Molecular Profiling Technique

According to the dictionary, “Molecular Profiling is an approach that generates a global view of mRNA, protein patterns and DNA alterations in various cell types and disease processes.” It is useful to understand the molecular anatomy of normal cells in various stages of diseases and develop new diagnostics and therapeutic targets for clinical intervention.  

MP can also be loosely defines as the broad screening of molecules on a sufficiently high content platform in order to identify molecular patterns associated with a distinct phenotype. It is typically a non-hypothesis driven approach meant to generate signatures that appear correlated with a phenotype.  

Molecular Profiling is the classification of tissue or other specimen for the purpose of diagnosis, prognosis and predictive purpose and is based on the multiple gene expression. It is a technology that helps in optimizing the management of patients with distinct disease like cancer. There are different molecular profiles like:

Protein Electrophoresis is a technique that separates different elements of a blood sample into individual components like albumin, alpha1, alpha2, beta and gamma proteins. This technique is used to evaluate diagnosis and monitor a variety of diseases and conditions like cancer, intestinal or kidney protein-wasting syndromes, liver dysfunction, impaired nutrition and chronic fluid-retaining conditions. 

Western Blot is a laboratory blood test to detect the presence of antibodies to specific antigens. It is a method to detect a specific protein in a given sample of tissue homogenate or extract.

Liver Function Test is done to measure the blood levels of certain substances released by the liver. A high or low level of certain substances can indicate towards a disorder of the liver.

Polymerase Chain Reaction is a technique for amplifying DNA sequences in vitro by separating the DNA into two strands and incubating it with oligonucleotide primers and DNA polymerase.

Northern Blot or RNA is a technique for identifying specific sequences of RNA in which RNA molecules are separated by electrophoresis, transferred to nitrocellulose, and identified with a suitable probe.