Pediatr Surg Int. 2019 Sep 30. doi: 10.1007/s00383-019-04558-2. [Epub ahead of print]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31570973
First steps in the development of a liquid biopsy in situ hybridization protocol to determine circular RNA biomarkers in rat biofluids.
Kirby E1,2,3, Tse WH2,3, Patel D2,3, Keijzer R4,5.
Author information
1Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland.2Division of Pediatric Surgery, Departments of Surgery, Pediatrics & Child Health and Physiology & Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.3Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.4Division of Pediatric Surgery, Departments of Surgery, Pediatrics & Child Health and Physiology & Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. richard.keijzer@umanitoba.ca.5Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. richard.keijzer@umanitoba.ca.
Abstract
PURPOSE:
Epigenetic factors are involved in the pathogenesis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are epigenetic regulators amenable to biomarker profiling. Here, we aimed to develop a liquid biopsy protocol to detect pathognomonic circRNA changes in biofluids.
METHODS:
Our protocol is adapted from the existing BaseScope™ in situ hybridization technique. Rat biofluids were fixed in a gelatin-coated 96-well plate with formalin. Probes were designed to target circRNAs with significant fold change in nitrofen-induced CDH. FastRED fluorescence was assessed using a plate reader and confirmed with confocal microscopy. We tested maternal serum and amniotic fluid samples from control and nitrofen-treated rats.
RESULTS:
We detected circRNAs in rat serum and amniotic fluid from control and CDH (nitrofen-treated) rats using fluorescent readout. CircRNA signal was observed in fixed biofluids as fluorescent punctate foci under confocal laser scanning microscopy. This was confirmed by comparison to BaseScope™ lung tissue sections. Signal was concentration dependent and DNase resistant.
CONCLUSION:
We successfully adapted BaseScope™ to detect circRNAs in rat biofluids: serum and amniotic fluid. We detected signal from probes targeted to circRNAs that are dysregulated in rat CDH. This work establishes the preliminary feasibility of circRNA detection in prenatal diagnostics.
KEYWORDS:
BaseScope™; Biomarker; Circular RNA; Congenital diaphragmatic hernia; Liquid biopsyPMID: 31570973 DOI: 10.1007/s00383-019-04558-2
