Creative Biolabs concentrates on promoting the understanding of drug development breakthroughs in psychiatric disease therapy. We will combine the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis tool with other incredible technologies around the world to boost novel psychotropic drug discovery in unprecedented ways. In our company, our scientists specialized in psychiatric disease studies will work with you to develop the most appropriate strategy that will offer reproducible data for your research.
Introduction to Whole Genome Sequencing
WGS is a high-throughput method for studying complete genomes. In the past few years of studies, WGS has proven its promising role in identifying the functions and mechanisms of various genes in different disease types. In general, WGS technology requires a large number of biomedical databases and in silico analysis. As a result, next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has been broadly used for assisting the analysis of WGS. Pilot studies showed that NGS technology can rapidly realize the massive serial data processing and reducing the overall cost of WGS analysis. At the same time, WGS technology has been widely used for revealing inherited diseases, identifying the gene mutations, monitoring disease progression, as well as tracking population distribution.
Fig.1 The analytical pipeline for De novo mutations (DNMs) detected from exome studies in psychiatric disorders. (Wang, 2019)
Our WGS Analysis Workflow
DNA isolation is a critical way of obtaining high-quality DNA samples with sufficient amounts. Many reports have indicated that the methods for DNA extraction can affect the data accuracy of WGS. More specifically, the performance of DNA isolation should meet the requirements of the authority and without causing sample contamination.
Library preparation is important to the success of the whole WGS analysis. The DNA samples should be compatible with a specific sequencer. Sequencing libraries are usually established by segmenting the DNA and adding specialized adapters at both ends. In our workflow, these adapters consist of some complementary sequences that can combine DNA fragments with flowing cells to be further amplified and purified.
During the WGS sequencing process, a large number of DNA fragments are amplified to produce millions of single-stranded DNA copies. The complementary nucleotides will bind to the DNA substrate to release the fluorescent signal that can be recognized by the sequencing instrument.
After WGS sequencing, all the data will be collected by the instrument software to send to a standard data analysis tool. In our labs, intuitive data collection apps have been widely used for interpreting WGS sequencing data in different manners, such as sequence alignment, mutation calling, as well as sequence visualization.
WGS Analysis Services in Psychiatric Diseases
Currently, genetic mutations have been broadly identified in psychiatric diseases. These variants are composed of a full range of aspects, ranging from single nucleotide residues to large population variants. Therefore, a wide variety of genomic technologies, such as Sanger sequence, have been established for supporting the understanding of various psychiatric diseases in humans, yet remaining limitations in genetic technologies and sample size have inhibited the progress of the identification of rare variants in patients.
To solve this problem, Creative Biolabs has established a comprehensive WGS analysis platform for detecting rare and common genetic variants in multiple sample sizes. Up to now, we can provide a panel of arrays based on various sample types, including but not limited to, genotyping microarray and exome sequencing. For example, we have conducted a WGS analysis in 500 patients with psychiatric diseases to reveal the phenotypes and identify disease-associated mutations. The results have demonstrated that twenty-seven variants have been discovered in five affected siblings carrying on the SHANK2 gene. These variants may play an important role in screening psychiatric individuals at high risk. Moreover, recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using genotyping microarray have detected approximately 150 regions of common genetic variants. Exome sequencing, which tests rare genetic variants (population frequency ≤0.00001%), has been also generated for detecting over 60 genes in patients suffering from the psychiatric disease.
Creative Biolabs is recognized as the world leader for providing the most diverse portfolio of WGS analysis services for psychiatric disease research. We are very proud of providing high-quality, omnidirectional psychiatric drug development services to remove the difficulties of your projects. For more information, please feel free to contact us or send us an inquiry.
Reference
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Wang, W., et al. De novo mutations from whole-exome sequencing in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders: from discovery to application. Frontiers in genetics. 2019, 10: 258. Distributed under Open Access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.
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