A novel technique for the examination of skin biopsies by laser capture microdissection

Skin is an inherently heterogeneous tissue, thus the procurement of pure cell populations is critical for the accurate correlation of a molecular profile to a particular cell type or histological location. Laser Capture Microdissection (LCM) permits the efficent procurement of cells and mapping of genetic changes from histologically prepared samples. Methods: This paper describes a robust LCM protocol established in our laboratory for the extraction of high quality DNA which sequenced from 100% of microdissected samples without the need for cloning. The unique properties of skin, in particular its strong intercellular adhesive forces, have dictated a significant modification to the normal procedure of tissue preparation to ensure reliable cell procurement. Results: Using the methods outlined below we were able to precisely map the pattern of genomic mutations in our target gene of interest in normal skin, actinic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions: The capability to select pure cell populations from the skin will revolutionise our ability to understand the processes involved in cutaneous tumourigenesis.