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Volume 7, Issue 6 (Suppl)
J Biotechnol Biomater, an open access journal
ISSN: 2155-952X
World Biotechnology 2017
December 04-05, 2017
2
nd
World Biotechnology Congress
December 04-05, 2017 | Sao Paulo, Brazil
A dry method to preserve tear sample
Youhe Gao, Weiwei Qin
and
Linpei Zhang
Beijing Normal University, China
T
he tears overlay the epithelial cells of cornea and conjunctiva surface. It provides lubrication, protection and nutrition to the
ocular surface. Tears is an important bio-fluid containing thousands of molecules, including proteins, lipids, metabolites, nucleic
acids, and electrolytes. Tear fluid can be easily and noninvasively accessed, and it has become a useful resource for biomarker research
of ocular and systemic diseases. According to a recent review, hundreds of potential specific molecular biomarkers in tears had
been detected to associate with ocular diseases, such as, dry eye disease, keratoconus, Graves’ orbitopathy. Other reports showed
that tear can also reflect the states of breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple sclerosis. Ideally tear samples should be stored by a
simple, low-cost and efficient method along with the patient’s medical record. The primary methods for collecting tears are using the
Schirmer's strip and glass capillary tube, followed by flash-freezing at −80°C. But, cryopreservation of tears cannot absolutely prevent
the degradation of proteins, as the samples contain various enzymes and hydrolases. Additionally, use of the required cold chain
during sample transportation is challenging and costly. Here, we developed a novel Schirmer’s strip based dry method which allows
storage of tear samples in vacuum bags at room temperature. Using this method tear protein pattern can be faithfully preserved. LC-
MS/MS analysis of proteins recovered from our dry method and from traditional wet method, indicating that there is no significant
difference. This dry method facilitates sample transportation and makes it possible to store tear samples at large scale, which in turn
increases the research pace of tear related diseases.
gaoyouhe@bnu.edu.cnJ Biotechnol Biomater 2017, 7:6 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2155-952X-C1-086