NanoString

The nCounter™ Analysis System measures abundance by tagging with barcodes and counting individual mRNA molecules using a novel digital technology. This system is able to detect 1 copy of mRNA per cell, can evaluate up to 800 genes per reaction, and requires only 10-100 ng of total RNA for analysis. Nanostrings can also be used for miRNA profiling and CNV analysis.

Highlights:

• More time-efficient and cost-effective than qPCR, if you have more than 10 genes and large number of samples
• Custom probes designed by Nanostring for your selected regions
• No amplification
• Digital detection

Sample Submission/Preparation

New users should contact WIGTC for training and consultation. Custom codesets are designed by Nanostring specifically for your assay. Codeset pricing varies with number of targets and samples.

Typically 100 ng of high quality total RNA is required for analysis using NanoStrings. Also, a codeset would have to be ordered before the experiment (CodeSet is the collection of all reporter probes and capture probes for all genes of interest in an assay).

Data

How do you normalize the data?

First normalize using the internal system controls to remove any slight assay-to-assay system variation and then normalize using 3-4 validated endogenous controls.

Can I compare the nCounter System with my microarray data?

Yes. The fold change data obtained from an nCounter analysis should correlate with fold change results obtained from microarray analyses.

Can nCounter data be used together with qPCR data?

Yes, both in terms of relative expression levels and fold changes.

How do I analyze my data?

The comma separated value file returned by the nCounter system is easily imported and analyzed in other programs, including Excel.

Is there documentation available about analyzing my data?

Yes, there is a data analysis guidelines document that is available in the Product Literature from Nanostring. You can download it here:

Pricing

Please refer to the Pricing Section