doi:10.1369/jhc.6A6999.2006
Volume 54 (11): 1229-1237, 2006 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Preliminary Comparison of Quantity, Quality, and Microarray Performance of RNA Extracted From Formalin-fixed, Paraffin-embedded, and Unfixed Frozen Tissue Samples
Department of Safety Assessment (MSS,DAD,RAT,RM,RWB) and Department of Genetics Research and Drug Discovery (MAB,SMA), GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and NuGEN Technologies, San Carlos, California (LRT) Correspondence to: Marshall S. Scicchitano, Department of Safety Assessment, GlaxoSmithKline, 709 Swedeland Road, Mail Stop UE0364, King of Prussia, PA 19406. E-mail: Marshall.2.Scicchitano{at}gsk.com
Microarrays have been used to simultaneously monitor the expression of thousands of genes from biological samples, an approach that can potentially uncover previously unrecognized functions of genes. Microarray analyses can rarely be conducted retrospectively because of the requirement for RNA to be obtained from fresh or unfixed frozen tissues. Archived pathology specimens would need to be used for retrospective analyses, and these are typically preserved as formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue. Formalin-fixed tissues have been shown to yield compromised RNA compared with that obtained from frozen tissue. To begin to assess the performance of RNA extracted from FFPE samples on a microarray format, we compared RNA from a model system of pelleted lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human bone marrow stromal cells that were snap frozen with RNA from FFPE cells. RNA integrity and Affymetrix quality control parameters were assessed, and differentially regulated genes were analyzed with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software. Results demonstrate that both snap-frozen and FFPE samples yielded intact RNA suitable for amplification prior to Affymetrix GeneChip analysis. Although some transcriptional information was lost with RNA extracted from the FFPE samples, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed that the major pathways identified as affected by drug treatment were similar. Results show that FFPE samples are amenable to Affymetrix GeneChip analysis, expanding the possibility for expression profiling on archived tissue blocks in pathology laboratories. (J Histochem Cytochem 54:12291237, 2006)
Key Words: formalin fixed, paraffin embedded Affymetrix gene expression RNA TaqMan
MICROARRAY TECHNOLOGY has enabled the measurement of gene expression on a global scale with broad applications including classification of tumors by their gene expression patterns, assessment of normal and diseased tissues, and prediction of therapeutic response to chemotherapy (Medhurst et al. 2000
Gene expression analyses in FFPE tissues have been largely limited to in situ hybridization or PCR analyses of RNA (Ben-Ezra et al. 1991; Nouri Aria et al. 1993
To date, there have been no studies that directly compare RNA extracted from FFPE with unfixed snap-frozen tissue samples on a microarray platform. To begin to understand the effects of fixation and embedding procedures on gene expression profiles, we chose to use a model system of primary human bone marrow stromal cell pellets, a preparation that would minimize cellular heterogeneity between samples. To affect a dynamic range of gene expression, particularly cytokine expression (Manthey et al. 1998
Cell Culture Conditions and Drug Treatment Primary human bone marrow stromal cells (BioWhittaker; Walkersville, MD) were plated to confluency and maintained in MyeloCult media (Stem Cell Technologies; Vancouver, BC) and supplemented with hydrocortisone to a final concentration of 1 µM. Cells were allowed to adhere overnight and were pretreated with a p38 inhibitor for 1 hr before addition of LPS. LPS (200 ng/ml; Sigma, St Louis MO) was added for 6 hr in the presence of inhibitor. Untreated cells in media containing vehicle alone (0.1% DMSO) were analyzed in parallel. SB-203580 (10 µM; Sigma) was used as an inhibitor of p38 MAP kinase.
Stromal Cell Pellet Processing
RNA Isolation, Quantitation, and Quality Assessment
cDNA Amplification, Microarray Hybridization, and Affymetrix GeneChip Analysis
Real-time RT-PCR Analysis
Ingenuity Pathway Analysis Differentially regulated genes identified in unfixed frozen and FFPE samples were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (Ingenuity Systems; Mountain View, CA). Analyses were conducted based on 1.5-fold up- or downregulated genes (p<0.00001). A data set containing gene identifiers and corresponding expression values were uploaded into the application. Each gene identifier was mapped to its corresponding gene object in the Ingenuity Pathways Knowledge Base (Ingenuity Systems). These genes, called Focus Genes, were overlaid onto a global molecular network developed from information contained in the Ingenuity Pathways Knowledge Base. Networks of these Focus Genes were then algorithmically generated based on their connectivity. Canonical pathway analysis identified the pathways from the Ingenuity Pathways Analysis library of canonical pathways that were most significant to the data set. Genes from the data set that met the 1.5-fold cutoff of p<0.00001 and were associated with a canonical pathway in the Ingenuity Pathways Knowledge Base were considered for the analysis.
RNA Quantitation and Quality Assessment Treatment of the primary human bone marrow stromal cells with 10 µM SB-203580 had no effect on cell viability (data not shown). All FFPE and unfixed snap-frozen OCT-embedded samples yielded similar amounts of total RNA ranging from 200 to 400 ng. The Agilent bioanalyzer was run with 1 µl of total RNA, and the gel-like images demonstrated the quality of RNA (Figure 1A ). RNA obtained from FFPE cell pellets fixed for 24 hr looked very similar to unfixed frozen OCT-embedded pellets. Although RNA extracted from FFPE pellets displayed clear 18S and 28S ribosomal bands indicating the presence of high molecular mass RNA, there was background smearing present between the 18S and 28S ribosomal bands and below the 18S ribosomal band. This smearing could be due to slight degradation in these samples. All WTA-amplified biotinylated products demonstrated a molecular size range from 100 to 1000 base pairs (bp), indicating that the snap-frozen and FFPE samples amplified similarly (Figure 1B). Fragmentation of the WTA-amplified SPIA biotinylated products were performed prior to hybridization to the Affymetrix GeneChips. Both snap-frozen and FFPE samples fragmented to 80 bp (Figure 1C).
Affymetrix GeneChip Performance (Quality Control Metrics) Affymetrix algorithms provide data from the GeneChip that include several measures of GeneChip performance. The average background is an estimate of nonspecific binding. The ß-actin and GAPDH 3'/5' ratios are designed to detect the 3' and 5' regions of the ß-actin and GAPDH mRNA; the 3'/middle ratio looks at the mRNA transcript from the 3' to the middle of the mRNA transcript. These values give insight into the quality and integrity of the RNA. The scale factor is a metric inversely related to chip brightness. Percent present is a quality metric and is sensitive to RNA sampling, scanning, and data extraction. Quality control metrics from unfixed frozen and FFPE samples are presented in Table 3 . The scale factor, background, and percent present are similar for both preparations. GAPDH 3'/5' and 3'/middle ratios were slightly higher for RNA extracted from FFPE pellets, suggesting that RNA quality was potentially compromised. The ß-actin 3'/5' ratios were also slightly higher in the FFPE-treated sample when compared with the unfixed frozen-treated sample. The 3'/middle ratio was slightly higher in the FFPE control sample. These values for ß-actin and GAPDH would indicate that the FFPE RNA, although showing intact 18S and 28S ribosomal bands, is potentially compromised when compared with the unfixed snap-frozen sample.
Regulated Genes From the Affymetrix GeneChip Because the experimental design did not include technical or biological replicates, lists of differentially regulated genes were composed using a stringent p value (p 0.00001) cutoff. The Affymetrix GeneChip system contains more than one oligonucleotide on the chip that provides a number of repeat experiments within a single chip to ensure the validity of hybridizations (Durier et al. 2003). Concordance between unfixed snap-frozen OCT-embedded and FFPE samples is presented using a Venn diagram (Figure 2
). A total of 936 genes regulated by p38 (i.e., modulated by p38 inhibitor treatment, 1.5-fold change or greater, p 0.00001) were detected using RNA from the unfixed frozen human stromal cell pellet in contrast to 390 genes from the FFPE cell pellet (1.5-fold change or greater, p 0.00001). Of the genes identified in the unfixed snap-frozen cell pellet, 252/936 (23%) were common to both snap-frozen and FFPE preparations, whereas 62% (518/936) were unique to the snap-frozen preparation. Of the regulated genes identified, 138/936 (15%) were seen only in the FFPE sample.
TaqMan Analysis of Selected Regulated Genes From the Affymetrix GeneChip A standard curve generated from an efficient set of primers and probe in which the log of the input amount of DNA is plotted on the x-axis and the Ct is plotted on the y-axis should produce a slope of approximately 3.2. A small subset of p38-regulated genes were examined by TaqMan to confirm the results of the GeneChip analysis; all TaqMan primers and probe sets utilized produced a standard curve with a slope between 3.1 and 3.3 (Table 2). Fold change obtained from the Affymetrix GeneChip and TaqMan analysis are shown in Figure 3 . TaqMan analysis revealed a 100% confirmation of selected snap-frozen and FFPE genes selected for evaluation. Our results show that for some genes [A kinase anchor protein 13, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10, and collagen type VI] the fold change determined by TaqMan closely matches the Affymetrix data, whereas for others (G-protein-coupled receptor 75, Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor) the Affymetrix fold change was less than that indicated by TaqMan.
Pathway Analysis of Regulated Genes Identified From FFPE and Frozen Samples Following analysis of FFPE and frozen samples, the Global Functional Analysis feature of the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software was used to visualize changes in key pathways affected by the p38 pretreatment. Outputs of the pathway analysis from frozen and FFPE were compared to determine if FFPE preparations could identify key p38-modulated pathways in spite of yielding a smaller number of regulated genes from microarray analyses. A selective representation of major gene functions and numbers of genes that were detected within each function for snap-frozen and FFPE preparations are listed in Figure 4A . Similar functions were identified with both preparations, although the numbers of genes identified from the FFPE sample were generally less when compared with the frozen sample. Both FFPE and unfixed snap-frozen samples identified gene expression, cancer, cell cycle, and cell division as major pathways regulated by p38 inhibition. Regulated genes were then classified into canonical pathways. Although fewer genes were identified in the regulated pathways from FFPE RNA, key canonical pathways were largely identified (Figure 4B). Both FFPE and unfixed snap-frozen samples identified NFKB, JAK/STAT, IL-6, and TGFB signaling as major p38-regulated pathways. However, some information seems to have been lost in the FFPE preparation because several regulated pathways were only recognized in data from the unfixed snap-frozen sample. Only the snap-frozen sample identified epidermal growth factor and neurotrophin signaling and inositol phosphate metabolism as key canonical pathways regulated by p38 pretreatment.
Historically, it was considered that RNA extracted from FFPE tissue samples was too degraded to permit molecular analysis (Krafft et al. 1997 The results demonstrate successful isolation of high-quality RNA from FFPE samples that is amenable to amplification and Affymetrix GeneChip analysis. GeneChip performance parameters were similar for RNA extracted from unfixed snap-frozen and FFPE samples with only slight differences observed in 3'/5' ratios. The results also demonstrate that it is possible to obtain valuable gene expression and biological pathway data from RNA extracted from FFPE samples in spite of only capturing 23% of the regulated genes detected from the frozen cell pellet. Failure to capture a larger percentage of the regulated genes in FFPE samples may be a consequence of some level of RNA degradation or loss due to excessive cross-linking. Based on the quality of FFPE RNA indicated by the Agilent gel-like image, it was surprising there was not a higher concordance of regulated genes between the two preparations. Other factors may be contributing to the observed differences in yield of the number of p38-regulated genes.
Studies comparing RNA extracted from unfixed snap-frozen and FFPE samples have been conducted where PCR was the endpoint. It was shown using TaqMan that mRNA levels from FFPE samples can be reproducibly and precisely determined, and that values are comparable to matched frozen samples using a panel of seven genes (Specht et al. 2001
Results from the present study show that, for the most part, Affymetrix fold changes were less than determined by TaqMan. This discrepancy is most likely due to the increased sensitivity and larger dynamic range of the TaqMan PCR platform and the compression of fold change values for the highly regulated genes using the Affymetrix platform (Baum et al. 2003 With the current protocol used in the present study, results showed fewer regulated genes were preserved using RNA from FFPE samples when compared with unfixed frozen samples. In spite of this loss, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of the regulated genes showed that the majority of major gene functions and canonical pathways could be captured from the FFPE samples, and that there was 100% concordance with Affymetrix gene changes using a selected confirmatory TaqMan gene panel. These data are encouraging and show that valuable global gene expression data can be obtained from FFPE samples. Because formalin fixation and paraffin embedding is the standard protocol for tissue preparation in pathology laboratories, the ability to obtain global transcriptional profiles from RNA obtained from these samples could facilitate the discovery of molecular signatures associated with disease, classification of clinical phenotypes, and determination of cancer prognosis. Although some regulated gene expression information is lost in FFPE samples when compared with frozen samples, the human Affymetrix GeneChip used in this study contained 47,000 transcripts and variants. Even a small percentage of that total can provide a vast amount of gene expression data. Additional technical advances in microarray design with more 3' bias may improve the relative yield of regulated genes from FFPE samples.
We thank Janice Kane and Rosanna Mirabile for expert technical assistance.
Received for publication April 24, 2006; accepted July 12, 2006
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