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Prognostic gene expression signatures can be measured in tissues collected in RNAlater preservative.

Author(s): Chowdary D, Lathrop J, Skelton J, Curtin K, Briggs T, Zhang Y, Yu J, Wang Y, Mazumder A

Publication: J Mol Diagn, 2006, Vol. 8, Page 31-9

PubMed ID: 16436632 PubMed Review Paper? No

Purpose of Paper

Conclusion of Paper

Studies

1. Study Purpose

   The purpose of this study was to compare gene expression analysis by microarray of snap-frozen and RNA-later preserved breast and colon tumors.

   Summary of Findings:

   No significant differences in RNA yield or integrity were found between snap-frozen and RNAlater-preserved breast and colon specimens. The Pearson's correlation coefficient of snap-frozen and RNAlater-preserved specimens was 0.98 for breast tumors and 0.96 for colon tumors. After mutiple testing and correction for false discovery, a comparison of expression of snap-frozen and RNAlater-preserved specimens identified only 2 genes to be differentially expressed between preservation methods in breast tumors and no genes significantly different in colon tumors. Further, the ratio of the hybridization signal from snap-frozen and RNAlater-preserved specimens for each gene was found to be close to 1 and hierarchical clustering could not distinguish between the two preservation methods. When breast tissue was compared with colon tissue, 70% of the genes found to be up-or down regulated between tissue types were identified in both snap-frozen and RNAlater preserved tissues. Finally, the prediction of recurrence was similar between frozen and RNAlater-preserved tissues with 97% agreement for breast tumors and 95% agreement for colon tumors. In conclusion, RNAlater may be used for preservation of tissue specimens for microarray analysis.

   Biospecimens

   • Tissue - Breast
   • Tissue - Colorectal

   Preservative Types

   • RNAlater
   • Frozen

   Diagnoses:

   • Neoplastic - Carcinoma

   Platform:

   Analyte	Technology Platform
   RNA	Spectrophotometry
   RNA	Automated electrophoresis/Bioanalyzer
   RNA	DNA microarray

   Pre-analytical Factors:

   Classification	Pre-analytical Factor	Value(s)
   Biospecimen Preservation	Type of fixation/preservation	RNAlater Snap frozen
   Biospecimen Acquisition	Biospecimen location	Breast Colon

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