Publications

Inclusion of the UTMCF Staff as authors in publications should be considered when their contribution exceeds technical expertise and support

Acknowledgement

When publishing results obtained at the facility, please acknowledge The University of Texas Microarray Core Facility.  In addition, please let us know of these acknowledgements, as these records are important for securing continuing funding to support the facility and keep our prices down.

Where is the facility located?

The UTMCF is located on the 4th floor of the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology in the Louise and James Robert Moffett Molecular Biology Building (MBB) room 4.102.  See our Location and Direction page for more information.


What are your hours of operation?

The UTMCF is open Monday thru Friday during normal business hours.  However, access to room 4.102 will be regulated by the Staff.  Users may request a temporary access key for the facility in room 3.106 within 24 hours of the start of your project.  We also ask that you return the key within a timely manner once your project is completed.


What kind of service does the facility provide?

The UTMCF Staff maintains all instruments, trains users, consult, helps with User printing, and does custom printing. For more detailed information, please view our Services Page.


Who is eligible to use the facility?

UTMCF is for the research community at the University of Texas at Austin. To use instruments in facility, Users should be registered, trained, and certified by UTMCF Staff. For registration, please visit our Registration page. For more detailed information on training and certification, please visit our Services / Training page. Anyone from outside the University who wishes to use the facility should speak contact the UTMCF Staff.


What is the difference between the User printing and the Custom printing services?

User printing is performed by the User, while Custom printing is performed by the UTMCF Staff. The UTMCF Staff will assist with User printing, but Users must first be trained by the UTMCF Staff to operate instruments in the facility. For Custom printing, customers do not need to be trained and certified. Please visit our Services Page for more information.


I am a first time user. Can I get some help on experiment design?

We do provide a free consulting service for on-campus users; off-campus users should contact us regarding consulting fees. Consulting can include questions or discussions of array design, slide choice, sample preparation, training schedule, etc.


What do I need to provide for a Custom printing service?

You first need to consult with us regarding your project details. Based on this consultation, you will likely need to provide your samples appropriately diluted and unambiguously labeled in 384-micro-well plates and slides. The UTMCF will align the arrayer to your specifications, conduct a test print, and print arrays. For more information please view our Service / Custom printing Page


When can I expect to get my slides back?

Custom printing of 260 slides will generally take a week. The UTMCF Staff will send an email notification to the customer when the printing is completed (and thus it is important to let us know your correct contact information). For more information please view our Service / Custom printing Page.


How do I prepare samples?

We recommend 6-10 mL volume in each well of a 384-micro-well plate.

Sample concentrations will vary depending on the nucleic acid to be printed:

20 mM DNA or oligonucleotide capture probes in 3xSSC, to be printed onto polylysine-coated or chemically modified slides.

500 nM biotin-labeled oligonucleotide capture probes in 1x PBS, to be printed onto streptavidin-coated slide.


What are the costs of the services?

The cost for each service can be found on the UTMCF Fee Schedule Page.


How do I pay for use of the facility?

You will be required to provide an account number during your registration process.  Billing will be done on a monthly basis and direct billed via an IDC voucher to this account.  If you are from outside the university, a check or money order payable to The University of Texas can be used.  In this case our invoices are Net 30 days.  Please contact Alisha Hall for further questions.

Frequently Asked Questions