Korean J Pathol.  2014 Feb;48(1):36-42.

Effects of Fixation and Storage of Human Tissue Samples on Nucleic Acid Preservation

• Nam SK
• Im J
• Kwak Y
• Han N
• Nam KH
• Seo AN
• Lee HS

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Because of recent advances in the molecular diagnosis of cancer patients, tissue quality has become more important in daily practice.
METHODS
To evaluate the effects of fixative, duration of fixation, decalcification, and storage periods on nucleic acid integrity, DNA and RNA were extracted from gastrointestinal cancer tissue. The yield and purity were analyzed, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; 60 bp), beta-actin (148 bp), and human growth hormone (hGH; 434 bp) and real-time reverse transcription-PCR for beta-actin (97 bp) were performed.
RESULTS
All formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) and methacarn-fixed paraffin-embedded (MFPE) samples tested positive for GAPDH and beta-actin by PCR. hGH was successfully detected in all MFPE samples, but in only 46.7% of the FFPE samples. Prolonged formalin fixation resulted in fewer GAPDH and beta-actin PCR products, and amplification of hGH was not successful. The PCR and reverse transcription-PCR results were significantly affected by the duration of decalcification. The yield, purity, and integrity of mRNA progressively decreased with increased storage periods of paraffin blocks.
CONCLUSIONS
Fixation and storage should therefore be standardized in order to improve the quality of molecular pathologic diagnosis.

Keyword

Nucleic acid preservation; Fixation procedures; Storage time

MeSH Terms

Actins
Diagnosis
DNA
Formaldehyde
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms
Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate
Human Growth Hormone
Humans*
Oxidoreductases
Paraffin
Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA
RNA, Messenger
Actins
DNA
Formaldehyde
Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate
Human Growth Hormone
Oxidoreductases
Paraffin
RNA
RNA, Messenger