Laser Microdissection of Cellular Compartments for Expression Analyses in Cancer Models

: Cancer tissues are composed of various cell types including cancer cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and endothelial cells. These surrounding stromal cells form the tumor microenvironment, partly through the inflammatory response, which plays an important role in the development and malignant progression of cancer. It is therefore important to examine the expression profiles and protein modifications of each cellular component independently to decipher the interaction between the tumor cells and the microenvironment. We herein describe a protocol for laser microdissection, which allows for the individual cellular compartments to be collected separately. This will allow us to perform real-time RT-PCRs and microarray analyses of specific cell types in tumor tissues.