A Direct Comparison between the Lateral Magnetophoretic Microseparator and AdnaTest for Isolating Prostate Circulating Tumor Cells
MICROMACHINES
Authors: Cho, Hyungseok; Chung, Jae-Seung; Han, Ki-Ho
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are important biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. However, because of their extreme rarity, a more precise technique for isolating CTCs is required to gain deeper insight into the characteristics of cancer. This study compares the performance of a lateral magnetophoretic microseparator ("CTC-mu Chip"), as a representative microfluidic device, and AdnaTest ProstateCancer (Qiagen), as a commercially available specialized method, for isolating CTCs from the blood of patients with prostate cancer. The enumeration and genetic analysis results of CTCs isolated via the two methods were compared under identical conditions. In the CTC enumeration experiment, the number of CTCs isolated by the CTC-mu Chip averaged 17.67 CTCs/mL, compared to 1.56 CTCs/mL by the AdnaTest. The number of contaminating white blood cells (WBCs) and the CTC purity with the CTC-mu Chip averaged 772.22 WBCs/mL and 3.91%, respectively, whereas those with the AdnaTest averaged 67.34 WBCs/mL and 1.98%, respectively. Through genetic analysis, using a cancer-specific gene panel (AR (androgen receptor), AR-V7 (A\androgen receptor variant-7), PSMA (prostate specific membrane antigen), KRT19 (cytokeratin-19), CD45 (PTPRC, Protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type, C)) with reverse transcription droplet digital PCR, three genes (AR, AR-V7, and PSMA) were more highly expressed in cells isolated by the CTC-mu Chip, while KRT19 and CD45 were similarly detected using both methods. Consequently, this study showed that the CTC-mu Chip can be used to isolate CTCs more reliably than AdnaTest ProstateCancer, as a specialized method for gene analysis of prostate CTCs, as well as more sensitively obtain cancer-associated gene expressions.
Novel Pathways in the Pathobiology of Human Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
PATHOBIOLOGY
Authors: Hinterseher, Irene; Erdman, Robert; Elmore, James R.; Stahl, Elizabeth; Pahl, Matthew C.; Derr, Kimberly; Golden, Alicia; Lillvis, John H.; Cindric, Matthew C.; Jackson, Kathryn; Bowen, William D.; Schworer, Charles M.; Chernousov, Michael A.; Franklin, David P.; Gray, John L.; Garvin, Robert P.; Gatalica, Zoran; Carey, David J.; Tromp, Gerard; Kuivaniemi, Helena
Abstract
Objectives: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a dilatation of the infrarenal aorta, typically affects males >65 years. The pathobiological mechanisms of human AAA are poorly understood. The goal of this study was to identify novel pathways involved in the development of AAAs. Methods: A custom-designed 'AAA-chip' was used to assay 43 of the differentially expressed genes identified in a previously published microarray study between AAA (n = 15) and control (n = 15) infrarenal abdominal aorta. Protein analyses were performed on selected genes. Results: Altogether 38 of the 43 genes on the 'AAA-chip' showed significantly different expression. Novel validated genes in AAA pathobiology included ADCY7, ARL4C, BLNK, FOSB, GATM, LYZ, MFGE8, PRUNE2, PTPRC, SMTN, TMODI and TPM2. These genes represent a wide range of biological functions, such as calcium signaling, development and differentiation, as well as cell adhesion not previously implicated in AAA pathobiology. Protein analyses for GATM, CD4, CXCR4, BLNK, PLEK, LYZ, FOSB, DUSP6, ITGA5 and PTPRC confirmed the mRNA findings. Conclusion: The results provide new directions for future research into AAA pathogenesis to study the role of novel genes confirmed here. New treatments and diagnostic tools for AAA could potentially be identified by studying these novel pathways. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel