this work, we compare the dispersion model
with results from our temperature gradient flow system and characterize the focusing and dispersion behavior. The
goal of the study is to determine optimal parameters for TGF focusing and separation.