Laser-assisted microdissection: Applications in molecular pathology

Tissue microdissection is potentially one of the most useful techniques in molecular pathology, Laser-assisted microdissection has been developed to p rocure precisely the cells of interest in a tissue specimen, in a rapid and practical manner, Together with multiplex molecular approaches, it is now feasible to study genetic alterations and isolate genes and proteins in def ined cell populations from complex normal and diseased tissues. The fundame ntal advantage of this technique is the possibility of capturing single cel ls from which high-quality DNA and mRNA can be isolated for analysis of seq uence and quantitation of expression, Moreover, the integration of laser-as sisted microdissection and proteomic analysis could identify novel protein markers for disease. The advent of laser-assisted microdissection is likely to have a profound impact on molecular pathology. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.