the molecular messenger

NEwS aNd EvENTS
Molecular Devices acquires Laser Capture Microdissection
technology from Arcturus Bioscience
Molecular Devices has acquired the complete
portfolio of Laser Capture Microdissection
(LCM) instrumentation and reagents
technology from Arcturus Bioscience, Inc. The
addition of this microgenomics technology to
Molecular Devices’ popular microarray analysis
product line, which includes the GenePix ®
family of microarray scanners, allows Molecular
Devices to provide a more complete solution
for gene expression.
Microgenomics is a vital tool for life sciences
researchers, allowing gene expression analysis
on homogeneous cell populations, isolated
from heterogeneous tissue samples. This
technology enables specific analysis of pure cell
populations, such as disease-causing cells or
other relevant cell types, even when they are a
low percentage of a tissue sample and/or from
limited size samples.
The acquisition of this technology includes
the Arcturus Veritas Laser Capture and
Laser Cutting Microdissection system. This
unique instrument delivers two distinct laser
microdissection capabilities in one system.
Researchers have the flexibility of utilizing
either UV laser cutting for speed and precision
or IR laser microdissection, a gentle technique
that maintains biomolecule integrity.
Molecular Devices also acquired the Arcturus
reagent product line: the Paradise ® reagent
system, including RNA Isolation, Amplification
and Reverse Transcription kits, RiboAmp ®
RNA amplification kits, PicoPure ® DNA and
RNA isolation kits and HistoGene ® staining
kits. These kits provide the suite of reagents
needed for microgenomic analysis, from
identifying the cells of interest to isolating
the RNA of interest from low cell numbers
and amplifying it as necessary for microarray
analysis.
As microdissection plays an important role in
the analysis of specific cells, the combination
of this technology with the GenePix family of
microarray acquisition and analysis products
provides a more complete research solution.
Once microdissection has been conducted on
one of the LCM systems, and the RNA isolated,
amplified, labeled and hybridized to a microarray
of interest, researchers can then use a GenePix
microarray scanner to scan the microarray. The
results are then read by GenePix Pro software
and the results are analyzed using Acuity ®
bioinformatics software. This unique integration
of technology, reagents, instruments and analysis
software offers a robust system for performing
microgenomic analysis.
For more information, visit www.arctur.com or
email Steve.Blakely@moldev.com
the Laser Capture
Microdissection process
1 Place cap on tissue
2 Pulse laser at target cells
3 Remove cap with adhered target cells
4 Extract molecules from target cells
6 < Molecular Messenger • May 2006
The vertitas microdissection instrument, for capturing pure
cell populations.
The Riboamp kit, for linear RNa amplification from frozen
tissue samples.
The Paradise reagent system for staining, RNa amplification,
and reverse-transcription from formalin-fixed tissue samples.
PicoPure nucleic acid isolation kits for dNa/RNa extraction
and isolation.
HistoGene staining kits for frozen tissue and immunofluorescence
staining.