FIMM HiPREP Nucleic Acid Services

FIMM HiPREP Nucleic Acid Services is specialized in technologies for high-end sample preparations and quality control

We have developed workflows for various biological samples – particularly human clinical samples – to extract total, small and cell-free RNA, genomic and cell-free DNA and for dual extractions.

 

New customers or projects

For more information, prices and quotes, please see below and contact the HiPREP personnel / hiprep-fimm@helsinki.fi
Services
  • Nucleic acid isolations by magnetic bead or silica-membrane -based methods. 
    • Including pre-treatment steps such as pre-clearing, sample concentration, or enzymatic treatments
    • Dual extractions – RNA and DNA starting from the same sample
  • Nucleic acid sample concentration, buffer exchange or clean-up from contaminants 
    • e.g. DNA removal from RNA samples
  • Nucleic acid normalization or aliquoting to target concentration and volume
    • Normalization is required for e.g. sequencing and genotyping applications
  • Nucleic acid integrity, fragment length profile, purity and concentration measurements
    • We measure parameters needed to ensure proper quality in downstream analytics e.g. concentrations, DNA/RNA-% or RNA/DNA-%, RIN, DIN, cfDNA-%, DV200, A260/A280, A260/A230
Sample types
  • Tissue
    • Fresh and frozen tissue (fresh frozen or in RNAlater), including biopsies and tissue sections
    • Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples
  • Blood, serum, plasma, urine, saliva and other body fluids
    • PBMC (Peripheral blood mononuclear cells)
    • PaxGene and Tempus blood tubes
    • Serum and plasma
    • CSF, cell free RNA (cfRNA) and cell free DNA (cfDNA)
    • Urine
  • Other samples
  • Nucleic acids
    • Total RNA, smallRNA, gDNA, cfDNA, cfRNA, EV-RNA, ssDNA
Equipment

 

TissueLyser III (QIAGEN)                                                                                  

  • Tissue/cell homogenizer, bead mill
  • Capacity up to 2x96-well plate or 48 tubes per run

 

 

 

Chemagic 360 (Perkin Elmer)

  • Nucleic acid isolation with magnetic beads
  • High-throughput processing up to 96 samples simultaneously

 

 

MaxWell RSC48 (Promega)

  • Nucleic acid isolation with magnetic beads
  • Medium throughput, processing up to 48 samples simultaneously
  • Uses Maxwell® RSC prefilled cartridges, which reduce variability and contamination risk in sample processing

 

 

QiaCube Connect (Qiagen)

  • Automated nucleic acid and protein isolation based on Qiagen spin-columns
  • Suitable for various Qiagen kits and purification protocols
  • Capacity 12 samples in one run

 

 

TapeStation 4200 (Agilent Technologies)

  • Nucleic acid quality control, integrity/ fragment length analysis
  • Capacity up to 96 samples per run
  • Measures DV200, cfDNA-%, RIN and DIN values, concentration estimation

 

Bravo NGS workstation (Agilent Technologies)

  • Liquid handling / sample preparation
  • High-throughput processing up to 96 samples simultaneously

 

 

Varioskan LUX multimode microplate reader (Thermo Scientific)                    

  • Monochromator, fluorescence intensity and absorbance
  • Nucleic acid concentration by Quant-iT™ and QuantiFluor® technologies (fluorescense)
  • Nucleic acid concentration and purity with µDrop Duo Plate (absorbance)
  • Capacity up to 96 samples per run for fluorescence and 32 samples for absorbance

 

Micronic Rack Reader DR505 (Micronic)                                                          

  • Barcode reader for full racks or individual tubes coded with Data-Matrix (QR)

 

 

PlateLock Thermal Microplate Sealer (Agilent Technologies)

  • Automated thermal heat sealer with adjustable temperature and heating time
  • Accommodates deep-well, assay, PCR, and compound storage microplates
HiPREP performance in Biospecimen Proficiency Testing

The nucleic acid isolation schemes of the HiPrep core have been evaluated in three consequtive years (2020-2022) by the IBBL’s Biospecimen Proficiency Testing program as part of EATRIS-Plus (report from year 2020).

Tested and yield/purity/integrity -certified sample types:

  • Cell-free RNA (cfRNA) Extraction from Plasma
  • Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) Extraction from Whole Blood
  • RNA and DNA Extraction from Whole Blood
  • RNA Extraction from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) Tissue Material
  • Total RNA, DNA and dual Extraction from Frozen Tissue