BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Xpress sequencing for express screening

April 5, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease have developed a system for genomic-based drug screening that combines mRNA profiling and an automated, high throughput sequencing platform.1 Startup 255Xpress Inc. has licensed the technology and is adapting it for a variety of drug screening assays.

A team led by Xiang-Dong Fu, professor of cellular and molecular medicine at UCSD and a cofounder of 255Xpress, described an mRNA profiling technique in 2002 that allowed for parallel analysis of mRNA transcripts on microarrays without the need for RNA purification or cDNA synthesis.2 The approach, which involved RNA annealing, selection and ligation, was useful for quantifying gene expression and mRNA isoforms. It also led to the development of genotyping assays marketed by Illumina Inc...