What are the Benefits of Performing Proteomics and Genomics Assays on the Same Instrument?

Protein and Gene Expression Immunoassays

As cell analysis techniques evolve, biological systems are investigated in greater depths, and many recent advances have been focused on genomics. Genetic sequencing provides comprehensive information on mRNA expression and the genome. However, it does not provide the full biological picture due to its stochastic nature. Proteins are more stable, present in higher concentrations, and play a direct role in maintaining cellular functions. To accurately define cellular states, understanding both proteomics and genomics provides a more holistic picture than either one in isolation. Traditional gene expression assays and immunoassays have limitations such as:

High sample consumption
Time consuming setup
Variability between users
Complex data analysis

Hence, the ability to analyze gene and protein expression on the same platform offers a unique opportunity to interrogate two “-omics” aspects with greater ease.

One Platform for Multi-omics

Several approaches are being developed for analyzing mRNA and protein expression. Many are based on microscopy-based technologies. Microarrays and RNA sequencing technologies can be used for genome expression whereas, mass spectrometry has been used for proteomic analysis in human samples. However, some of these techniques can only analyze targeted mRNA and surface proteins. Other methods can measure intracellular proteins, but they are limited to only a handful of proteins and require cell fixation and large volumes of sample.

Unique Solution

One solution overcomes most of these challenges and offers measurement of intra- or extracellular proteins and mRNA expression utilizing small sample volumes – Invitrogen™ ProcartaPlex™ immunoassays and QuantiGene™ Plex gene expression assays using xMap^® Technology on the Luminex® instrument platform. This flexibility of the Luminex platform offers greater efficiency and lowers start up spend. It eliminates the need for a separate instrument for both protein and genetic analysis. Also, multiplexing assays using xMap^® technology enables scientists to measure multiple biomarkers from a single sample, which can generate more data with less sample in a short period of time, resulting in cost savings per biomarker analyzed.

The ProcartaPlex immunoassays cover more than 600 cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and other protein targets from human, mouse, rat, non-human primate, canine, and other species. The QuantiGene Plex assays offer a fast and high-throughput solution for multiplex gene expression analysis of thousands of different mRNA targets, with the ability to measure up to 80 genes of interest simultaneously. This significantly increases the amount of datapoints measured with traditional gene expression technologies like qRT-PCR. Data provided by ProcartaPlex and QuantiGene assays are complementry and the assays can be run on any Luminex platform, facilitating holistic understanding of biological systems, all from one instrument.

Practical Applications

Inflammation and Immune response are complex processes. Moreover, individuals may show different levels of immune response to viral and other types of infections. Hence, deeper knowledge of mRNA expression and cytokine release patterns is necessary to understand clinical symptoms and personalize treatment. Infection and dysfunctional immune reactions are both controlled by a combination of mRNA expression and immune factors such as cytokines/chemokines. Hence, studying both these factors are necessary for understanding the disease and immune response.

The Luminex platform for gene expression and protein secretion analysis is very practical as illustrated by real-life examples. The QuantiGene Plex hybridization-based assays for RNA quantitation and the ProcartaPlex immunoassays for protein quantitation have been successfully used for cytokine storm analysis and SARS-CoV-2 research. These assays have been used in bacterial disease research as well viral research. A research study on Meningitic Escherichia coli used QuantiGene Plex 2.0 Assay for cytokine mRNA quantification and ProcartaPlex Multiplex Immunoassays for measuring cytokines of brain lysates.

Luminex Offers One Solution

Combining QuantiGene assays with ProcartaPlex immunoassays on Luminex instruments offers a comprehensive approach to understanding biological systems. It provides reliability, flexibility, and efficiency to your genomic and proteomic research.

Learn more about the product in this blog:

Resources and Solutions for ProcartaPlex immunoassay and QuantiGene assay

Luminex platform – Quantitative protein and RNA assays with superior throughput
ProcartaPlex Panel Configurator – This online tool helps you design an effective protein panel for your specific application
ProcartaPlex Handbook – What would the ability to simultaneously quantitate as many as 80 cytokines or other soluble biomarkers from a single 25 μL sample do for your research?
ProcartaPlex Assays Support – Explore the “Getting Started” and “Troubleshooting” sections for solutions to top inquiries and common problems.

References:

Identification of Immune Activation Markers in the Early Onset of COVID-19 Infection, Johannes J. Kovarik et.al., Cell. Infect. Microbiol., 03 September 2021
Meningitic Escherichia coli-Induced Interleukin-17A Facilitates Blood–Brain Barrier Disruption via Inhibiting Proteinase 3/Protease-Activated Receptor 2 Axis, Bojie Xu et.al., frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, Feb 2022
Cross-tissue Analysis of Gene and Protein Expression in Normal and Cancer Tissues, Idit Kosti et.al.,Scientific Reports volume 6, 2016
MiRNA Profiling in Plasma and Placenta of SARS-CoV-2-Infected Pregnant Women, Irma Saulle et.al., Cells 2021

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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.