Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Laser Microdissection Applied to Gene Expression Profiling of Subset of Cells from the Drosophila Wing Disc
15:59

Laser Microdissection Applied to Gene Expression Profiling of Subset of Cells from the Drosophila Wing Disc

Published on: April 30, 2010

Laser microdissection for gene expression profiling

Lori A Field1, Brenda Deyarmin, Craig D Shriver

  • 1Windber Research Institute, Windber, PA, USA.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|July 16, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Gene expression profiling using microarrays enables comprehensive analysis of thousands of genes. Protocols are detailed for isolating high-quality RNA from frozen breast tissue after laser microdissection (LM) for cancer research.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical research
  • Cancer research
  • Molecular biology

Background:

  • Microarray-based gene expression profiling allows interrogation of thousands of genes simultaneously.
  • Laser microdissection (LM) isolates RNA from specific cell types within tumor tissues.
  • RNA quality is critical for accurate gene expression analysis and is sensitive to sample preparation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To detail protocols for generating microarray data from high-quality frozen breast tissue specimens.
  • To highlight challenges in RNA extraction for gene expression profiling from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens.

Main Methods:

  • Laser microdissection (LM) for isolating specific cell populations from tissue.
  • RNA extraction protocols optimized for frozen tissue specimens.
  • Microarray data generation from extracted RNA.

Main Results:

  • Established protocols yield research-quality RNA from frozen breast tissue for microarray analysis.
  • Identified challenges in obtaining high-quality RNA from FFPE tissues for gene expression profiling.

Conclusions:

  • Optimized protocols are essential for reliable gene expression profiling in cancer research.
  • Frozen tissue is preferred for preserving RNA integrity when using LM and microarray analysis.

More Related Videos

Laser Microdissection for Species-Agnostic Single-Tissue Applications08:57

Laser Microdissection for Species-Agnostic Single-Tissue Applications

Published on: March 31, 2022

Laser-assisted Microdissection (LAM) as a Tool for Transcriptional Profiling of Individual Cell Types09:31

Laser-assisted Microdissection (LAM) as a Tool for Transcriptional Profiling of Individual Cell Types

Published on: May 10, 2016

Related Concept Videos

DNA Microarrays02:34

DNA Microarrays

Microarrays are high-throughput and relatively inexpensive assays that can be automated to analyze large quantities of data at a time. They are used in genome-wide studies to compare gene or protein expression under two varied conditions, such as healthy and diseased states. Microarrays consist of glass or silica slides on which probe molecules are covalently attached through surface functionalization. Most commonly, the slides are prepared through the chemisorption of silanes to silica...
Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy01:16

Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy

Confocal microscopy is an advanced microscopic technique. The prime advantage of the confocal microscope over other microscopy techniques is its ability to block the out-of-focus light from the illuminated samples using pinholes. It is widely used with fluorescence optics to obtain high-resolution, sharp contrast images. Unlike optical microscopes, confocal microscopes use a focused beam of light laser to scan the entire sample surface at different z-planes. These microscopes are, therefore,...