title: SIVQ-aided laser capture microdissection: A tool for high-throughput expression profiling.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Laser capture microdissection (LCM) facilitates procurement of defined cell populations for study in the context of histopathology. The morphologic assessment step in the LCM procedure is time consuming and tedious, thus restricting the utility of the technology for large applications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we describe the use of Spatially Invariant Vector Quantization (SIVQ) for histological analysis and LCM. Using SIVQ, we selected vectors as morphologic predicates that were representative of normal epithelial or cancer cells and then searched for phenotypically similar cells across entire tissue sections. The selected cells were subsequently auto-microdissected and the recovered RNA was analyzed by expression microarray. Gene expression profiles from SIVQ-LCM and standard LCM-derived samples demonstrated highly congruous signatures, confirming the equivalence of the differing microdissection methods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SIVQ-LCM improves the work-flow of microdissection in two significant ways. First, the process is transformative in that it shifts the pathologist's role from technical execution of the entire microdissection to a limited-contact supervisory role, enabling large-scale extraction of tissue by expediting subsequent semi-autonomous identification of target cell populations. Second, this work-flow model provides an opportunity to systematically identify highly constrained cell populations and morphologically consistent regions within tissue sections. Integrating SIVQ with LCM in a single environment provides advanced capabilities for efficient and high-throughput histological-based molecular studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Division of Pathology Informatics, M4233 Med Sci I, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0602, USA.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hipp
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jeffrey C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: Wusheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Phil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Canales
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hipp
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tangrea
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Emmert-Buck
authors.forename: Ulysses
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Balis