Back to Core Facilities

Biopolymer-Genomics Core

Scientific Objectives:

The primary objective of the Biopolymer/Genomics Core Facility is to enable and advance institutional science through the services offered.  These services include DNA sequencing, genotyping, DNA/RNA synthesis, and gene expression studies that utilize microarray or real-time PCR technology.  In addition to these genomics-related services, the Facility offers peptide synthesis and purification, and custom characterization and purification of proteins and peptides as well as other molecules.  Established in 1986, the Biopolymer/Genomics Core Facility is an integral resource for the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and serves as a Shared Service for the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center and as the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s General Clinical Research Center’s Genomics Core Facility.  The facility operates with state-of-the-art instrumentation and an extremely knowledgeable, well-experienced staff. 

Directors:

Nick Ambulos - Howard Hall 598
Lisa Sadzewicz - Howard Hall 569
Phone: 6-8553 or 6-3339
Fax: 6-0287
Location: Howard Hall 560
Web Site: http://medschool.umaryland.edu/biopolymer
Hours: Monday through Friday 7:00am – 5:30pm

Services Avg Turnaround Time Instrumentation
DNA and RNA Synthesis (24 hours) ABI models 3900 and 394 Synthesizers
DNA Sequencing (24 hours) ABI models 3730XL and 3100 Sequencers
Genotyping/SNP analysis (Depends on method used) ABI 3730, UHT SNPstream, Affymetrix GeneChip 3000 system, ABI 7900 Fast Real-Time PCR
Microarray services:


-Affymetrix

-Custom Arrays 		   
(2-3 Days) Affymetrix GeneChip System 3000
(2-3 Days) GenePix printer, GeneScan scanner
Peptide synthesis (1-2 weeks crude, 2-3 weeks purified) 2 Rainin Symphonys
Custom Protein Purification (Inquire) multiple Beckman HPLC systems
Custom Protein Analysis (Inquire) multiple Beckman HPLC and CE systems
Assay Development (Inquire) HPLC's, CE's, BioMek

Staff (areas of expertise):

Nick Ambulos (All Services)
Lisa Sadzewicz (All Services)
Patricia Campbell, PhD (Peptide syn, protein analysis and purification)
Jing Yin, DDS (Microarray services)
Kevin Rossomando (DNA synthesis and DNA Sequencing)

Faculty Advisory Committee:  Kurtis Bachman, Ph.D., Meredith Bond, Ph.D., James Galen, Ph.D., Steven Munger, Ph.D., Paul Welling, MD, Alan Smith, Ph.D. (ad hoc; former director of the Protein/Nucleic Acid Core, Stanford)

Satisfied Customers:  Gerard Barcak, Ph.D., James Carney, Ph.D., Allan Delisle, Ph.D., Martin Flajnik, Ph.D., James Nataro, MD, Ph.D., Alan Shuldiner, MD, Dudley Strickland, Ph.D., Stefanie Vogel, Ph.D., David Weber, Ph.D.

Pricing (As of 10/1/05):

DNA Synthesis (Synthesis up to 150mers):

Scale Cost/base
40nM $0.40
0.2µM $0.75
1.0µM $1.50
10.0µM $10.00

HPLC Purification (regardless of scale of synthesis): $50.00 per oligonucleotide

RNA/SiRNA synthesis (0.2µM scale) $5.00/base (includes HPLC desalting)

DNA Sequencing 

  • Full Reaction samples performed by Core: $10.00/sample
  • Full Reaction (full 96 well trays) performed by core: $600.00/tray
  • Ready-to-Run* samples: $5.00/sample
  • Ready-to-Run* full 96 well trays: $100/tray
  • Primers (for primer-walking projects) $8.00/primer

Peptide Synthesis

Charge/Amino Acid 25µM 50µM 100µM 250µM
Crude Peptide $15.00 $20.00 $30.00 $35.00
75-95% Purity $25.00 $30.00 $40.00 $45.00
95% or better Purity $35.00 $40.00 $55.00 $65.00

Microarrays

  • Affymetrix Gene Expression:
    • $250.00 per sample (Investigator provides arrays)
  • Affymetrix Mapping:
    • $30.00 per sample (Investigator provides arrays and kits)
  • Glass slide array processing:
    • $300 per slide for 2 color dye labeling
    • $250 per sample for amplification
    • $20 per slide for scanning
    • Custom slide printing (Inquire)

Miscellaneous

  • I-cycler or 7900 Fast Real-Time PCR machine use - $30.00 per run
  • Analytical HPLC - $25.00 per run
  • MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry - $25.00/sample

All other services, please inquire for cost estimate.

Please visit our web site for modified bases or labels that can be incorporated into oligonucleotides or modification that can be made to synthetic peptides.

Instrumentation Available for investigators to use (first come, first serve):

  • Storm 860 Phosphorimager (Howard Hall 550)
  • Wallac Victor 2 Microplate Reader (Howard Hall 550)
  • BioRad I-Cycler (Howard Hall 564)
  • Applied Biosystems 7900 Fast Real-Time PCR system (Howard Hall 564)
  • Genescan 5000 fluorescent glass slide scanner (Howard Hall 564)