New method recovers whole cells from decades-old tissue samples

Ken Lau's lab developed a way to isolate intact cells from tissue preserved for decades in formalin and paraffin for scRNA-seq analysis. The approach captures more RNA than nuclei-only extraction and works best on large cells such as colon epithelium.

• Method recovers whole cells from FFPE tissue instead of nuclei alone
• Approach preserves more RNA for single-cell RNA sequencing
• Gains were larger in colon tissue than in thymus
• Study published in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology