The effect of centrifugation on circulating mRNA quantitation opens up a new scenario in expression profiling from patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
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Updated: Jul 11, 2026
Detection of a Circulating MicroRNA Custom Panel in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Published on: March 14, 2019
S C Cesar Wong1, Brigette B Y Ma, Paul B S Lai
1State Key Laboratory in Oncology in South China, Sir Y K Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute and Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. cesar01@netvigator.com
Objectives:
To investigate the effect of centrifugation in circulating mRNA quantitation and to design a new, consistent protocol for it.
Design And Methods:
The concentrations of beta-catenin mRNA, P-selectin mRNA, cytokeratin 20 mRNA, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA in the plasma, the mononuclear and red cells (MARC) from metastatic colorectal (CRC) patients whose blood samples were centrifuged with 2 different forces, were measured. A new protocol to measure expression profiles in MARC was studied.
Results:
When the centrifugal force was increased: (1) the concentrations of all transcripts were dramatically decreased in the plasma samples; (2) only the concentrations of P-selectin mRNA and GAPDH mRNA were significantly increased in the mononuclear cell samples; and (3) their concentrations in the red cells did not change significantly. The new protocol found 9 differential expressed genes.
Conclusions:
Centrifugal force causes inconsistent mRNA quantitation in the plasma. The new protocol discovered 9 differential expressed genes for metastatic CRC.
