Accurate molecular characterization of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues by microRNA expression profiling.

ABSTRACT: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues are an invaluable tool for biomarker discovery and validation. As these archived specimens are not always compatible with modern genomic techniques such as gene expression arrays, we assessed the use of microRNA (miRNA) as an alternative means for the reliable molecular characterization of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. Expression profiling using two different microarray platforms and multiple mouse and human formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue types resulted in the correlation ratios of miRNA expression levels between frozen and fixed tissue pairs ranging from 0.82 to 0.99, depending on the cellular heterogeneity of the tissue type. The same miRNAs were identified as differentially expressed between tissues using both fixed and fr

SUBMITTER: Szafranska AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2518736 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature