Long ago in a faraway land, identifying phosphoproteins in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue was really really difficult. Even the great immunohistochemistry (IHC) could not surmount this mountain. Then came a hero among heroes, Reverse Phase Protein Array (RPPA).
The End.
Just kidding! Well, actually not really. It is true that the reason RPPA was developed was due to the difficulty of antibody detections from formalin-fixed tissues. After several iterations of methods that didn’t give ideal results, RPPA was invented to make epitopes much more available and easier to analyze. Traditionally, FFPE has been the most common sample input as it is the standard of practice for many clinical trials, however, RPPA is actually so much more amenable than that!
Here are the different sample inputs we can use:
- Fresh Frozen samples: These are cell lines grown in dishes and either snap-frozen or very quickly lysed.
- Formalin-fixed cells: this is similar to FFPE tissues just with 2-D cell culture
- Animal models (CDX): simulating tumor microenvironments in mice (or similar animals), treating with the drug/therapy, and then excising the tumor to be snap frozen or formalin-fixed.
One note of pride with our technology is it’s customizable nature. We work with clients to decided on the best sample prep for their needs. We work with clients to make sure their samples are prepped in the most effective way for their purposes!
To find our more about Theralink’s customizable technology, and learn how your ready made samples can be used for RPPA technology, contact us!