Instruments

The Biomarker Core Laboratory provides technical expertise and the following equipment: Bio-Rad Bio-Plex® 200, Bio-Rad Bio-Plex® Pro Wash Station, ABI 7500 Fast Real-Time PCR System.

High Throughput Multiplex Assays

The Ochsner Biomarker Core includes a Bio-Rad Bio-Plex® 200 for performing multiplexed immunoassays. This instrument combines fluorescent bead technology with flow cytometry to allow for the assaying of up to 100 different molecules in a single sample. Commercial kits are available from multiple sources and can be customized to specifically target the investigators area of interest. The core also uses a Bio-Plex Pro Wash Station to facilitate assay plate processing. Bio-Plex Manager Software is available for performing data analysis.

Real-Time PCR

For detection and quantitation of nucleic acids, the Ochsner Biomarker Core includes the Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast Real-Time PCR System. This instrument can measure up to five-colors simultaneously including: FAMTM/SYBR®Green, VIC®/JOETM, NEDTM/ TAMRATM/Cy3®, ROXTM/Texas Red®, and Cy5®. Experimental setup and analysis is performed using the 7500 software v2.0 for the 7500 Fast Real-time PCR System. This system supports both traditional quantitative Real-Time PCR and multiplex array Real–Time PCR such as SABiosciences RT2 ProfilerTM PCR Array System and Applied Biosystems TaqMan® Gene Expression Analysis Assays, allowing for the analysis of up to 88 targets in one sample.