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In Print: Last Week's Microarray Papers of Note: Jan 8, 2013

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An aptamer-based biosensing platform for highly sensitive detection of platelet-derived growth factor via enzyme-mediated direct electrochemistry.
Anal Chim Acta. 2013 Jan 8;759:61-5.
Deng K, Xiang Y, Zhang L, et al.

In this study, a label-free electrochemical aptamer-based sensor, called an aptasensor, was constructed for detection of platelet-derived growth factor based on the direct electrochemistry of glucose oxidase, or GOD. A composite of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride-protected graphene-gold nanoparticles was coated on an electrode surface to form the interface for the adsorption of the OD layer. Subsequently, gold nanoclusters were deposited on the surface of GOD to capture the platelet-derived growth factor binding aptamer. Finally, GOD as a blocking reagent was employed to block the remaining active sites of the GNCs and avoid the nonspecific adsorption. According to the authors, the aptasensor exhibited high specificity, good reproducibility, and long-term stability, providing a new technique for aptamer-based protein detection.


A model for the design and construction of a resource for the validation of prognostic prostate cancer biomarkers: the Canary prostate cancer tissue microarray.
Adv Anat Pathol. 2013 Jan;20(1):39-44.
Hawley S, Fazli L, McKenney J, et al.

The paper discusses the Canary Foundation Retrospective Prostate Tissue Microarray Resource, which has used statistical design, quota sampling, and a variation of the case-cohort study to select patients for inclusion in a multicenter, retrospective prostate cancer TMA cohort. According to the authors, the study is designed to validate tissue biomarkers of prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy.


Mosaicism for genome-wide paternal uniparental disomy with features of multiple imprinting disorders: Diagnostic and management issues.
Am J Med Genet A. 2013 Jan;161(1):13-20.
Inbar-Feigenberg M, Choufani S, Cytrynbaum C, et al.

The authors discuss the case of a female patient with mosaicism for genome-wide paternal uniparental disomy that they believe highlights the condition's complex clinical presentation, including features of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, Angelman syndrome, and congenital hyperinsulinism. The diagnosis was established using microarray-based genome-wide DNA methylation analysis performed on leukocyte DNA, and the authors claim that this the first report of microarray-based genome-wide DNA methylation analysis in the diagnosis of genome-wide paternal UPD.


High-throughput SNP-based authentication of human cell lines.
Int J Cancer. 2013 Jan 15;132(2):308-14.
Castro F, Dirks W, Fähnrich S, et al.

The authors developed a 24-plex SNP profiling assay, called multiplex cell authentication, for authenticating human cell lines on the Luminex platform. MCA was evaluated by analyzing a collection of 436 human cell lines from the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, previously characterized by eight-loci short-tandem-repeat profiling. MCA enabled the detection of less than 3 percent of contaminating human cells. In addition, by analyzing deficient cell lines, evidence was obtained for a higher performance of MCA compared to STR profiling.

The Scan

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Researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution find gene regulatory network differences between soldiers and foragers, suggesting bees can take on either role.

Analysis of Ashkenazi Jewish Cohort Uncovers New Genetic Loci Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

The study in Alzheimer's & Dementia highlighted known genes, but also novel ones with biological ties to Alzheimer's disease.

Tara Pacific Expedition Project Team Finds High Diversity Within Coral Reef Microbiome

In papers appearing in Nature Communications and elsewhere, the team reports on findings from the two-year excursion examining coral reefs.