Leonora Balaj,
Instructor in Neurosurgery,
Mass General Hospital (MGH)/Harvard Medical School
Leonora Balaj is Instructor in Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Bridgeport in CT and her PhD in Medicine from the VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. During her graduate studies she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Breakefield at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the department of Neurology. Her work focuses on the characterization of brain tumor derived vesicles as a tool for cell-cell communication as well as a source for biomarkers.
BEAMing and Droplet Digital PCR Analysis of Mutant IDH1 mRNA in Tumor Extracellular Vesicles
Friday, 13 September 2013 at 09:30
Add to Calendar ▼2013-09-13 09:30:002013-09-13 10:30:00Europe/LondonBEAMing and Droplet Digital PCR Analysis of Mutant IDH1 mRNA in Tumor Extracellular VesiclesExosomes and Circulating Biomarkers Summit 2013 in San Diego, CASan Diego, CASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Development of biofluid-based molecular diagnostic tests for cancer is an important step towards tumor characterization and real-time monitoring in a minimally invasive fashion. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released from tumor cells into body fluids and can provide a powerful platform for tumor biomarkers since they carry tumor proteins and nucleic acids. BEAMing (beads, emulsion, amplification, magnetics) PCR is substantially more sensitive than many other assays for detecting single nucleotide mutations when there is a significant background of wild-type sequences. Picodroplet digital PCR developed by RainDance Technologies is another highly sensitive technology that can be used to quantify rare mutations in a high wild type background. Here, we describe a novel approach that uses BEAMing droplet RT-PCR, as well picodroplet digital RT-PCR, to interrogate mRNA sequences contained within EVs from serum and cerebrospinal fluid (EV-BEAMing). Using both assays, we were able to reliably detect and quantify mutant and wild-type IDH1 transcripts in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with gliomas. EV-BEAMing and picodroplet dPCR are valuable new tools for cancer diagnostics which can be applied to a variety of biofluids and neoplasms.
Add to Calendar ▼2013-09-12 00:00:002013-09-13 00:00:00Europe/LondonExosomes and Circulating Biomarkers Summit 2013Exosomes and Circulating Biomarkers Summit 2013 in San Diego, CASan Diego, CASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Add to Calendar ▼2013-09-13 09:30:002013-09-13 10:30:00Europe/LondonBEAMing and Droplet Digital PCR Analysis of Mutant IDH1 mRNA in Tumor Extracellular VesiclesExosomes and Circulating Biomarkers Summit 2013 in San Diego, CASan Diego, CASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
