Search

Since its discovery, PCR has become a conventional method of molecular biology research laboratories and an indispensable tool in diagnostic medicine. Multiple variants of the PCR technique were developed, which enable the analysis of different bio-logical materials at different amounts and reaction conditions. This article briefly summarizes the PCR approaches and points out their applications in oncological research and practice.

Development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in cancer research requires sensitive and quantitative assays for determination of cancer associated proteins in clinical samples. Novel quantitative targeted proteomic approaches are overviewed in this communication. A major advantage of selected reaction monitoring (SRM) and pseudo- SRM lies in the selective and sensitive quantification of selected proteins in large sample sets. As such, they represent an alternative to immunochemical approaches. On the other hand, the potential of HRM and SWATH lies in recording of digital fingerprints, which enable post acquisition quantitative proteomic data mining on a similar basis to SRM. This article shows applications of targeted proteomics in a number of cancer research studies where they were used for quantification and validation of current or potential protein bio-markers and to study their role in cancer development and progression.

Migration and invasiveness are phenotypic characteristics of cells that contribute to physiological processes, such as wound healing or embryogenesis and they are involved in serious pathological processes, namely in tumor cell metastasis. Availability of methods for studying migration and invasiveness of the cells is important for understanding molecular basis of these processes. In the case of cancer, migration, invasiveness and metastatic potential of tumor cells are key factors that determine clinical prognosis of the patients. This communication provides an overview of in vitro and in vivo methods which are used to study cell migration, invasion and metastasis. In vitro meth-ods for studying cell migration include simple two dimensional assays (scratch - wound assay and the assay based on the effect of hepatocyte growth factor) and methods based on chemotaxis (Dunns chamber, videomicroscopy of cells, the use of carriers with chemoattractants). Methods for studying both cell migration and invasiveness in vitro include more complex systems based on the principle of the Boyden chamber (transwell migration/ invasive test, analysis of cell migration and invasion in xCELLigence system, confocal microscopy based approaches) as well as analysis of cell migration in microchannels. Our overview of in vivo methods provides an introduction into model organisms and methods used in this field, with an emphasis on the study of cancer metastasis in mouse models. The methods described in this review are mainly involved in larger research projects aiming at developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in oncology.