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micro-NMR
Saturday 9 January 2010
NMR spectroscopy
Although tumor cells obtained from human patients by image-guided intervention are a valuable source for diagnosing cancer, conventional means of analysis are limited.
Some groupe have reported the development of a quantitative micro-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) system for rapid, multiplexed analysis of human tumors.
The technology have been implemented in a clinical setting to analyze cells obtained by fine-needle aspirates from suspected lesions.
Single fine-needle aspirates yielded sufficient numbers of cells to enable quantification of multiple protein markers in all patients within 60 min. (21346169)
Moreover, using a four-protein signature, a group have reported a 96% accuracy for establishing a cancer diagnosis, surpassing conventional clinical analyses by immunohistochemistry. (21346169)
Theses results show that protein expression patterns decay with time, underscoring the need for rapid sampling and diagnosis close to the patient bedside. (21346169)
A group also observed a surprising degree of heterogeneity in protein expression both across the different patient samples and even within the same tumor, which has important implications for molecular diagnostics and therapeutic drug targeting. (21346169)
The quantitative point-of-care micro-NMR technique shows potential for cancer diagnosis in the clinic.
Open References
Micro-NMR for rapid molecular analysis of human tumor samples. Haun JB, Castro CM, Wang R, Peterson VM, Marinelli BS, Lee H, Weissleder R. Sci Transl Med. 2011 Feb 23;3(71):71ra16. PMID: 21346169 (Free)
A microscale protein NMR sample screening pipeline. Rossi P, Swapna GV, Huang YJ, Aramini JM, Anklin C, Conover K, Hamilton K, Xiao R, Acton TB, Ertekin A, Everett JK, Montelione GT. J Biomol NMR. 2010 Jan;46(1):11-22. PMID: 19915800 (Free)
References
Surgeons get real-time tissue profiling. Nature News. http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091214/full/news.2009.1128.html
Micro-NMR in high permanent magnetic fields. Theoretical and experimental investigations with an application to the secretions from single glandular units in the human uterine cervix. Odeblad E. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1966;45:Suppl 2:1-188. PMID: 4286988