NanoString Technologies is a privately held life sciences company that develops and manufactures solutions for detecting and counting large sets of target molecules in biological samples. The company was founded by Dr. Krassen Dimitrov in 2003 and is based in Seattle, WA.

The company's products are based on a digital molecular barcoding technology invented by Dr. Dimitrov at the Institute for Systems Biology

Institute for Systems Biology

The Institute for Systems Biology is a non-profit research institution, located in Seattle, Washington, United States. Leroy Hood co-founded the Institute with Alan Aderem and Ruedi Aebersold in 2000....

 (ISB) in Seattle in the lab of Dr. Leroy Hood. This technology underlies the company’s nCounter™ Analysis System which became commercially available worldwide in 2008.

NanoString’s products are used for a variety of discovery and translational research applications including gene expression

Gene expression

Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product. These products are often proteins, but in non-protein coding genes such as ribosomal RNA , transfer RNA or small nuclear RNA genes, the product is a functional RNA...

, miRNA analysis, and copy number variation analysis. NanoString is also developing the technology for use in molecular diagnostics.

The company’s investors include Clarus Ventures, OVP Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California with affiliate offices in more than 30 cities around the world and over $7 billion in capital commitments....

.

The Technology

The Nanostring technology was invented by Dr. Krassen Dimitrov, and is protected by U.S. Patent 7,473,767. nCounter Analysis System utilizes a digital technology that is based on direct multiplexed measurement of gene expression that is capable of high level precision and sensitivity at less than 1 transcript copy per cell. The technology uses molecular "barcodes" and single-molecule imaging to detect and count hundreds of unique transcripts in a single reaction.

Each color-coded barcode is attached to a single target-specific probe corresponding to a gene of interest. Mixed together with controls, they form a multiplexed assay. The degree of multiplexing is in the hundreds, which is less than that of microarrays. However, the nanostring technology has higher throughput, accuracy and sensitivity than microarrays, which makes it preferable for low-multiplex applications, such as biomarker validation or molecular diagnostics.

The nanostring process includes the following steps:

• Hybridization: NanoString’s Technology employs two ~50 base probes per mRNA that hybridize in solution. The Reporter Probe carries the signal; the Capture Probe allows the complex to be immobilized for data collection.
• Purification and Immobilization: After hybridization, the excess probes are removed and the probe/target complexes are aligned and immobilized in the nCounter Cartridge.
• Data Collection: Sample Cartridges are placed in the Digital Analyzer instrument for data collection. Color codes on the surface of the cartridge are counted and tabulated for each target molecule.

The nCounter Analysis System primarily addresses the target validation and routine testing segments of the genomics

Genomics

Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...

 research market in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry. Cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 research and biomarker validation are two of the areas where NanoString has seen the most rapid adoption of its nCounter Analysis System.

Products

NanoString’s products include:

The nCounter Analysis System: The system consists of two instruments; the Prep Station which is an automated fluidic instrument that immobilizes CodeSet complexes for data collection and the Digital Analyzer which derives data by counting of fluorescent barcodes.

CodeSets: CodeSets are custom-made or pre-designed sets of color-coded probes pre-mixed with a set of system controls for use in a variety of basic research and translational medicine applications including gene expression, miRNA analysis, and copy number variation.

Management

Executive Leadership

• Brad Gray, President and Chief Executive Officer
• J. Wayne Cowens, M.D., Chief Medical Officer
• Nalini Murdter, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer
• Wayne Burns, Chief Financial Officer
• Mary Tedd Allen, Ph.D., Vice President of Manufacturing
• Chris Grimley, Vice President of Marketing
• Philippa Webster, Ph.D., Sr. Principal Scientist

Board of Directors

• William D. Young, Executive Chairman of the Board
• Brad Gray, President and Chief Executive Officer
• Jennifer Scott Fonstad, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
  Draper Fisher Jurvetson
  Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California with affiliate offices in more than 30 cities around the world and over $7 billion in capital commitments....
  
  
• Nicholas Galakatos, Ph.D., Clarus Ventures
• Chad Waite, OVP Venture Partners

Publications List

1. Geiss, G.K. et al. Direct multiplexed measurement of gene expression with color-coded probe pairs. Nature Biotechnology 26: 317-25 (2008).
2. Materna, S.C. et al. High accuracy, high-resolution prevalence measurement for the majority of locally expressed regulatory genes in early sea urchin development. Gene Expression Patterns doi:10.1016/j.gep.2010.04.002 (2010).
3. Dixit et al. Peroxisomes Are Signaling Platforms for Antiviral Innate Immunity. Cell 6 May 2010;doi:10.1016/j.cell.2010.04.018
4. Nam, J., Dong, P., Tarpine, R., Istrail, S., Davidson, E.H. Functional cis-regulatory genomics for systems biology. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 23 February 2010;107(8):3930-5. Epub 8 February 2010.
5. Smith, E.R., Cai, K.Q., Smedberg, J.L., Ribeiro, M.M., Rula, M.E., Slater, C., Godwin, A.K., Xu, X.X. Nuclear entry of activated MAPK is restricted in primary ovarian and mammary epithelial cells. PLoS One 18 February 2010;5(2):e9295.
6. Ouellet, M. et al. A rapid and inexpensive labeling method for microarray gene expression analysis. BMC Biotechnology 25 November 2009;9(1):97. Epub ahead of print.
7. Amit, I. et al. Unbiased Reconstruction of a Mammalian Transcriptional Network Mediating Pathogen Responses. Science 9 October 2009; Vol. 326. no. 5950, pp. 257–263.
8. Palamanda, J.R. et al. Evaluation of CYP1A1 and CYP2B1/2 m-RNA Induction in Rat Liver Slices Using the NanoString Technology: A Novel Tool for Drug Discovery Lead Optimization. Drug Metabolism Letters 2009 Aug;3(3):171-5. Epub 1 August 2009.
9. Payton, J.E. et al. High throughput digital quantification of mRNA abundance in primary human acute myeloid leukemia samples. The Journal of Clinical Investigation 119(6): 1714-1726 (2009).
10. Vladislav, M.A. et al. Multiplexed measurements of gene signatures in different analytes using the NanoString nCounter Assay System. BMC Research Notes 2: 80 (2009).
11. Yi-Hsien Su et al. A Perturbation Model of the Gene Regulatory Network for Oral and Aboral Ectoderm Specification in the Sea Urchin Embryo. Developmental Biology 329: 410-421 (2009).
12. Birtwell, S. et al. Microparticle encoding technologies for high-throughput multiplexed suspension assays. Integrative Biology 1: 227-436 (2009).

External links

• Additional information on miRNA
• Additional information on gene expression
• Additional information on copy number variation
• Expression Analysis: NanoString Service Provider (United States)
• VIB Microarray Facility: NanoString Service Provider (Europe)