TABLE 1.
Selected high-throughput technologies
| Nature of analytes | Number of analytes | Detected abnormalities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genomics | |||
| Global genome sequencing | Genomic DNA | Unlimited | Mutations |
| CGH arrays | Sequences of genomic DNA (bacterial artificial chromosomes, PCR products or cloned cDNA) | Up to 2 million probes | Copy number alterations |
| SNP arrays | Oligonucleotides (sequences of 25 bases characteristic of a gene) | Up to 2 million probes | Polymorphisms, loss of heterozygosity, copy number alterations |
| Epigenomics | |||
| DNA methylation arrays | Oligonucleotides covering whole genome or CpG islands +/− promoters | Up to 385000 probes | DNA hyper- or hypo-methylation |
| Transcriptomics | |||
| Gene expression arrays | Oligonucleotides or cDNA | Up to 385000 probes | Modification of gene expression levels |
| miRNA expression arrays | Oligonucleotides (sequences of 8 to 9 bases) | Up to 1300 probes | Modification of miRNA levels |
| Proteomics | |||
| Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis | Proteins, peptides | 100–1000 proteins | Modification of proteins relative |
| MALDI-TOF MS | Proteins, peptides | 100–300 features | abundance and activity |
| Tandem MS | Peptide sequences | 500–5000 proteins | |
| Protein arrays | Lysates, proteins, peptides | Hundreds of probes | |
| Tissue microarrays | Tissue biopsies | Hundreds of tissue specimens | |
CGH: comparative genomic hybridisation; SNP: single-nucleotide polymorphism; miRNA: microRNA; MALDI-TOF MS: matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry.