809094 Biomarker Identification in Fracture Healing (experiment #3218 performed 2009 Nov)

The specific miRNAs that distinguish normal fracture healing from abnormal healing or nonunion in humans are unknown. This study was an exploratory investigation of peripheral blood from 2 acutely injured fracture patients collected over multiple days compared to age and sex matched healthy volunteers. We used microarrays to do a global comparison between acutely injured (AI) subjects (AIS) vs age and sex matched healthy volunteers (HV). AIS were enrolled into the study upon presentation for fracture care. Blood was collected into Paxgene blood RNA tubes daily during the inpatient stay. HV were enrolled in parallel with a one-time blood sample colleciton into Paxgene blood RNA tubes. RNA was extracted from all samples applicable to this experiment. We explored the data with Partek Genomics suite using all samples at all time points to identify a panel of genes that is differentially expressed across the two groups to enable additional biomaker vetting.