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Comparison of MicroRNA deep sequencing of matched formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded and fresh frozen cancer tissues

ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs regulate several aspects of tumorigenesis and cancer progression. Most cancer tissues are archived formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE). While microRNAs are a more stable form of RNA thought to withstand FFPE-processing and degradation there is only limited evidence for the latter assumption. We examined whether microRNA profiling can be successfully conducted on FFPE cancer tissues using SOLiD ligation based sequencing. Tissue storage times (3-9 years) appeared to not affect the number of detected microRNAs in FFPE samples compared to matched frozen samples (paired t-test p>0.7). Correlations of microRNA expression values were very high across microRNAs in a given sample (Pearson’s r=0.71-0.95). Higher variance of expression values among samples was associated with higher correlation coefficients between FFPE and frozen tissues. One of the FFPE samples in this study was degraded for unknown reasons with a peak read length of 17 nucleotides compared to 21 in all other samples. The number of detected microRNAs in this sample was within the range of microRNAs detected in all other samples. Ligation-based microRNA deep sequencing on FFPE cancer tissues is feasible and RNA degradation to the degree observed in our study appears to not affect the number of microRNAs that can be quantified. we analyzed eight matched frozen and FFPE tissues of different histologies for which detailed processing and storage information.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: meng wei

PROVIDER: S-ECPF-GEOD-45740 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Gene expression profiling of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples represents a valuable approach for advancing oncology diagnostics and enhancing retrospective clinical studies; however, at present, this methodology still requires optimization and thus has not been extensively used. Here, we utilized thorough quality control methods to assess RNA extracted from FFPE samples and then compared it to RNA extracted from matched fresh-frozen (FF) counterparts. We preformed genome-wide expression profiling of FF and FFPE ovarian serous adenocarcinoma sample pairs and compared their gene signatures to normal ovary samples. METHODS: RNA from FFPE samples was extracted using two different methods, Ambion and Agencourt, and its quality was determined by profiling starting total RNA on Bioanalyzer and by amplifying increasing size fragments of beta actin (ACTB) and claudin 3 (CLDN3) by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Five matched FF and FFPE ovarian serous adenocarcinoma samples, as well as a set of normal ovary samples, were profiled using whole genome Agilent microarrays. Reproducibility of the FF and FFPE replicates was measured using Pearson correlation, whereas comparison between the FF and FFPE samples was done using a Z-score analysis. RESULTS: Data analysis showed high reproducibility of expression within each FF and FFPE method, whereas matched FF and FFPE pairs demonstrated lower similarity, emphasizing an inherent difference between the two sample types. Z-score analysis of matched FF and FFPE samples revealed good concordance of top 100 differentially expressed genes with the highest correlation of 0.84. Genes characteristic of ovarian serous adenocarcinoma, including a well known marker CLDN3, as well as potentially some novel markers, were identified by comparing gene expression profiles of ovarian adenocarcinoma to those of normal ovary. CONCLUSION: Conclusively, we showed that systematic assessment of FFPE samples at the RNA level is essential for obtaining good quality gene expression microarray data. We also demonstrated that profiling of not only FF but also of FFPE samples can be successfully used to identify differentially expressed genes characteristic of ovarian carcinoma.

Project description:BackgroundTriple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease that lacks unifying molecular alterations that can guide therapy decisions. We previously identified distinct molecular subtypes of TNBC (TNBCtype) using gene expression data generated on a microarray platform using frozen tumor specimens. Tumors and cell lines representing the identified subtypes have distinct enrichment in biologically relevant transcripts with differing sensitivity to standard chemotherapies and targeted agents. Since our initial discoveries, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) has evolved as a sensitive and quantitative tool to measure transcript abundance.MethodsTo demonstrate that TNBC subtypes were similar between platforms, we compared gene expression from matched specimens profiled by both microarray and RNA-seq from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). In the clinical care of patients with TNBC, tumor specimens collected for diagnostic purposes are processed by formalin fixation and paraffin-embedding (FFPE). Thus, for TNBCtype to eventually have broad and practical clinical utility we performed RNA-seq gene expression and molecular classification comparison between fresh-frozen (FF) and FFPE tumor specimens.ResultsAnalysis of TCGA showed consistent subtype calls between 91% of evaluable samples demonstrating conservation of TNBC subtypes across microarray and RNA-seq platforms. We compared RNA-seq performed on 21-paired FF and FFPE TNBC specimens and evaluated genome alignment, transcript coverage, differential transcript enrichment and concordance of TNBC molecular subtype calls. We demonstrate that subtype accuracy between matched FF and FFPE samples increases with sequencing depth and correlation strength to an individual TNBC subtype.ConclusionsTNBC subtypes were reliably identified from FFPE samples, with highest accuracy if the samples were less than 4 years old and reproducible subtyping increased with sequencing depth. To reproducibly subtype tumors using gene expression, it is critical to select genes that do not vary due to platform type, tissue processing or RNA isolation method. The majority of differentially expressed transcripts between matched FF and FFPE samples could be attributed to transcripts selected for by RNA enrichment method. While differentially expressed transcripts did not impact TNBC subtyping, they will provide guidance on determining which transcripts to avoid when implementing a gene set size reduction strategy.Trial registrationNCT00930930 07/01/2009.

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Comparison of MicroRNA deep sequencing of matched formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded and fresh frozen cancer tissues

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