Spatially resolved and multiplexed MicroRNA quantification from tissue using nanoliter well arrays

Maxwell B Nagarajan; Augusto M Tentori; Wen Cai Zhang; Frank J Slack; Patrick S Doyle

doi:10.1038/s41378-020-0169-8

Spatially resolved and multiplexed MicroRNA quantification from tissue using nanoliter well arrays

Microsyst Nanoeng. 2020 May 9:6:51. doi: 10.1038/s41378-020-0169-8. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Maxwell B Nagarajan¹, Augusto M Tentori¹, Wen Cai Zhang², Frank J Slack², Patrick S Doyle¹

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA.
² 2HMS Initiative for RNA Medicine, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215 USA.

Abstract

Spatially resolved gene expression patterns are emerging as a key component of medical studies, including companion diagnostics, but technologies for quantification and multiplexing are limited. We present a method to perform spatially resolved and multiplexed microRNA (miRNA) measurements from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue. Using nanoliter well arrays to pixelate the tissue section and photopatterned hydrogels to quantify miRNA, we identified differentially expressed miRNAs in tumors from a genetically engineered mouse model for non-small cell lung cancer (K-ras^LSL-G12D/+; p53^fl/fl). This technology could be used to quantify heterogeneities in tissue samples and lead to informed, biomarker-based diagnostics.

Keywords: Chemistry; Engineering.

Abstract

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