The project is a cooperation between the companies ZytoVision GmbH (Bremerhaven), GA Generic Assays (Dahlewitz) and MEDIPAN GmbH (Dahlewitz), the Carl-Thiem-Klinikum Cottbus gGmbH and the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and is financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It is a three-year project which began on 01 September 2016 and will end on 31 August 2019.

Project Description

In the BMBF joint project "FISHng", scientists from the field of multiparameter diagnostics at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and their cooperation partners are developing a new, innovative, digital platform for the improved diagnosis of tumours. The pilot project supports economic and technological development in the regions of Berlin-Brandenburg and Northern Germany/Bremen. Furthermore, the network contributes to supraregional structural growth and networking of the regions. In this project, competencies from basic research, economically oriented development, as well as production and marketing strength are bundled.

Fluorescence in situ hybridisation is a highly sensitive and highly specific method for the detection of nucleic acids and is an important tool in diagnostics and research. This method enables the direct detection of genetic modifications in cells. This method is also used in the diagnosis of various tumor diseases and provides decisive indications for therapy. The examination of FISH preparations is usually carried out manually in routine by trained personnel at the microscope. In order to keep the effort low, only parts of the tissue sections with only a few cell nuclei are evaluated. Nevertheless, this procedure is time-consuming, requires well-trained personnel and involves a high degree of intra- and interobserver variability.

The aim of this project is to develop an automated and standardized technology platform for FISH analytics that will significantly improve the reproducibility of results and significantly reduce the time and costs involved in the evaluation procedure. For this purpose, a method for the fully automated acquisition and evaluation of the results is to be developed with the help of the fluorescence microscopy-based VideoScan technology developed at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. The imaging platform technology developed by researchers from the working group of the project leaders Prof. Dr. Peter Schierack and Dr. Stefan Rödiger uses methods of digital image processing and statistical bioinformatics, which thus play an essential role in this interdisciplinary collaborative project. In addition, this project will make it possible to include several gene defects in the analysis at the same time and thus obtain a more comprehensive picture of the disease in real time. In order to enable these multi-target approaches, innovative mixed colour probes will be established and evaluated within the framework of the joint project together with the cooperation partners. In addition to sophisticated investigations in tumor diagnostics, bacterial infections can also be detected.

Contact

Brandenburg Technical University (BTU) Cottbus - Senftenberg

Faculty of Environment and Natural Sciences

Universitätsplatz 1

01968 Senftenberg

Prof. Dr. habil. Peter Schierack (project manager)

E-Mail: peter.schierack(at)b-tu.de

Dr. Stefan Rödiger (project manager)

E-Mail: stefan.roediger(at)b-tu.de

Juliane Schiebel (workgroup leader)

E-Mail: juliane.schiebel(at)b-tu.de