Although microRNA expression signatures associated with cytogenetics and the clinical outcome of ALL have been reported [24] [27], these efforts are limited as they are mainly restricted to the detection and profiling of previously identified miRNA sequences.
Microarray assay can improve sampling depth and sensitivity, however, it is restricted to the detection and profiling of known miRNA sequences previously identified by experiment or homology searches, and even yields a high frequency of non-specific signals [50].
With increasingly sensitive and precise technologies for the detection and molecular profiling of rare cells, the genomic interrogation of CTCs may offer a powerful new tool to characterize, and someday to target, the dominant tumor subclones responsible for treatment resistance or metastatic progression.
Finally, the method should have even more widespread utility for detection and profiling of other rare cell populations.
Finally, whereas all these techniques are restricted to detection and profiling of previously identified miRNA sequences, sequence-based methods allow the identification of unknown microRNAs.
In addition to this, it is a powerful method to keep rapid detection and profiling of protein biomarkers in blood or serum.
To this aim, we used the CellSearch® technology (Veridex, New Jersey, USA), a semi-automated system for the detection and HER2 phenotypic profiling of CTCs.
First, to evaluate whether increasing the volume of serum could improve miRNAs detection and profiling, the number of detectable miRNAs and their Ct values were compared, in biological duplicate, after RNA extraction from 300 or 600 μL of serum.
The development of a rapid, simple, accurate point-of-care techniques for oral microbiota profiling, particularly the detection and quantification of oral pathogens, has thus become a matter of urgency.
Based on this assumption, several groups have attempted, in recent years, to establish multigene DNA methylation profiles for the detection and classification of breast cancer.
Isolation of the diagnostic markers revealed by MSAP may ultimately allow for the development of a new STS-based epigenetic profiling technique for the detection and quantification of mixture of tissues in the same sample; offering not only rapid determination of the tissue of origin but also potential quantification of the components in processed food products.
