Validation of proteomic-based discovery with tissue microarrays.
Proteomics is routinely utilized for biomarker discovery above and beyond its general use in basic science. Multiple platforms provide a robust pipeline of candidates that require verification and validation as biomarkers of disease. Within the field of oncology, tissue biomarkers are in high demand as tools of diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of response to therapy. By examining the proteome, rather than the transcriptome, there is the potential to directly interrogate the drug targets and define biomarkers at the most proximate level. Toward these ends, the tissue microarray has become a common platform for verification of results and validation of clinically relevant biomarkers. Immunohistochemistry remains the most common analytical method applied to TMA and provides a direct channel toward clinical application. The TMA stands at the crossroads of proteomics and pathology, combining formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue as an analyte and IHC as a method of assay.
Tissue Array Research Program, Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, MD, USA. genejock@helix.nih.gov.
Stephen M
SM
Hewitt
Mikiko
M
Takikita
Behnoush
B
Abedi-Ardekani
Ylaya
Y
Kris
Kathryn
K
Bexfield
Till
T
Braunschweig
Joon-Yong
JY
Chung