Laser Capture Microdissection of Archival Kidney Tissue for qRT-PCR

Whole-organ molecular analysis of the kidney potentially misses important factors involved in the pathogenesis of disease in glomeruli and tubules. Organ wide analysis can however be augmented by using laser capture microdissection (LCM) to isolate morphologically similar cells and nephron structures from a heterogeneous tissue section via direct visualization of the cells. The protocol here provides a practical approach utilizing LCM in combination with RNA isolation techniques for downstream analysis. This technique is readily applicable to study mRNA expression in isolated glomeruli and tubules in both experimental animal models and human kidney biopsy material.