Comparing the proteome of snap frozen, RNAlater preserved, and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human tissue samples

• We evaluated proteome analyses of snap frozen, RNAlater, and FFPE preserved samples.
• Reliable proteome studies can be conducted on RNAlater, and FFPE preserved samples.
• RNAlater sample preservation is highly usable for proteomics studies.

Large biobanks exist worldwide containing formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples and samples stored in RNAlater. However, the impact of tissue preservation on the result of a quantative proteome analysis remains poorly described.Human colon mucosal biopsies were extracted from the sigmoideum and either immediately frozen, stabilized in RNAlater, or stabilized by formalin-fixation. In one set of biopsies, formalin stabilization was delayed for 30 min. The protein content of the samples was characterized by high throughput quantitative proteomics.We were able to identify a similar high number of proteins in the samples regardless of preservation method, with only minor differences in protein quantitation.

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