علم الامراض الخلوى
علم الامراض الخلوى والجزيئى
Cellular and molecular pathology
A discipline that deals with the origins and mechanisms of
diseases at their most fundamental level, that of macromolecules such as deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) and protein, in order to provide precise diagnoses and discover
possible avenues for treatment. It is interdisciplinary, including
infectious disease, oncology, inherited genetic disease, and legal issues
such as parentage determination or forensic identity testing. While a
variety of biophysical and biochemical techniques can be applied to
study the molecular basis of disease, antibodies and nucleic acid
probes are two of the principal approaches.
When monoclonal antibodies are either tagged to permit their
detection or immobilized on a chromatographic column to purify their
specific target molecule, they serve as powerful tools for analyzing pathologic processes.
A monoclonal antibody conjugated to an enzyme generating a colored reaction
product is the basis of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),
which is widely applied in many diagnostic tests. Autoantibodies from the sera of
individuals with autoimmune diseases are often used as highly specific reagents
for understanding the nature of these diseases and the role that the affected
molecules or organelles normally perform in the cell. These
autoantibodies can be detected in tissues by using fluorescently tagged
antibodies directed against human immunoglobulins.
In an analogous manner to immunohistochemistry,
traditional histopathology can be enhanced by using in situ
hybridization. With this technique, an infectious agent such as a virus or a
specific messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) can be localized within a
specific cell or tissue.
Diseases often result from germline or somatic mutations
in the individual's DNA, such as are seen in sickle cell disease or
cancer, respectively. These abnormalities can be detected by using two basic
techniques of molecular genetics: the Southern blot and the polymerase
chain reaction (PCR). For the Southern blot, high-molecular-weight DNA
isolated from a specimen (most commonly peripheral-blood white cells) is
digested by using an appropriate restriction endonuclease. The resulting
fragments are then separated by gel electrophoresis and transferred
to a nylon membrane, which is incubated with a solution
containing a specific, labeled probe, also in single-stranded form.
Probe-target hybrids formed by annealingof their complementary sequences
can be detected by autoradiography or a colorimetric reaction.
The Southern blot technique can detect DNA polymorphisms, mutations, or
the presence of viral, bacterial, or specific sex chromosomes. In the
polymerase chain reaction, short oligonucleotide primers flank the
specific gene region or RNA sequence to be amplified and are combined with the
target specimen and free nucleotides, which are synthesized into
new DNA. An automated thermal cycler repeatedly alters the temperature to denature the
target DNA, to allow the primers to reanneal to the target, and then to
synthesize the product. This amplified polymerase chain reaction product is
typically detectable as a band in a gel.
Understanding diseases at the genetic level has several
advantages. Even when the gene's protein product is not expressed, definitive
diagnoses can be made by using DNA-based techniques. Diseases that are similar
clinically (phenotypically) can, in fact, be due to different mutations
(genotypes) within a single gene or due to mutations in different genes, often
related in an enzyme complex or as a portion of a group of structural proteins.
Another advantage of molecular diagnosis is the ability to detect
phenotypically normal carriers of genetic diseases in order to provide
information for appropriate genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis.
