ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a simple method for assessment of RNA integrity in laser capture microdissection (LCM) samples.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The total RNA were isolated from the LCM samples and the sections before and after microdissection and examined by agarose gel electrophoresis. Real-time PCR was employed to assess the RNA from LCM samples, and the quantity of RNA was theoretically estimated according to the average total RNA product in mammalian cells (10 ng/1000 cells).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>When the total RNA from the sections before and after microdissection was intact, the RNA from LCM samples also had good quality, and the 28S and 18S rRNAs were visualized by ethidium bromide staining. Real-time PCR also showed good RNA quality in the LCM samples.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A simple method for quantitative and qualitative assessment of the RNA from LCM samples is established, which can also be applied to assessment of DNA or proteins in LCM samples.</p>