Technological Equipment and Platforms

While recent years have seen the advent of the sequencing of the human genome, now is the to analyze all these genes and their functions. This calls for the utilization of extremely high-performance tools. The Institut Curie has therefore made available to all its research units technological platforms of scientific imaging, genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics, which should help to ameliorate the diagnosis and treatment of cancers and the follow-up of patients. The combination of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics heralds an innovative medicine which will gradually transform cancer treatment from today's “ready-to-wear” to tomorrow's “made-to-measure”.

• Bioinformatics
  As analytical techniques advance, there is an exponential expansion in data on genomics and proteins. If this mass of data is to be exploited usefully, it must be analyzed, compared and archived. This is the role of bioinformatics. By combining the skills and know-how of engineers, physicists and mathematicians, the bioinformatics platform of the Institut Curie can be used to analyze clinical data (from medical records and the tumor bank) and laboratory findings (provided by silicon chips). Bioinformatics offer researchers and physicians the computer tools they need to process, organize and display the increasing volumes of data available to them.
• Cellular and Molecular Imagery
  Several technical support centers and technological platforms provide training and know-how in cellular and molecular imagery, as well as development of specific software. Microscopes associated with state-of-art computer resources are available to the Institut Curie researchers, and some equipments are also accessible to researchers from other research centers.
• Cytometry - Analysis and cell sorting
  Flow cytometry allows the measurement of fluorescence or light diffraction properties of large numbers of particles at high speed. These particles can be cells, beads, bacteria, yeast or subcellular components. At the Institut Curie flow cytometry is principally used to quantify multiple cellular markers or functions, with the possibility of subsequently sorting subpopulations of interest.
• Genomics
  • Genomics and cytogenetic analysis equipments such as CGH-arrays, SNP-arrays, high-density biochips, etc., are used to investigate specific defects in tumor profiles, in addition to the development of specific bioinformatics tools.
  • The Affymetrix Platform for Molecular Biology uses DNA chips to analyse the expression of genes in a given cell. This data, compared to the data of normal cells, allows for better classification and diagnosis of cancers, and thus enables more precise prediction of response to treatment.
  • The High Throughput Sequencing Platform, implemented in 2009, enables to sequence the equivalent of a human genome per week. Identification of simple variations in genetic sequences or more complex constitutive or tumor chromosomal aberrations, mapping of protein binding sites and modifications of chromatin, and identification of small regulatory RNAs, are among the primary applications of the platform, which is also accessible to scientists from other research centers.
• High Throughput Cell Screening   
  The high throughput automated Biophenics Platform for Cell Screening uses image analysis algorithms to quantify the cellular level impacts of the alteration in expression of specific genes. This technology enables to identify target molecules for pharmacological research and candidate drugs likely to be more effective against cancer and less toxic to the organism.
• In vivo Experiments and Pre-clinical Investigation
  
  • In vivo experiments, complementary to in vitro (laboratory) experiments, are often necessary to identify new cancer targets and imagine therapeutic methods.
  • The Laboratory of Pre-clinical Investigation has been created to assess the efficiency of innovative anticancer treatments and select the best treatments before they are used in clinical tests. As a complement to screenings performed by the pharmaceutical industry, this research work enables to optimise the effects of potential drugs and predict therapeutical combination effects.
• Proteomics
  • The Proteomic Mass Spectrometry Laboratory is involved in many projects of proteomic study. Its objective is to identify and/or characterise proteins of interest as well as post-translational modifications by mass spectrometry after SDS page separation, 2D-gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography.
  • The Reverse Phase Protein Array (RPPA) Platform uses the RPPA novel technology that enables to deposit biological samples in very small quantities using a robot in order to analyse proteins with very specific antibodies. With a range of over 120 antibodies, the reverse phase protein array platform enables to study most cell signaling pathways known to this day.