The FFPE Tissue Dissociation Kit by Miltenyi Biotec enables the effective dissociation of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) carcinoma samples for the specific enrichment and subsequent molecular analysis of carcinoma tumor cells. This enhances the sensitivity in molecular experiments, such as mutation analysis by next-generation sequencing (NGS).
The kit in combination with the gentleMACS Octo Dissociator with heaters provides a standardised protocol for the dissociation of FFPE tissues. In particular, it has been validated for the dissociation of different carcinoma entities for the enrichment of carcinoma tumour cells prior molecular analysis. After dissociation, epitopes of the epithelial cell marker cytokeratin are well preserved. This enables the specific isolation of cytokeratin-positive carcinoma cells from bulk tumour, and ultimately enhances the sensitivity of molecular analysis of carcinomas.
Benefits of the FFPE Dissociation Kit include: effective enrichment of tumour cells from dissociated carcinoma samples based on cytokeratin expression; enhanced sensitivity of DNA analysis from carcinomas with very low tumour cell content; and standardised workflow for reproducible results.
FFPE samples are prepared for molecular analysis using a workflow of only four steps: i) deparaffinisation and rehydration of FFPE slices; ii) heat-induced antigen retrieval; iii) mechanical and enzymatic dissociation of tumour samples into single-cell suspensions by the gentleMACS Octo Dissociator with heaters and the FFPE Tissue Dissociation Kit, and iv) magnetic enrichment of tumour cells based on cytokeratin expression using the autoMACS Pro Separator and the Anti-Cytokeratin MicroBeads, human. Both tissue dissociation and magnetic cell enrichment are performed in fully automated processes.
The resulting highly enriched tumour cell fractions are easily amenable to sensitive molecular analysis. The FFPE Dissociation Kit was validated for multiple carcinoma types, including lung, colon, prostate, breast, pancreas, and lymph nodes (metastases).
