Pathology Research Shared Resource

PATHOLOGY RESEARCH SHARED RESOURCE PROJECT SUMMARY The Pathology Research Shared Resource (PRC) provides histological and related tissue-based services across the enterprise to Mayo Clinic Cancer Center (MCCC) members at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (MCR), at Mayo Clinic in Arizona (MCA), and at Mayo Clinic in Florida (MCF). PRC works with site based resources to standardize practices across the enterprise. The services include preparation of histology slides for microscopy, tissue microarray construction, immunostaining, digital image capture and analysis, and preparation of tissues for subsequent nucleic acid or protein extraction. A team of cytotechnologists assist with morphologic interpretation of slides, choosing slides and blocks for tissue microarrays, and analysis of microscopic images. PRC provides these services to research and clinical investigators at an affordable cost with reasonable turnaround times. The majority of the services are performed using clinical diagnostic tissues that are formalin fixed and paraffin embedded, allowing MCCC members to take advantage of the wealth of clinical materials for biomarker discovery and validation. PRC also performs services on fresh tissues, animal tissues, and tissue-cultured cells to facilitate translation of basic biology to clinical relevance. PRC functions within a College of American Pathologists (CAP)-accredited quality system to provide consistent services performed according to laboratory standard operating procedures. The services provided by PRC have been vital to MCCC research at Mayo Clinic, providing members with state of the art services that would be difficult to maintain in the laboratories of individual investigators. In addition, many investigators who use PRC are epidemiologists and bioinformaticians in the MCCC Genetic Epidemiology & Risk Assessment Program (GERA), who may not have laboratory space of their own.