Vancouver Prostate Centre

Pre-Clinical Pharmacology

PC-TRiADD’s comprehensive Pharmacology and Drug Design unit helps clients to identify novel drug candidates using methods of computational drug design and cheminformatics, followed by hit-to-lead optimization combined with comprehensive experimental evaluation of pharmacological activity. Our expert team is experienced in both computational and experimental aspects of conventional drug discovery and can seamlessly integrate their services with PC-TRiADD’s other units to provide all the necessary components of focused translational research.

Waters LC-MS suite including: SYNAPT HDMS with Maldi Quattro Premier Mass Spectrometer

Two ACQUITY UPLC systems, one with fluorescence detector and one with PDA detector Alliance HPLC System

Alliance LC-MS with PDA flow scintillation analyzer

Software supporting platform use and analysis

Rapid and comprehensive evaluation of novel small molecules and biologics

ForteBio Octet RED System

Determination of protein-protein interaction; evaluation of parameters such as binding affinity, selectivity and kinetics between target proteins and small molecule inhibitors

Xenogen Lumina II

In vivo fluorescent and bioluminescent imaging

Xenogen Spectrum

In vivo fluorescent and bioluminescent imaging with 3D imaging

ProteinSimple NanoPro 1000

Quantitative protein analysis for expression and post-translational modifications on small volume samples

Roche xCELLigence System

Label-free real time analyzer for performing continuous monitoring of changes in cell status, including cell number, cell viability, cell morphology, and cell migration

BD FACSCanto II flow cytometer

Tecan plate Infinite 200 fluorescence/luminescence plate reader

For evaluation of activity in reporter-based assays

Tecan F500 multidetection microplate reader

For the determination of small molecules compounds inhibition using transcription assays in cell lines; also the determination of binding parameters using fluorescence polarization values of peptides bound to target proteins

Living Tumour Laboratory

The Living Tumor Lab is a unique and valuable resource, which grows a wide variety of patient-derived cancer tissues, including both low and high-grade solid cancers.

This work enables researchers to readily study human cancer tissue in vivo and develop a variety of transplantable tumour tissue lines that can be used as models for studying cancer growth/progression/metastasis and drug sensitivity.

Laboratory for Advanced Genome Analysis

As one of PC-TRiADD’s key services, the Laboratory for Advanced Genome Analysis (LAGA) offers rapid, economical, tailored microarray, sequencing and bioinformatics expertise to small or large-scale projects. Serving academic and private-sector groups, our highly trained personnel will provide recommendations to ensure the best possible use of genomics and transcriptomics technology. We also offer solutions for the profiling of FFPE tissues and a complete, project-tailored downstream bioinformatics analysis of microarray and sequencing data.

LAGA offers economically priced services based on a cost-recovery, not-for-profit model. Our ongoing internal and external collaborations allow our facility to continually improve and expand both its R&D capabilities, and its access to state-of-the-art equipment and software, which in turn, benefits our clients.

Agilent Microarray system

As a certified service provider, we provide support for all Agilent microarray applications

PC-TRiADD supports a molecular pathology and applied genomics core facility, which offers clinical grade, high throughput analytical services with fast turnaround times. Our unique access to live human tumour tissues, allows for identification of new tumour targets, validation of function, and development of tumour models.

Ventana DISCOVERY XT and Ventana DISCOVERY Ultra

Fully automated IHC and IHS staining

Vectra 2.0 Imager

Multispectral fluorescence microscope slide analysis system with automated high-throughput imaging capabilities

Leica SCN400 digital slide scanner with autoloader

High-throughput scanner for full section slides, whole mount slides and TMAs

Cellular and Molecular Imaging

The Cellular and Molecular Imaging Suite supports the use of state-of-the-art bright field, laser scanning and spinning disk confocal fluorescent microscopic imaging technologies for cellular and subcellular localization studies of molecules and pathways critical to prostate cancer cell growth and survival. These imaging systems are used to monitor cellular expression and localization of proteins, which enable studies of the role of these factors in regulation of tumour cell growth, survival and differentiation signalling pathways.

Zeiss 780 laser scanning confocal

Zeiss Axio Observer spinning disc confocal

Bio-Repository

The Vancouver Prostate Centre has a tumour bank that contains well over 2000 prostate cancer specimens (both fresh frozen and paraffin embedded). This tumour bank has an integrated database that is overseen by a full-time coordinator, along with a full-time research pathologist and staff.

Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials are a core service at PC-TRiADD and are conducted in close partnership with the BC Cancer Agency, national and international clinical trials networks, and industry partners. These networks serve to enhance enrollment in our clinical trials, while the structure of the Canadian medical system and centralized treatment centres such as ours mean that patient follow-up information is closely tracked.

By combining the genitourinary research programs at the Vancouver Prostate Centre and the BC Cancer Agency, clinical trial patients can participate in a full range of investigational studies. Last year PC-TRiADD initiated 15 new clinical trials.

Our networks have performed numerous co-operative group and industry-sponsored trials, involving well-known pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In addition, this group has sponsored clinical trial submissions to Health Canada and has been successfully audited by regulatory agencies including Health Canada and US FDA.

Clinical Assay Laboratory

Clinical trials are supported by our Clinical Assay Laboratory, which specializes in enumeration of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) by using CellSearch ^®  Platform  (Veridex). Circulating tumour cells are cancer cells that have detached from the main tumour before entering the bloodstream. This cell type represents an important transition in cancer transformation and metastasis, and portends significant clinical impact in diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and monitoring.

Veridex Cell Track Autoprep and Analyzer II CTC System