Tissue Procurement Shared Resource

Frozen tissues (normal and tumor tissue; the latter representing benign and malignant entities) are currently available from a wide variety of organ systems. If an investigator requires prospective procurement of frozen tissues, our facility has resources to deliver snap frozen tissue using liquid nitrogen or dry ice or these tissues can be briefly stored in a -120°C freezer until needed. Frozen sections can be prepared for diagnostic confirmation for investigators upon request (coordinated with the Tissue Science Facility).

Requests for fresh tissue (such as that required for RNA or enzyme analysis, establishment of cell lines, or xenografts) can be coordinated with our facility, which will work with the staff pathologist to identify and process the tissue. When special culture media is required, the investigator’s laboratory is responsible for preparing and delivering it to the Shared Resource prior to the anticipated time of procurement. Fresh tissue is also available to investigators for the generation of viable, single cell suspensions. Our facility stocks a variety of enzymes for tissue dissociation (e.g., collagenase, trypsin) and makes available several standard protocols for use by investigators. Following procurement, the investigators are promptly notified that the material is available for pick up; they may participate in its preparation if special methodology is required.

Prepared upon request.

• Investigator driven protocols
• Short-term tissue culture
• Conventional cytogenetic analysis or molecular cytogenetic analysis (e.g FISH). Inquire for probes available

Investigators should send a brief description of specimens requested (e.g. tissue type, tissue size) and tissue usage (e.g. extraction of DNA) to the tissue bank personnel. The tissue bank personnel perform searches in the database to determine the availability of specimens requested.

If the specimens requested are available in the tissue bank, investigators will submit a completed request to the tissue bank personnel. A completed request needs the following three documents:

1. A copy of the IRB approval letter for the specified project.
2. A completed Tissue Procurement Request Form
3. A brief description of the specified project and specimen usage

When the completed request is received, it will be reviewed for clarity and then forwarded to the Tissue Utilization Committee. The Tissue Utilization Committee will review the application and recommend approval or disapproval.

When significant volume of a tissue is requested by several investigators and supply is limited, the following algorithm is followed for assigning priority:

• Investigator-initiated, NCI-funded, peer-reviewed research
• Investigator-initiated, externally-funded, peer-reviewed research by funding source: State of Nebraska, etc.
• Investigator-initiated, funded and peer-reviewed research within UNMC
• Investigator-initiated, non-funded research
• Company contracted research
• Other

When the Tissue Utilization Committee has approved the request, our facility will inform investigators and arrange transportation. Certain fees may be applied for distribution.