Laser Capture Microdissection as a Tool to Study the Mucosal Immune Response in Celiac Disease

Laser capture microdissection (LCM) is a powerful tool for selection and isolation of single cells or
compartments from complex primary tissues to perform molecular analyses. Celiac disease is a genetic
autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. Increased
intraepithelial lymphocytes and the presence of the lamina propria inflammatory infiltrate of the duodenal
mucosa is a common part of the disease. These cells promote inflammatory processes through the release of
cytokines. Here, we describe the use of LCM and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to analyze
cytokine profile information in distinct duodenal mucosa tissue compartments of celiac patients.