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Cell Jan 2018Breast cancer (BC) comprises multiple distinct subtypes that differ genetically, pathologically, and clinically. Here, we describe a robust protocol for long-term...
Breast cancer (BC) comprises multiple distinct subtypes that differ genetically, pathologically, and clinically. Here, we describe a robust protocol for long-term culturing of human mammary epithelial organoids. Using this protocol, >100 primary and metastatic BC organoid lines were generated, broadly recapitulating the diversity of the disease. BC organoid morphologies typically matched the histopathology, hormone receptor status, and HER2 status of the original tumor. DNA copy number variations as well as sequence changes were consistent within tumor-organoid pairs and largely retained even after extended passaging. BC organoids furthermore populated all major gene-expression-based classification groups and allowed in vitro drug screens that were consistent with in vivo xeno-transplantations and patient response. This study describes a representative collection of well-characterized BC organoids available for cancer research and drug development, as well as a strategy to assess in vitro drug response in a personalized fashion.
Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Breast Neoplasms; Cells, Cultured; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; Female; Genetic Heterogeneity; Humans; Mice; Mice, Nude; Organoids; Precision Medicine; Tissue Banks
PubMed: 29224780
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.11.010 -
Briefings in Bioinformatics Nov 2019Precision medicine is rapidly emerging as a strategy to tailor medical treatment to a small group or even individual patients based on their genetics, environment and... (Review)
Review
Precision medicine is rapidly emerging as a strategy to tailor medical treatment to a small group or even individual patients based on their genetics, environment and lifestyle. Precision medicine relies heavily on developments in systems biology and omics disciplines, including metabolomics. Combination of metabolomics with sophisticated bioinformatics analysis and mathematical modeling has an extreme power to provide a metabolic snapshot of the patient over the course of disease and treatment or classifying patients into subpopulations and subgroups requiring individual medical treatment. Although a powerful approach, metabolomics have certain limitations in technology and bioinformatics. We will review various aspects of metabolomics technology and bioinformatics, from data generation, bioinformatics analysis, data fusion and mathematical modeling to data management, in the context of precision medicine.
Topics: Computational Biology; Humans; Metabolomics; Precision Medicine; Tissue Banks
PubMed: 29304189
DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbx170 -
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2019A biobank is an important nexus between clinical and research aspects of pathology. The collection and storage of high quality surgical samples is essential for... (Review)
Review
A biobank is an important nexus between clinical and research aspects of pathology. The collection and storage of high quality surgical samples is essential for diagnosis post-surgery, and can also be used to create vaccines, identify therapeutic targets or establish eligibility of cancer patients in a clinical trial. Therefore, personnel handling surgical tissues should follow standard operating procedures (SOP) to maximize efficiency and preserve tissue quality. This chapter is intended to familiarize novice biobank personnel with the issues associated with different steps of surgical tissue collection including patient consent, sample collection, tissue storage, quality control, and distribution.
Topics: Biological Specimen Banks; Humans; Neoplasms; Quality Control; Specimen Handling; Tissue Banks
PubMed: 30539435
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8935-5_7 -
NeuroImage Dec 2018The human thalamus is a brain structure that comprises numerous, highly specific nuclei. Since these nuclei are known to have different functions and to be connected to...
The human thalamus is a brain structure that comprises numerous, highly specific nuclei. Since these nuclei are known to have different functions and to be connected to different areas of the cerebral cortex, it is of great interest for the neuroimaging community to study their volume, shape and connectivity in vivo with MRI. In this study, we present a probabilistic atlas of the thalamic nuclei built using ex vivo brain MRI scans and histological data, as well as the application of the atlas to in vivo MRI segmentation. The atlas was built using manual delineation of 26 thalamic nuclei on the serial histology of 12 whole thalami from six autopsy samples, combined with manual segmentations of the whole thalamus and surrounding structures (caudate, putamen, hippocampus, etc.) made on in vivo brain MR data from 39 subjects. The 3D structure of the histological data and corresponding manual segmentations was recovered using the ex vivo MRI as reference frame, and stacks of blockface photographs acquired during the sectioning as intermediate target. The atlas, which was encoded as an adaptive tetrahedral mesh, shows a good agreement with previous histological studies of the thalamus in terms of volumes of representative nuclei. When applied to segmentation of in vivo scans using Bayesian inference, the atlas shows excellent test-retest reliability, robustness to changes in input MRI contrast, and ability to detect differential thalamic effects in subjects with Alzheimer's disease. The probabilistic atlas and companion segmentation tool are publicly available as part of the neuroimaging package FreeSurfer.
Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Atlases as Topic; Bayes Theorem; Female; Histological Techniques; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Thalamic Nuclei; Tissue Banks
PubMed: 30121337
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.012 -
Current Opinion in Ophthalmology Jul 2014Eye-bank preparation of endothelial tissue for keratoplasty continues to evolve. Although eye-bank personnel have become comfortable and competent at Descemet's... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Eye-bank preparation of endothelial tissue for keratoplasty continues to evolve. Although eye-bank personnel have become comfortable and competent at Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK), tissue preparation and tissue transport, optimization of preparation methods continues. Surgeons and eye-bank personnel should be up to date on the research in the field. As surgeons transit to Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), eye banks have risen to the challenge of preparing tissue. Eye banks are refining their DMEK preparation and transport techniques.
RECENT FINDINGS
This article covers refinements to DSAEK tissue preparation, innovations to prepare DMEK tissue, and nuances to improve donor cornea tissue quality.
SUMMARY
As eye bank-supplied corneal tissue is the main source of tissue for many corneal surgeons, it is critical to stay informed about tissue handling and preparation. Ultimately, the surgeon is responsible for the transplantation, so involvement of clinicians in eye-banking practices and advocacy for pursuing meaningful research in this area will benefit clinical patient outcomes.
Topics: Descemet Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty; Endothelium, Corneal; Eye Banks; Humans; Specimen Handling; Tissue Donors
PubMed: 24837574
DOI: 10.1097/ICU.0000000000000060 -
Cryobiology Dec 2015We describe here a new cryobiological and neurobiological technique, aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation (ASC), which demonstrates the relevance and utility of advanced...
We describe here a new cryobiological and neurobiological technique, aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation (ASC), which demonstrates the relevance and utility of advanced cryopreservation science for the neurobiological research community. ASC is a new brain-banking technique designed to facilitate neuroanatomic research such as connectomics research, and has the unique ability to combine stable long term ice-free sample storage with excellent anatomical resolution. To demonstrate the feasibility of ASC, we perfuse-fixed rabbit and pig brains with a glutaraldehyde-based fixative, then slowly perfused increasing concentrations of ethylene glycol over several hours in a manner similar to techniques used for whole organ cryopreservation. Once 65% w/v ethylene glycol was reached, we vitrified brains at -135 °C for indefinite long-term storage. Vitrified brains were rewarmed and the cryoprotectant removed either by perfusion or gradual diffusion from brain slices. We evaluated ASC-processed brains by electron microscopy of multiple regions across the whole brain and by Focused Ion Beam Milling and Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) imaging of selected brain volumes. Preservation was uniformly excellent: processes were easily traceable and synapses were crisp in both species. Aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation has many advantages over other brain-banking techniques: chemicals are delivered via perfusion, which enables easy scaling to brains of any size; vitrification ensures that the ultrastructure of the brain will not degrade even over very long storage times; and the cryoprotectant can be removed, yielding a perfusable aldehyde-preserved brain which is suitable for a wide variety of brain assays.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Cryopreservation; Cryoprotective Agents; Ethylene Glycol; Glutaral; Rabbits; Swine; Tissue Banks; Vitrification
PubMed: 26408851
DOI: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2015.09.003 -
Journal of Applied Biomaterials &... Nov 2016Bioencapsulation technologies have played an important role in the developing successes of tissue engineering. Besides offering immunoisolation, they also show promise... (Review)
Review
Bioencapsulation technologies have played an important role in the developing successes of tissue engineering. Besides offering immunoisolation, they also show promise for cell/tissue banking and the directed differentiation of stem cells, by providing a unique microenvironment. This review describes bioencapsulation technologies and summarizes their recent progress in research into tissue engineering. The review concludes with a brief outlook regarding future research directions in this field.
Topics: Animals; Capsules; Humans; Tissue Banks; Tissue Engineering
PubMed: 27716872
DOI: 10.5301/jabfm.5000299 -
Croatian Medical Journal Jun 2021
Topics: Cryopreservation; Humans; Tissue Banks
PubMed: 34212567
DOI: 10.3325/cmj.2021.62.297 -
Cell and Tissue Banking Dec 2016For successful transplantation, allografts should be free of microorganisms that may cause harm to the allograft recipient. Before or during recovery and subsequent... (Review)
Review
For successful transplantation, allografts should be free of microorganisms that may cause harm to the allograft recipient. Before or during recovery and subsequent processing, tissues can become contaminated. Effective tissue recovery methods, such as minimizing recovery times (<24 h after death) and the number of experienced personnel performing recovery, are examples of factors that can affect the rate of tissue contamination at recovery. Additional factors, such as minimizing the time after asystole to recovery and the total time it takes to perform recovery, the type of recovery site, the efficacy of the skin prep performed immediately prior to recovery of tissue, and certain technical recovery procedures may also result in control of the rate of contamination. Due to the heterogeneity of reported recovery practices and experiences, it cannot be concluded if the use of other barriers and/or hygienic precautions to avoid contamination have had an effect on bioburden detected after tissue recovery. Qualified studies are lacking which indicates a need exists for evidence-based data to support methods that reduce or control bioburden.
Topics: Allografts; Cell Culture Techniques; Decontamination; Humans; Specimen Handling; Sterilization; Tissue Banks; Transplantation, Homologous
PubMed: 27761677
DOI: 10.1007/s10561-016-9590-5 -
Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia 2018Eye banks use sterile procedures to manipulate the eye, antiseptic measures for ocular surface decontamination, and rigorous criteria for donor selection to minimize the... (Review)
Review
Eye banks use sterile procedures to manipulate the eye, antiseptic measures for ocular surface decontamination, and rigorous criteria for donor selection to minimize the possibility of disease transmission due to corneal grafting. Donor selection focuses on analysis of medical records and specific post-mortem serological tests. To guide and standardize procedures, eye bank associations and government agencies provide lists of absolute and relative contraindications for use of the tissue based on donor health history. These lists are guardians of the Hippocratic principle "primum non nocere." However, each transplantation carries risk of transmission of potentially harmful agents to the recipient. The aim of the procedures is not to eliminate risk, but limit it to a reasonable level. The balance between safety and corneal availability needs to be maintained by exercising prudence without disproportionate rigor.
Topics: Corneal Transplantation; Disease Transmission, Infectious; Donor Selection; Eye Banks; Humans; Medical Records; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Tissue Donors
PubMed: 29538600
DOI: 10.5935/0004-2749.20180017