Histological Microdissection

To overcome some of the limitations of microdissection methods presently in use, recently a mechanical technique was developed by Harsch et al. (2001). This device 

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Harsch, M., Bendrat, K., Hofmeier, G., Branscheid, D., and Niendorf, A. 2001. A new method for histological microdissection utilizing an ultrasonically oscillating needle. Am. J. Pathol. 158 1985-1990. 

Moskaluk, C.A. (2001). Microdissection of histologic sections. Manual and laser capture microdissection techniques. In Powel, S.M., ed., Colorectal Cancer. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, 1-13. 

Moskaluk, C. A., and Kern, S. E. 1997. Microdissection and polymerase chain reaction amplification of genomic DNA from histological tissue sections. Am. J. Pathol. 750 1547-1552. 

Mouledous L, Hunt S, Harcourt R, Harry J, Williams KL, Gutstein HB. Navigated laser capture microdissection as an alternative to direct histological staining for proteomic analysis of brain samples. Proteomics 2003 3(5) 610-615. 

Su JM, Perlaky L, Li XN, Leung HC, Antalffy B, Armstrong D, Lau CC (2004) Comparison of ethanol versus formalin fixation on preservation of histology and RNA in laser capture microdissected brain tissues. Brain Pathol 14 175-182... 

B. Boman, M.L. Clapper, A.G. Knudson, A. Bellacosa, Optimized procedures for microarray analysis of histological specimens processed by laser capture microdissection, J. Cell. Physiol. 2004, 201, 366-373. 

Histological data, especially the receptor expression status, represents the protein level. Therefore, in a general sense, proteomics already has been taken successfully to the clinics of breast cancer. As yet, however, proteomics in the sense of multiprotein pattern analysis by 2-DE and MS has not (Harris etal. 2007). Proteomics is hampered by the heterogeneity of tissue biopsies, variability in time and space, and small volumes in focused sampling procedures such as microdissection or nipple aspiration. While some of these are shared with tran-scriptomics, proteomics lacks a PCR-like amplification method (Hondermarck et al. 2008). Of course, multiprotein analyses also encounter the multitesting problem, which might result in the generation of spurious results. 

Recently, a novel LC—MS/MS approach was described, in which tissue amyloid deposits were extracted from histologic tissue samples by laser capture microdissection, digested with trypsin, and subjected to... 

In parallel, many efforts in the proteomic and metabolomic areas were devoted to the development of analytical protocols making it possible to individualize, within biological samples, differentiated compartments. For instance, the histological analysis of a biological tissue section followed by the laser microdissection of relevant regions can be proposed as a preliminary stage to an omic analysis intended to distinguish the chemical content of close tissue zones. In addition, approaches developed for the smdy of well-defined cellular compartments (such as membranes or mitochondria) enable one to differentiate subcellular... 

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