Developent of new drugs is dependent on a detailed understanding of the targeted disease process, the contributory role of the celllular mechanisms hypothesized to drive the disease and identification and characterization of biomarkers that be utilized to monitor the disease as well as the effects and any associated side-effects execerted by the drug

 

The nCounter platform from Nanostring represents a fully automated analytical technology for generating highly accurate, sensitive, informaive and quantitative data of either RNA (mRNA, miRNA) or DNA. The data are generated by counting barcode labelled oligonucleotides hybridized to RNA or RNA extracted  from tissues or cells. This highly multiplexed technique allow for fast, efficient and simultaneous analysis of up to 800 RNA or DNA targets. The analyses can be performed with preestablised or custom-built panels of probe sets. The technique is robust and even allows for analysis on RNA/DNA extracted from hard-to-process tissues (eg FFPE tissues) as well as tissues of suboptimal quality

 

Offspring offers analytical services with the Nanostring technique in RNA extracted from sections of FFPE or fixe/non-fixed snap-frozen tissues. The technique is particularly well suited in projects aimed to identify, validate and employ biomarkers for mechanism-of-action, efficacy as well as side effect. Biomarkers that exhibit the most significant change in expression, as detected by the Nanostring techniques on RNA from tissue section from eg drug or vehicle treated animals, can later be analysed in more in-depth 2D analyses performed on consecutive tissue section with immuno-, or in situ hybridization histochemical methods