Human Tissue Bank Research Articles

A Survey of Consumer Attitudes to the Supply and Use of Human Hepatocytes in the United Kingdom

Human hepatocytes are the model of choice for pharmacotoxicological studies, but their acquisition is often problematic due to ethical and logistical difficulties. The UK Human Tissue Bank is a not-for-profit organisation that acquires and processes human tissue, with a specialist interest in the isolation of human hepatocytes. A recent in-house survey of the processing of liver tissue over 1 year revealed that freshly isolated hepatocytes were underutilised due to mismatched consumer demand, despite the published need for them. We present the results of a telephone survey to investigate the reasons behind this paradox. This survey highlighted some problem areas, including "out of hours" availability of cells and personnel difficulties, but overall, demonstrated the value of such a service, with numerous researchers taking advantage of available good quality human hepatocytes. Although further work is required in optimising long-term storage protocols through cryopreservation, we have demonstrated that tissue handling of this type can be successful and beneficial to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Ability of a bovine bone graft, alone or enriched with PDGF-BB or rhBMP-2, to promote human periodontal ligament (PDL) cells proliferation. A preliminary study.

One of the most important goals of the periodontal therapy procedures is to stimulate the formation of new bone into osseous defects resulted from periodontal disease. A wide range of grafting materials is used to achieve this aim. Recently, the Human Tissue Bank of the National Center for Scientific Research 'Demokritos' in Athens (Greece) has prepared, in a preliminary study, a cancellous bovine-derived bone matrix (BBM). The purpose of the present work was to investigate the role of this bovine bone material in the periodontal regeneration, by studying the rate of human periodontal ligament (PDL) cells proliferation in the presence of this matrix alone, or after the addition of the growth factors, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) or recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2).Bovine bone graft was prepared using the 'know how' acquired by the 30 years continuous preparation and delivery of lyophilized human bone grafts by the 'Demokritos' Bank.PDL cells cultures were derived from the mid root of two maxillary premolars. The teeth were caries-free and were extracted for orthodontic reasons from 1 adult female patient. Cells were grown in 24-well dishes in the presence of 20 mg BBM. On day 2 of quiescence, new medium was added with 10 ng/ml of PDGF-BB or 50 ng/ml of rhBMP-2. To determine the effects of the test agents on cell proliferation, DNA synthesis was estimated by measuring [(3)H] thymidine incorporation. After 48 h of incubation the cells were processed to subject to scintillation counting. Counts per minute (cpm/well) were determined for each sample.The results revealed that this BBM has the ability to maintain PDL cells proliferation and could be used as an alternative graft material. PDGF-BB when added improved the cell proliferative response resulting in a more active BBM, while the presence of rhBMP-2 did not support cell mitosis.

The establishment of a network of European human research tissue banks.

This is a report of a workshop held on the establishment of human research tissue banking which was held in Levi, Finland 21-24 March 2002. There were 21 participants from 7 European countries. This meeting was attended by representatives from academia, research tissue banks and from the Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industries. The principal aim of the workshop was to find a way to progress the recommendations from ECVAM workshop 44 (ATLA 29, 125-134, 2001) and ECVAM workshop 32 (ATLA 26, 763-777, 1998). The workshop represented the first unofficial meeting of the European Network of Research Tissue Banks (ENRTB) steering group. It is expected that in the period preceding the next workshop the ENRTB steering group will co-ordinate the ethical, legislative and organisational aspects of research tissue banking. Key issues dealt with by the Levi workshop included the practical aspects of sharing expertise and experiences across the different European members. Such collaboration between research tissue banks and end users of such material seeks to ultimately enable shared access to human tissue for medical and pharmaco-toxicological research while maintaining strict adherence to differences in legal and ethical aspects related to the use of human tissue in individual countries.

The increasing importance of tumor and tissue banks in the light of genomic and proteomic research

Recent technological advances in genome and proteome research offer new perspectives for diagnosis and therapy. The DNA chip technology as well as high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometry is able to provide comprehensive information on gene and protein expression patterns, which allow insights into the dynamic and functional aspects of diseases. The application of these techniques depends on the availability of unfixed fresh or cryopreserved tissue with short ischaemia time. For this reason tissue banks are of increasing importance. The pathologist with his expertise and responsibility for histopathological diagnosis, plays a central role in the collection of the human tissues, in accordance with medical, legal and ethical standards, not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for research. The scientific value of a tissue bank is markedly increased if tissue samples are accompanied by detailed patient data as well as blood samples. Informed consent given by the patient is an essential requirement for the use of human tissue banks in biomedical research. The informed consent should not be restricted to scientific investigations but also include the potential commercial use of the data generated.

The establishment of human research tissue banking in the UK and several western European countries. The report and recommendations of ECVAM Workshop 44.

The establishment of human research tissue banking in the UK and several western European countries. The report and recommendations of ECVAM Workshop 44.

Comments on the study of public human tonsil tissue bank at National Children's Hospital

Comments on the study of public human tonsil tissue bank at National Children's Hospital

Cadaveric Tissue Supply to the Commercial Sector For Research: Collaboration between NHS Pathology and NBS Tissue Services in the U.K., Extending the Options for Donors.

The Peterborough Hospital Human Tissue Bank (PHHTB) and National Blood Service Tissue Services (London and South East Zone) (NBSTS) operate within the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) and have a system in place to retrieve cadaveric tissues for commercial sector research. The collaboration meets the aims of PHHTB and NBSTS and is legal, ethical and safe. This paper presents the results of the first 20 successful retrievals referred from NBSTS to PHHTB. Cadaveric retrieval of tissue for research extends the options for donors and their relatives. The research option is particularly welcomed in cases where clinical retrieval for tissue transplantation is contraindicated. We believe the system is applicable to other centres.

Tissue Bank : Current Status and Development in the Field of Plastic Surgery in Korea

The brief history of human tissue bank is reviewed, and the current status of tissue bank in the field of plastic surgery in Korea is presented. We sent a questionnaire to 58 plastic and reconstructive surgery training hospitals. The survey was completed in 27 hospitals. The results were as follows : the number of hospitals managing a tissue bank was 16, and the remaining 11 hospitals did not manage a tissue bank. Less than 30% of the plastic and reconstructive surgery training hospitals' tissue banks were managed by the plastic and reconstructive department by itself. In the field of plastic surgery in Korea, skin banks are most popular among the tissue banks. The development of the national skin bank is needed and there are a lot of parts to be improved in the management of tissue banks.

The role of the pathologist as tissue refiner and data miner: the impact of functional genomics on the modern pathology laboratory and the critical roles of pathology informatics and bioinformatics.

This article provides an overview of how functional genomics is likely to impact on the pathology laboratory and highlights how informatics and tissue banking will greatly facilitate the molecular age of medicine. Important aspects of functional genomics in the post-genome era, including the roles of laser capture microdissection, DNA- and complementary DNA-based microarrays, proteomic methods, collaborative human tissue banking, tissue microarrays, and pathobioinformatics in the modern pathology laboratory are discussed. The role of mass spectroscopy in the analysis of RNA, DNA, and protein and its impact on the clinical laboratory, particularly in cost-effectiveness and time savings, are evaluated. This article explores how laboratory information systems (LISs) and the devices that feed them information may need to be modified to adapt to greater volumes of data for the new testing modalities that require understanding sophisticated fluorescence detection methods and image processing. Emerging genomic testing methods and their impact on pathology laboratory testing, especially in the area of molecular classification of neoplasms, are examined. The role of the tissue bank in the modern pathology laboratory as an archive of control normal tissues, as well as subsamples of the spectrum of progressive neoplastic states, is discussed in light of its critical importance to the molecular classification of cancer. Establishing a database that combines structured reports in pathology LISs and construction of tissue banking information systems will provide a rich resource for pathology departments. The article discusses a hypothetical resource, such as the Shared Tumor Expression Profiler, that would provide access to well-characterized tissue-based research resources for clinicians and researchers. Last, the article emphasizes how LISs can prepare for these changes, and how training pathologists in pathology informatics and bioinformatics (pathobioinformatics) is critical to ensure pathology's overall leadership role in the post-genome era.

The peterborough hospital human tissue bank.

The Peterborough Hospital Human Tissue Bank, based in the Cellular Pathology Department of the District Hospital, has been successful in supplying commercial biomedical companies with human tissue for research purposes. Tissue is obtained from routine surgical specimens sent to the laboratory for diagnostic testing and from cadaveric donors examined in the hospital mortuary. All tissue is obtained legally and with the full informed consent of the patient, donor or relative, as appropriate. The mechanism of retrieving, storing and supplying human tissue is described. In publishing the activities of the tissue bank at Peterborough, we wish to encourage others to consider the availability of human tissue in their locality. We recommend a strict legal and ethical code, particularly in relation to fully informed consent.

Parenchymal cell proliferation in coronary arteries after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty: a human tissue bank study

Purpose: Restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) remains a limitation of this technique. Arterial wall cell proliferation is a component of restenosis preventable with intravascular brachytherapy. This study attempts to locate the sites of cellular proliferation after PTCA so as to aid the optimization of this therapy. Methods and Materials: Autopsy records from January 1, 1985 through December 31, 1995 were reviewed, and 27 patients who received PTCA prior to death were identified who also had evidence of PTCA on histologic examination of the arterial sections. The sections were subjected to immunohistochemical staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) to detect the proliferating cells in the arterial sections, followed by image analysis to determine the proliferative index (PI) of all regions and layers of the section. Results: The PI did not differ significantly according to vessel region (plaque, plaque shoulder, or portion of vessel wall with lowest plaque burden), vessel layer (intima, media, adventitia), or evidence of prior PTCA. There was a trend toward a higher PI in young lesions. Conclusion: Cell proliferation in the vascular wall after PTCA was found throughout the treated arterial section’s axial plane, not only in the periluminal region.

Supplying commercial biomedical companies from a human tissue bank in an NHS hospital--a view from personal experience.

NHS histopathology laboratories are well placed to develop banks of surgically removed surplus human tissues to meet the increasing demands of commercial biomedical companies. The ultimate aim could be national...

Ethical Aspects of Human Tissue Banking

Ethical Aspects of Human Tissue Banking

Lectin-Gold Staining of Sialic Acid in Mesotheliomas and Pulmonary Adenocarcinomas

Lectin-gold staining and electron microscopy techniques were used to determine the sialic acid patterns of epithelial mesotheliomas and pulmonary adenocarcinomas. Pulmonary adenocarcinomas and 4 malignant epithelial mesotheliomas from human tissue banks were used. Tissues were fixed in a mixture of 3% parafomaldehyde and 0.1% glutaraldehyde for 2 hr, dehydrated in increasing concentrations of ethanol, and embedded in Lowicryl K4M. Ultrathin sections on 150-mesh nickel grids were incubated with LimaxJavus lectin-gold (LFL-gl0), Sambucus nigrans lectin-gold (SNL-gl4), and Maackia amurensis lectin-gold (MAL-gl4). Both mesotheliomas and adenocarcinomas stained positively with (LFL-gl0) and (MAL-g14) and negatively with (SNL-gl4). Positive staining with MAL-g14 and an absence of staining with SNL-g14 show the terminal sialic acid linkage to D-galactose to be α2,3, rather than α2,6. Although, mesotheliomas stained with MAL-g14 had significantly more gold particles than did adenocarcinomas, the gold particle to cell membrane ratio was not different between the two. Therefore these lectins were not helpful in differentiating mesotheliomas and adenocarcinomas. (The J Histotechnol 20:31, 1997)

Lectin-Gold Staining of Sialic Acid in Mesotheliomas and Pulmonary Adenocarcinomas

Lectin-gold staining and electron microscopy techniques were used to determine the sialic acid patterns of epithelial mesotheliomas and pulmonary adenocarcinomas. Pulmonary adenocarcinomas and 4 malignant epithelial mesotheliomas from human tissue banks were used. Tissues were fixed in a mixture of 3% parafomaldehyde and 0.1% glutaraldehyde for 2 hr, dehydrated in increasing concentrations of ethanol, and embedded in Lowicryl K4M. Ultrathin sections on 150-mesh nickel grids were incubated with LimaxJavus lectin-gold (LFL-gl0), Sambucus nigrans lectin-gold (SNL-gl4), and Maackia amurensis lectin-gold (MAL-gl4). Both mesotheliomas and adenocarcinomas stained positively with (LFL-gl0) and (MAL-g14) and negatively with (SNL-gl4). Positive staining with MAL-g14 and an absence of staining with SNL-g14 show the terminal sialic acid linkage to D-galactose to be α2,3, rather than α2,6. Although, mesotheliomas stained with MAL-g14 had significantly more gold particles than did adenocarcinomas, the gold particle to cell membrane ratio was not different between the two. Therefore these lectins were not helpful in differentiating mesotheliomas and adenocarcinomas. (The J Histotechnol 20:31, 1997)

Cancer prevention strategies: use of cancer prevention research registries.

We present a model to plan a rational strategy for cancer prevention that has two main functions--assessment and intervention. The assessment function includes three main components: to identify populations at high cancer risk, which may be due to their ethnic group, occupational and environmental exposures, family history, cigarette smoking, or other risk factors; to assess exposure to known carcinogens through the general and occupational environments, lifestyle factors, and the home as well as to document known carcinogens using human tissue banks and develop and validate questionnaires to target known risk factors for each of the most common cancers; and to conduct research studies of high-risk populations, including studies on mechanism and genetic testing. The intervention function includes three components: development of population-based intervention programs using the results from the research studies; evaluation of intervention programs; and modification of existing intervention programs and implementation of new ones. The above-proposed prevention strategy depends to a great extent on population-based cancer registries. Existing cancer registries around the United States should be strengthened and other dimensions should be added to their charge to augment their function in prevention research. To convert existing population-based cancer registries, particularly those that serve multiethnic and multicultural populations, into Cancer Prevention Research Registries (CPRRs), three types of data in addition to their existing required data complement should be incorporated. These are exposure information including occupational history, host factors information, and information about family history of cancer and associated conditions. The primary goal of the CPRRs should be to support cancer prevention research in its widest sense. Future research needs must be designed to investigate each of the components of the prevention strategy as well as its integrated performance. Regardless of what we do in the future, we must now promote healthier lifestyles, prevent exposure to known carcinogens, and improve early detection procedures.

Banking of human tissue for biomonitoring and exposure assessment: utility for environmental epidemiology and surveillance.

Human tissue banking could provide a tool to address a number of public health concerns. We can potentially use it to monitor trends in human exposures, serve as an early warning system for new environmental exposures, assess low-level exposures around hazardous waste and other point sources of pollutants, evaluate the effectiveness of regulatory programs, and study etiologies of diseases (e.g., childhood cancer and birth defects) that are likely to be related to the environment. This article discusses opportunities to establish human tissue banks in connection with pre-existing public health surveillance programs for cancer and adverse reproductive outcomes. This is a cost-effective way to conduct surveillance and enhances the ability to carry out epidemiologic studies. The article also discusses ethical issues that are particularly important for public health practice. One is the issue of risk communication and the need to explain risks in a way that provides people with the information they need to determine appropriate action on the individual and community levels. Second is the issue of environmental justice. We recommend early involvement of communities that are likely to be involved in tissue-banking projects and full explanation of individual and group social risks from their participation.

Banking of Human Tissue for Biomonitoring and Exposure Assessment: Utility for Environmental Epidemiology and Surveillance

Banking of Human Tissue for Biomonitoring and Exposure Assessment: Utility for Environmental Epidemiology and Surveillance

Establishment of Human Tissue Banks

Mounting interest in Europe over the incorporation of the human biological model in the laboratory has been fuelled by scientific advances and the much improved accessibility to human tissue. The collection of tissue is complicated by a host of ethical considerations and lack of public awareness of the benefits of donation to research and education. In the United States, the International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine (IIAM) has been successful in networking the cooperation of organ banks, tissue banks and hospitals, to collect otherwise discarded anatomical gifts with consent from the donor or donor's next of kin for medical research applications. IIAM is a non-profit, non-transplant anatomic bank that is provisionally licensed in the state of New York--one of the first states to implement comprehensive licensing procedures. Over the last year, IIAM has been serving a growing number of investigators in Europe with both fresh and frozen preparations. However, the various logistical problems in trans-Atlantic transportation and economic considerations warrant the exploration of establishing a satellite bank in Europe that would entail a more efficient and cost effective service to this region. This permanent facility would have access to IIAM's frozen inventory of tissue and tissue-derived protein samples, and would serve to facilitate the provision of fresh tissue, cells and slices to European researchers requiring such materials for their studies.