DNA and RNA have been used as markers of tissue quality and integrity in tissues the last decade. In this research study, kidney, liver, colon, lung, and breast genomic quality were analyzed in tissues from surgical cancer patients and post mortem cases obtained with an IRB approved protocol and informed/or next of kin consent.  DNA extraction was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE) from both groups of cases from the 1970's through the 2000's and formalin fixed / long term 70% ethanol storage ( 15 + years).   To extract the DNA from the FFPE tissues, we soaked all tissues in xylene to remove the paraffin, digested the tissue with a proteinase K solution, and used an automated extraction machine to extract the DNA.  A similar SOP was used for the formalin fixed/ 70% long term ethanol-stored tissue, except the tissue was first homogenized rather than soaked in xylene.  DNA quality and yield were evaluated using a spectrophotometer. Gel electrophoresis was used to evaluate the length of the DNA in about 20% of the 200 samples. Samples that had optical density (OD) readings above 1.60 and below 2.10 with a DNA yield above 100 �g/mL were deemed to be high quality DNA. FFPE tissues yielded the highest DNA concentration and quality (OD reading of 1.87 and yield of 625 ug/ml) with  greater than 95% of the samples meeting the above specifications while the formalin fixed/ long term 70% ethanol stored tissue yielded both the lowest DNA concentration and quality (yield of 52 ug/ml and OD reading of 1.48).New information on enhancing Tissue sample quality( RNA) will be presented  using the Agilent Bioanalyzer to assess quality of RNA using new approved kits  from FFPE tissues in both surgical and post mortem samples.

High quality DNA and RNA obtained with automated DNA/RNA extraction methods with 2 to 40 year old formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (ffpe) blocks from normal human surgical and post mortem tissues

246th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.