Affymetrix and NuGEN collaborate to advance whole transcript analysis
Affymetrix from Santa Clara, CA and NuGEN, of San Carlos, CA, have entered into a joint collaboration to develop NuGEN's Whole Transcript Amplification (WT-SPIA) system for use with Affymetrix GeneChip brand technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.
'We are delighted to work with Affymetrix towards our shared vision to integrate NuGEN's novel amplification reagents with Affymetrix GeneChip technology,' said Jan D'Alvise, President and CEO of NuGEN. 'We will develop WT-SPIA reagents for the preparation of sample prior to hybridization to GeneChip arrays with the goal of maintaining the accuracy, sensitivity, speed and simplicity that characterises NuGEN's commercially available Ovation Amplification System products that are based upon the Ribo-SPIA technology. By collaborating with Affymetrix, the industry leader for microarrays that enable whole genome analysis, we plan to develop an integrated solution which will be instrumental to advancing several important fields within genomic research.'
'Following our collaborative research efforts, Affymetrix and NuGEN intend to develop this promising new target amplification method to support the next generation of GeneChip arrays from Affymetrix,' said Dr John Blume, vice president of Expression Research for Affymetrix. 'Our collaborative efforts are focused on providing the most powerful product solutions to drive the entire field of whole genome analysis forward.'
In this collaboration, NuGEN plans to develop amplification reagents that replicate the entire length of mRNA transcripts and are optimised for use with GeneChip technology. An important application of WT-SPIA will be the identification of splice variants. Alternative mRNA splicing is an important mechanism to expand the diversity of gene products because an estimated 60% of human genes undergo alternative splicing of their coding units, or exons. This process greatly increases the repertoire of proteins that are expressed in different cell types at different stages of normal or pathological development. Splice variants are believed to have significant functions in the control of normal and disease states.