Laser-assisted microdissection of the kidney: fundamentals and applications.

Laser-assisted microdissection (LAM) permits the procurement of relatively pure cell populations from histological sections. When applied to the kidney, LAM combined with molecular biological techniques has expanded our understanding of renal biology and pathology. Both frozen and fixed renal tissues can be microdissected. However, sample type and tissue processing can influence the quality of molecular data generated. Data analysis may also be complicated by relative variations in gene expression levels. Importantly, preliminary studies have shown that molecular data obtained following LAM on the kidney can offer new diagnostic and prognostic information. Thus, LAM and molecular markers may eventually become incorporated into the routine kidney biopsy examination.