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Lin YH, Wang LW, Chen YH, Chan YC, Hu SH, Wu SY, Chiang CS, Huang GJ, Yang SD, Chu SW, Wang KC, Lin CH, Huang PH, Cheng HJ, Chen BC, Chu LA. Revealing intact neuronal circuitry in centimeter-sized formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain. eLife 2024; 13:RP93212. [PMID: 38775133 PMCID: PMC11111220 DOI: 10.7554/elife.93212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Tissue-clearing and labeling techniques have revolutionized brain-wide imaging and analysis, yet their application to clinical formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks remains challenging. We introduce HIF-Clear, a novel method for efficiently clearing and labeling centimeter-thick FFPE specimens using elevated temperature and concentrated detergents. HIF-Clear with multi-round immunolabeling reveals neuron circuitry regulating multiple neurotransmitter systems in a whole FFPE mouse brain and is able to be used as the evaluation of disease treatment efficiency. HIF-Clear also supports expansion microscopy and can be performed on a non-sectioned 15-year-old FFPE specimen, as well as a 3-month formalin-fixed mouse brain. Thus, HIF-Clear represents a feasible approach for researching archived FFPE specimens for future neuroscientific and 3D neuropathological analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Hui Lin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Li-Wen Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Yen-Hui Chen
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia SinicaTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Yi-Chieh Chan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Shang-Hsiu Hu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Sheng-Yan Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Chi-Shiun Chiang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Guan-Jie Huang
- Department of Physics, National Taiwan UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Shang-Da Yang
- Institute of Photonics Technologies, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Shi-Wei Chu
- Department of Physics, National Taiwan UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Kuo-Chuan Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, National Taiwan University HospitalTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Chin-Hsien Lin
- Department of Neurosurgery, National Taiwan University HospitalTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Pei-Hsin Huang
- Department of Pathology, National Taiwan University HospitalTaipeiTaiwan
| | | | - Bi-Chang Chen
- Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia SinicaTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Li-An Chu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
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Sunitha Kumary VUN, Venters BJ, Raman K, Sen S, Estève PO, Cowles MW, Keogh MC, Pradhan S. Emerging Approaches to Profile Accessible Chromatin from Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Sections. EPIGENOMES 2024; 8:20. [PMID: 38804369 PMCID: PMC11130958 DOI: 10.3390/epigenomes8020020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Nucleosomes are non-uniformly distributed across eukaryotic genomes, with stretches of 'open' chromatin strongly associated with transcriptionally active promoters and enhancers. Understanding chromatin accessibility patterns in normal tissue and how they are altered in pathologies can provide critical insights to development and disease. With the advent of high-throughput sequencing, a variety of strategies have been devised to identify open regions across the genome, including DNase-seq, MNase-seq, FAIRE-seq, ATAC-seq, and NicE-seq. However, the broad application of such methods to FFPE (formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded) tissues has been curtailed by the major technical challenges imposed by highly fixed and often damaged genomic material. Here, we review the most common approaches for mapping open chromatin regions, recent optimizations to overcome the challenges of working with FFPE tissue, and a brief overview of a typical data pipeline with analysis considerations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bryan J. Venters
- EpiCypher Inc., Durham, NC 27709, USA; (V.U.N.S.K.); (B.J.V.); (M.W.C.)
| | - Karthikeyan Raman
- Genome Biology Division, New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA 01983, USA; (K.R.); (S.S.); (P.-O.E.)
| | - Sagnik Sen
- Genome Biology Division, New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA 01983, USA; (K.R.); (S.S.); (P.-O.E.)
| | - Pierre-Olivier Estève
- Genome Biology Division, New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA 01983, USA; (K.R.); (S.S.); (P.-O.E.)
| | - Martis W. Cowles
- EpiCypher Inc., Durham, NC 27709, USA; (V.U.N.S.K.); (B.J.V.); (M.W.C.)
| | | | - Sriharsa Pradhan
- Genome Biology Division, New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA 01983, USA; (K.R.); (S.S.); (P.-O.E.)
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Henikoff S, Henikoff JG, Ahmad K, Paranal RM, Janssens DH, Russell ZR, Szulzewsky F, Kugel S, Holland EC. Epigenomic analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples by CUT&Tag. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5930. [PMID: 37739938 PMCID: PMC10516967 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41666-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
For more than a century, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sample preparation has been the preferred method for long-term preservation of biological material. However, the use of FFPE samples for epigenomic studies has been difficult because of chromatin damage from long exposure to high concentrations of formaldehyde. Previously, we introduced Cleavage Under Targeted Accessible Chromatin (CUTAC), an antibody-targeted chromatin accessibility mapping protocol based on CUT&Tag. Here we show that simple modifications of our CUTAC protocol either in single tubes or directly on slides produce high-resolution maps of paused RNA Polymerase II at enhancers and promoters using FFPE samples. We find that transcriptional regulatory element differences produced by FFPE-CUTAC distinguish between mouse brain tumors and identify and map regulatory element markers with high confidence and precision, including microRNAs not detectable by RNA-seq. Our simple workflows make possible affordable epigenomic profiling of archived biological samples for biomarker identification, clinical applications and retrospective studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Henikoff
- Basic Science Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA.
| | - Jorja G Henikoff
- Basic Science Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kami Ahmad
- Basic Science Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Ronald M Paranal
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Derek H Janssens
- Basic Science Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Zachary R Russell
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Frank Szulzewsky
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sita Kugel
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Eric C Holland
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
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Mar D, Babenko IM, Zhang R, Noble WS, Denisenko O, Vaisar T, Bomsztyk K. MultiomicsTracks96: A high throughput PIXUL-Matrix-based toolbox to profile frozen and FFPE tissues multiomes. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.16.533031. [PMID: 36993219 PMCID: PMC10055122 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.16.533031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Background The multiome is an integrated assembly of distinct classes of molecules and molecular properties, or "omes," measured in the same biospecimen. Freezing and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedding (FFPE) are two common ways to store tissues, and these practices have generated vast biospecimen repositories. However, these biospecimens have been underutilized for multi-omic analysis due to the low throughput of current analytical technologies that impede large-scale studies. Methods Tissue sampling, preparation, and downstream analysis were integrated into a 96-well format multi-omics workflow, MultiomicsTracks96. Frozen mouse organs were sampled using the CryoGrid system, and matched FFPE samples were processed using a microtome. The 96-well format sonicator, PIXUL, was adapted to extract DNA, RNA, chromatin, and protein from tissues. The 96-well format analytical platform, Matrix, was used for chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP), methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP), and RNA reverse transcription (RT) assays followed by qPCR and sequencing. LC-MS/MS was used for protein analysis. The Segway genome segmentation algorithm was used to identify functional genomic regions, and linear regressors based on the multi-omics data were trained to predict protein expression. Results MultiomicsTracks96 was used to generate 8-dimensional datasets including RNA-seq measurements of mRNA expression; MeRIP-seq measurements of m6A and m5C; ChIP-seq measurements of H3K27Ac, H3K4m3, and Pol II; MeDIP-seq measurements of 5mC; and LC-MS/MS measurements of proteins. We observed high correlation between data from matched frozen and FFPE organs. The Segway genome segmentation algorithm applied to epigenomic profiles (ChIP-seq: H3K27Ac, H3K4m3, Pol II; MeDIP-seq: 5mC) was able to recapitulate and predict organ-specific super-enhancers in both FFPE and frozen samples. Linear regression analysis showed that proteomic expression profiles can be more accurately predicted by the full suite of multi-omics data, compared to using epigenomic, transcriptomic, or epitranscriptomic measurements individually. Conclusions The MultiomicsTracks96 workflow is well suited for high dimensional multi-omics studies - for instance, multiorgan animal models of disease, drug toxicities, environmental exposure, and aging as well as large-scale clinical investigations involving the use of biospecimens from existing tissue repositories.
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Zhuang HH, Qu Q, Teng XQ, Dai YH, Qu J. Superenhancers as master gene regulators and novel therapeutic targets in brain tumors. Exp Mol Med 2023; 55:290-303. [PMID: 36720920 PMCID: PMC9981748 DOI: 10.1038/s12276-023-00934-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Revised: 11/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional deregulation, a cancer cell hallmark, is driven by epigenetic abnormalities in the majority of brain tumors, including adult glioblastoma and pediatric brain tumors. Epigenetic abnormalities can activate epigenetic regulatory elements to regulate the expression of oncogenes. Superenhancers (SEs), identified as novel epigenetic regulatory elements, are clusters of enhancers with cell-type specificity that can drive the aberrant transcription of oncogenes and promote tumor initiation and progression. As gene regulators, SEs are involved in tumorigenesis in a variety of tumors, including brain tumors. SEs are susceptible to inhibition by their key components, such as bromodomain protein 4 and cyclin-dependent kinase 7, providing new opportunities for antitumor therapy. In this review, we summarized the characteristics and identification, unique organizational structures, and activation mechanisms of SEs in tumors, as well as the clinical applications related to SEs in tumor therapy and prognostication. Based on a review of the literature, we discussed the relationship between SEs and different brain tumors and potential therapeutic targets, focusing on glioblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hai-Hui Zhuang
- Department of Pharmacy, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, PR China
| | - Qiang Qu
- Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410007, PR China.,Institute for Rational and Safe Medication Practices, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410007, PR China
| | - Xin-Qi Teng
- Department of Pharmacy, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, PR China
| | - Ying-Huan Dai
- Department of Pathology, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, PR China
| | - Jian Qu
- Department of Pharmacy, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, PR China.
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2cChIP-seq and 2cMeDIP-seq: The Carrier-Assisted Methods for Epigenomic Profiling of Small Cell Numbers or Single Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232213984. [PMID: 36430462 PMCID: PMC9692998 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232213984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) can profile genome-wide epigenetic marks associated with regulatory genomic elements. However, conventional ChIP-seq is challenging when examining limited numbers of cells. Here, we developed a new technique by supplementing carrier materials of both chemically modified mimics with epigenetic marks and dUTP-containing DNA fragments during conventional ChIP procedures (hereafter referred to as 2cChIP-seq), thus dramatically improving immunoprecipitation efficiency and reducing DNA loss of low-input ChIP-seq samples. Using this strategy, we generated high-quality epigenomic profiles of histone modifications or DNA methylation in 10-1000 cells. By introducing Tn5 transposase-assisted fragmentation, 2cChIP-seq reliably captured genomic regions with histone modification at the single-cell level in about 100 cells. Moreover, we characterized the methylome of 100 differentiated female germline stem cells (FGSCs) and observed a particular DNA methylation signature potentially involved in the differentiation of mouse germline stem cells. Hence, we provided a reliable and robust epigenomic profiling approach for small cell numbers and single cells.
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7
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Zhuo Z, Lin L, Miao L, Li M, He J. Advances in liquid biopsy in neuroblastoma. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 2:903-917. [PMID: 38933377 PMCID: PMC11197818 DOI: 10.1016/j.fmre.2022.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Even with intensive treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma (NB) patients, half of high-risk NB patients still relapse. New therapies targeting the biological characteristics of NB have important clinical value for the personalized treatment of NB. However, the current biological markers for NB are mainly analyzed by tissue biopsy. In recent years, circulating biomarkers of NB based on liquid biopsy have attracted more and more attention. This review summarizes the analytes and methods for liquid biopsy of NB. We focus on the application of liquid biopsy in the diagnosis, prognosis assessment, and monitoring of NB. Finally, we discuss the prospects and challenges of liquid biopsy in NB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenjian Zhuo
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
- Laboratory Animal Center, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Lei Lin
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
| | - Lei Miao
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
| | - Meng Li
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
| | - Jing He
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
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Zhao L, Polavarapu VK, Yadav RP, Xing P, Chen X. A Highly Sensitive Method to Efficiently Profile the Histone Modifications of FFPE Samples. Bio Protoc 2022; 12:e4418. [PMID: 35865114 PMCID: PMC9257839 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.4418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The majority of biopsies in both basic research and translational cancer studies are preserved in the format of archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. Profiling histone modifications in archived FFPE tissues is critically important to understand gene regulation in human disease. The required input for current genome-wide histone modification profiling studies from FFPE samples is either 10-20 tissue sections or whole tissue blocks, which prevents better resolved analyses. Nevertheless, it is desirable to consume a minimal amount of FFPE tissue sections in the analysis as clinical tissue of interest are limited. Here, we present F FPE tissue with a ntibody-guided c hromatin t agmentation with sequencing (FACT-seq), highly sensitive method to efficiently profile histone modifications in FFPE tissue by combining a novel fusion protein of hyperactive Tn5 transposase and protein A (T7-pA-Tn5) transposition and T7 in vitro transcription. FACT-seq generates high-quality chromatin profiles from different histone modifications with low number of FFPE nuclei. We showed a very small piece of FFPE tissue section containing ~4000 nuclei is sufficient to decode H3K27ac modifications with FACT-seq. In archived FFPE human colorectal and human glioblastoma cancer tissue, H3K27ac FACT-seq revealed disease specific super enhancers. In summary, FACT-seq allows researchers to decode histone modifications like H3K27ac and H3K27me3 in archival FFPE tissues with high sensitivity, thus allowing us to understand epigenetic regulation. Graphical abstract: ( i ) FFPE tissue section; ( ii ) Isolated nuclei; ( iii ) Primary antibody, secondary antibody and T7-pA-Tn5 bind to targets; ( iv ) DNA purification; ( v ) In vitro transcription and sequencing library preparation; ( vi ) Sequencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linxuan Zhao
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Ram Prakash Yadav
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Pengwei Xing
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Xingqi Chen
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;
,
*For correspondence:
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The Current State of Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) from FFPE Tissues. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23031103. [PMID: 35163027 PMCID: PMC8834906 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Revised: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer cells accumulate epigenomic aberrations that contribute to cancer initiation and progression by altering both the genomic stability and the expression of genes. The awareness of such alterations could improve our understanding of cancer dynamics and the identification of new therapeutic strategies and biomarkers to refine tumor classification and treatment. Formalin fixation and paraffin embedding (FFPE) is the gold standard to preserve both tissue integrity and organization, and, in the last decades, a huge number of biological samples have been archived all over the world following this procedure. Recently, new chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) techniques have been developed to allow the analysis of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) and transcription factor (TF) distribution in FFPE tissues. The application of ChIP to genome-wide chromatin studies using real archival samples represents an unprecedented opportunity to conduct retrospective clinical studies thanks to the possibility of accessing large cohorts of samples and their associated diagnostic records. However, although recent attempts to standardize have been made, fixation and storage conditions of clinical specimens are still extremely variable and can affect the success of chromatin studies. The procedures introduced in the last few years dealt with this problem proponing successful strategies to obtain high-resolution ChIP profiles from FFPE archival samples. In this review, we compare the different FFPE-ChIP techniques, highlighting their strengths, limitations, common features, and peculiarities, as well as pitfalls and caveats related to ChIP studies in FFPE samples, in order to facilitate their application.
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