|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|
a Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China b Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
Key Words: plasma DNA • plasma RNA • prenatal diagnosis • MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry
Address for correspondence: Chunming Ding, Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Voice: +852-2252-8842; fax: +852-2635-4977. e-mail: cmding{at}cuhk.edu.hk
Cell-free fetal DNA and RNA released into the maternal circulation offer new opportunities to study fetal and pregnancy-associated abnormalities. Similarly, tumor cells can release cell-free DNA and RNA into the peripheral circulation, and these cell-free DNA and RNA can be used for cancer diagnosis, monitoring, and prognosis. However, these DNA and RNA often exist at very low concentrations (for fetal DNA,
 20 genome-equivalents (G.E.)/mL of plasma in the first trimester). The analysis is further complicated by the predominant amount of blood cell-derived DNA and RNA. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry can provide quantitative, specific, and sensitive analysis of DNA and RNA, and thus may be a useful technology for the field.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
