Pathology Shared Resource Equipment for Automated Construction of Tissue Microarrays

PROJECT ABSTRACT Since 2008, the Pathology Shared Resource (PSR) has been providing Colorado researchers with access to a full spectrum of expertise in biobanking, pathology, histology, molecular pathology, and cytogenetics, leveraging the clinical infrastructure and research enterprise at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU

AMC). The PSR is a regional resource and receives funding and other support from the CU AMC, the University of Colorado Cancer Center, and the Department of Pathology. Services provided by the PSR include archival and real-time biospecimen collection and management, clinical trial support, and access to annotated

biospecimens. The PSR provides histology and immunohistochemistry services on animal and human tissue specimens, CLIA-level molecular testing, and analysis for cancer genomic aberrations at chromosomal and whole genome levels to support basic, translational, and clinical research projects. The PSR, overseen by a

strong collaborative team of researchers and clinical pathologists, is fully equipped to support the logistics and management of institutional and multi-institutional clinical trials including investigator-initiated trials. The PSR also manages the large Surgical Pathology archive that contains formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE)

biospecimens obtained from diagnostic and surgical procedures performed at the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH). Many research studies utilize specimens from the Surgical Pathology Archive. Most projects require analysis of a prepared tissue section on a glass slide to be analyzed by immunohistochemistry or other methods.

Analyzing large tissue cohorts using individual sections on individual glass slides is labor intensive, costly, and can introduce experimental variation. Tissue microarrays (TMA) are created by taking small tissue areas (cores) from a donor FFPE block and combining it with tissue areas (cores) from other donor blocks in a single

recipient block to make it possible to analyze many different tissue specimens (up to hundreds) simultaneously on a single glass slide cut from the TMA block, reducing labor time, cost, and experimental variability. The PSR has manual TMA building capabilities, but manual construction has its limitations as it is labor intensive. Currently

we cannot provide the level of support needed for TMA design and construction to the research community. This proposal request funding for the purchase of the TMA Grand Master instrument which is capable of fully automated TMA construction that will greatly enhance our TMA building capabilities and decreasing our workflow

time. In addition, the TMA instrument has excellent data and image tracking features which would greatly improve our study design, rigor, and quality of obtained data, and data management capabilities. An added benefit is that many tissue sections (100-200+) can be derived from a single TMA block that can be utilized in different research

projects as an off-the-shelf solution and thereby expediting research and reducing analysis costs. Modernization of our TMA building capabilities by implementing the automated TMA Grand Master instrument in the CU PSR will greatly improve, streamline, and modernize our workflows and expedite services to the research community.