AN INSTRUMENT FOR PERFORMING LASER CAPTURE MICRODISSECTION OF SINGLE CELLS

We have developed a new form of laser capture microdissection (LCM) optimized for isolating and concentrating single cells from a tissue slide for subsequent molecular analysis. In LCM an infrared laser diode is used together with a microscope to locally melt a thin film of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) placed in contact or close proximity to microscopically targeted cells. Since the desired cells adhere to the film where it has been melted, they are extracted from their adjacent tissue in the specimen when the film is separated from the slide. In our system the EVA is bonded to a cylindrical substrate resulting in a very small area of contact between the EVA and the slide which minimizes contamination to levels consistent with analyzing a few cells of a selected cell type. By collecting cells at different portions about the cylinder periphery, the novel geometry also allows the concentration of cells from different slides onto a single substrate, enabling very sensitive molecular analysis to be performed ...