Objective: To examine the gene expression profile of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) by combination of laser capture microdissection (LCM) and microarray and to identify genetic changes in disease pathogenesis.
Methods: The study analysed 8 matched pairs of specimens of glottic carcinoma of larynx and histologically normal epithelium tissues adjacent to the carcinoma preserved in the RNA later reagent. A genome-wide transcriptome analysis was performed by probing 16 cDNA microarrays with fluorescent-labeled amplified RNA derived from laser capture microdissected cells. Real-time quantitative (RT-PCR) of tissue microarray was used to validate the reliability of cDNA microarrays.
Results: Significant analysis of microarray (SAM) software and hierarchical cluster analysis of the expressed genes showed that 2351 genes was significantly expressed respectively according to different analysis method (false discover rate = 0.63%). A selected set of MMP12, KRT16, RARB, PRB1 genes was identified to be consistent with array data by RT-PCR.
Conclusions: The analysis of gene ontology and pathway distributions futher highlighted genes that may be critically important to laryngeal carcinogenesis. The results strongly suggest that this new approach may facilitate the identification of clinical molecular markers of disease and novel potential therapeutic targets for LSCC.