Case Studies and Feedback
Discover how our facility has helped companies with their research.
Case study 1: Sample processing for the StemBANCC
Sample processing for the StemBANCC 5 year programme funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme:
- Work Package 2 is tasked with robustly identifying, recruiting, clinically phenotyping and collecting tissue samples from subjects with defined disease and adverse drug responses as well as healthy controls.
- A research team in CARU is involved on this multi-centre recruiting process.
Once participants are identified and recruited, the blood samples need to follow a standardized processing protocol prior to biobanking.
- The clinical team approaches the Biomarkers lab regarding the implementation of this protocol.
- The Biomarkers lab takes over:
- Coordination with the biobanking lab on the fine details of: sampling, blood tubes required, standardized reagents and cell isolation protocol.
- Cost associated and budget distribution.
- Coordination with nurses in CARU regarding timing of the sampling, labelling of blood tubes and tracking documentation.
- Samples are collected by the Biomarkers team from the CARU nurse to the lab for immediate processing of blood and cell isolation.
- Cryopreservation, storage and final shipping to the biobanking lab.
Case study 2: Translation of biomarkers from ageing research
Translation of biomarkers from Ageing research onto other Clinical Research Areas:
The Biomarker lab was approached for its expertise on measuring inflammatory markers in humans to apply those biomarkers in the context of Pre-eclampsia and develop new ones (Myeloperoxidase).
Work carried out:
- Assess IL-6 and TNA-alpha in plasma samples (N=190)
- Test 3 possible sources of material for the measurement of Myeloperoxidase
- Develop a Myeloperoxidase assay
- Up-scale and increase the sensitivity of the method:
- Higher throughput
- Higher reproducibility
- Minimal plate-to-plate variation
- Capability to detect Myeloperoxidase in younger individuals
Case study 3: Translation of biomarkers from humans to birds
Translation of biomarkers from humans to birds in collaboration with a Behavioural Scientist
The Biomarker lab was approached for its expertise in several areas.
Measuring telomeres in humans and whether we could also do it in birds
Work carried out:
- Establish the type and amount of sample required and works out on test samples an efficient and reliable method to isolate the DNA from bird blood
- Develop and improve a previously reported method on bird telomeres
- Isolate DNA and assess telomere length at a large scale (N~600 samples)
Measuring inflammatory markers in humans on whether this could be done in the very small amount of material available from a large bird plasma sample collection
Work carried out:
- Develop and validate the measurement of IL-6 in plasma from birds
- Develop and validate the measurement of TNF-alpha on the same plasma sample
- Measure both IL-6 and TNF-alpha on the whole collection (N>120 samples)
- Contribute to manuscript final publication all the way from writing up the methods to replies to reviewers
Genotyping regarding the possibility of using genomic methods for the sexing of the birds
Work carried out:
- Test 3 different methods from previous publications on the genomic sexing of these birds
- Develop and validate a method adapted from the previous ones
- Evaluate the gender on a large collection of bird DNA samples (N~400)
Feedback
Lighox
"We used the BioScreening service for RNA extraction of tissues and were extremely happy with the results. Their service was quick, communication was efficient and we can move on to downstream analysis safe in the knowledge the RNA we are using is of the highest quality."
Cole Sims, Team Leader – Biology, Lightox
Cyted
“I first approached Carmen with a very nebulous problem. We had samples that we wanted to find a way to investigate for a particular biomarker, but no idea how to do it ourselves. She and her team took our samples and our very vague description of the problem, and generated some good preliminary data that we can build on as well as a protocol to work with for future samples. Carmen also helped my team to understand how to look at the data, as it was a new area for us. We plan to build upon this for future work and will reach out to Carmen again.”
Sarah Killcoyne, PhD, Head of R&D, Cyted, Cambridge, UK
Barinthus
"We used the BioScreening facility for their PBMC isolation and cryopreservation service. The team have been phenomenal in their attention to detail and communication, they consistently provided us with high quality service throughout the trial.’’
Raisha Kennerley, Barinthus Biotherapeutics
