Overview of working with probe groups

A probe group is a collection of probes associated by a set of logical criteria. Probe groups create a required intermediate level of organization for probes that makes it easier to create microarray designs. Instead of having to specify hundreds or thousands of probes at once, you can first create probe groups, and then specify the probe groups to include in a design. You can also create copies of probe groups and use them as building blocks for many different microarray designs.

Additional guidance from Agilent can be found in the eArray Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

eArray provides a variety of ways to create and manage probe groups, summarized in the table below. Click a link for more information.

Process	Purpose
Search probe groups	Find probe groups in the eArray database that match specified search criteria.
Browse probe groups	View lists of available probe groups by folder, or by category.
View probe group	View information about a probe group, including its list of probes.
Compare probe groups	Compare two probe groups based on probe sequences or probe names, and create a probe group based on the comparison. This feature is not available for microRNA probe groups.
Check GE probe group	Evaluate the probes in an Expression type probe group for potential cross-hybridization problems, and calculate sequence-based probe statistics.
Score CGH or ChIP probe group	Calculate performance scores for non-Agilent CGH or ChIP probes in a probe group. Performance scores indicate the likelihood that probes will produce good log ratio responses when they are used on the Agilent platform.
Create probe group	Associate specific probes with each other. You can use probe searches, uploads, or other probe creation methods as the basis.
Copy probe group	Create a new probe group that uses an existing one as a template.
Edit probe group	Change the attributes of a probe group. You can also add and remove probes from the probe group.
Move probe groups	Move probe groups to a different folder, or move probe groups in or out of a collaboration.
Download probe group	Save probe group files to your computer.
Delete probe group	Permanently remove a probe group from eArray.
Share probe group	Move a probe group to a new or existing collaboration. Creates a new collaboration as part of the process, if needed.