University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute

DNA Array Lab

Karoly Mirnics, MD, MS, Co-Director

The UPCI DNA Array Lab (PittArray) was established in 1999 as a joint project of the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute to provide access to affordable microarray technology to investigators in the University of Pittsburgh research community.  As a division of the BGPF, the lab provides DNA array expertise to the larger facility.

The laboratory has access to an Affymetrix/GMS 417 Arrayer that is capable of printing up to 4,000 DNA spots on a single microscope slide and an Affymetrix/GMS 418 Array Reader, a laser-powered microscope device that scans slides at two wavelengths with a resolution of 10 microns. The laboratory also provides access to analysis software, image storage space on its file server, and expert assistance with data mining of extracted data.

The lab also provides "wet lab" services including mRNA extraction and labeling, hybridization of microarrays, and preparation of the DNA to be spotted. These services allow researchers who do not have molecular biology capabilities in their own laboratories to incorporate this technology into their studies.