Given the multiple uses of the samples in molecular epidemiology studies, appropriate informed consent must be obtained from the study subjects prior to sample collection.
Our understanding of the evolution of oral structures within the Colpodida is confounded by the low number of morphological characters that can be used in constructing hypotheses, and by the low taxon and character sampling in molecular phylogenetic analyses designed to assess these hypotheses.
However, the use of FFPE samples in molecular expression analysis studies presents some great advantages.
It is generally considered that employing long sequence data, and increased taxon sampling in molecular phylogenetic inference, can clarify problematic phylogenetic relationships [ 8- 10].
Since Petrocosmea was describecd [ 11], no molecular systematic study has focused on the phylogeny of Petrocosmea except for a few species that have been sampled in molecular phylogenetics at higher ranks in Gesneriaceae [ 12– 15].
Tissue samples were originally obtained from Andrew Kitchener at the National Museums of Scotland, or Leona Chemnick at the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, San Diego Zoo, with permission to use the samples in molecular biology studies.
In this case, determining which result is correct will require additional evidence, such as greater taxon-sampling in molecular data sets and greater scrutiny of the morphological and fossil evidence.
The use of RDCs as structural restraints assists the conformational sampling in molecular dynamics simulations in order to estimate the free-energy landscape of a protein, as recently shown with hen lysozyme for which a large body of experimental data were used for validation purposes (De Simone et al., 2013b).
An ideal alternative to scalpel biopsy would be a non-invasively collected sample rich in molecular biomarkers which distinguish OPML and OSCC, and potentially predict the transition from pre-malignancy to malignancy.
We conclude by discussing the use of the patient-derived tumor xenografts as new preclinical tools that closely resemble the originating cancer sample in histological, molecular, and epigenetic spaces including their intratumor genomic architecture.
