Tissue Pathology & Biospecimen Shared Resource

The goal of the Cancer Tissue Pathology Core is to provide high-quality tissue processing, histology and staining services to Stephenson Cancer Center members and other investigators. The core provides tissue processing, embedding, sectioning, histochemical staining of mounted slides, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for paraffin embedded and frozen tissues, immunocytochemical (ICC) staining for cultured cells (as tissue sections or cytospin slides), evaluation of new antibodies for IHC staining, enzyme histochemistry and special staining. The Core also provides defined analyses including RNA / DNA preparation, reverse transcription and cDNA synthesis from total RNA, construction, staining and analysis of tissue microarrays, and construction and analysis of reverse proteomics array from user-defined biospecimens. The Core is flexible to accommodate the development of new techniques and expanding its services based on the research requirements of SCC members and other investigators. Core equipment includes a Leica Motorized Rotary Microtome, a Leica CM1950 Cryostat, a Leica BOND-III automated IHC / ISH-stainer, and a Veridiam Automated Tissue Arrayer along with upright and inverted microscopes, and bright field and fluorescence microscopy and Zeiss Axioscan whole slide fluorescent and brightfield scanner. Aperio whole slide scanning services are available through the Department of Pathology.

To request any service, visit the iLab page for the shared resource facility. You may need to set up your account when you visit iLab for the first time. Within iLab, you can request various services, monitor and communicate about the progress of your project.

Core Director

For more information about the Core, please contact:
Muralidharan Jayaraman, Ph.D., Director of Research Core Operations
Email: Muralidharan-Jayaraman@ouhsc.edu
Phone: (405) 271-6890

Equipment

Semi-enclosed Benchtop Tissue Processor Leica TP1020

The tissue processor is a basic instrument with both vacuum and fume control. It is gentle on specimen processing and maintains a high level of specimen safety at all stages of the processing run. It can process 100 or 200 cassettes at a time and supports variable workloads.

Modular Tissue Embedding Center Leica EG1150

The Leica EG1150 modular tissue embedding center incorporates two separate components, the Leica EG1150 C cold plate and the Leica EG1150 H heated paraffin dispensing module.

Veridiam Tissue Arrayer

This system is a semi-automated tissue microarray instrument, designed to enable researchers assemble multiple tissue specimens on a glass slide. It has capabilities for exact selection of the area of interest using stereo microscope, built-in automatic alignment of the donor slide and the donor block, precise extraction and delivery of paraffin tissue cores and exact X-Y-Z adjustments for tissue core placement.

Rotary Microtome Leica RM2255

It has consistent sectioning speed and can be fully automated providing high-quality sections. The large 70 mm vertical stroke helps to section really mega cassettes. The precision orientation system helps in setting up the already cut blocks for proper sectioning.

Leica CM1950 Cryostat

It has a UVC disinfection set up to avoid contamination by infectious material. Also, it has built-in HEPA filter and coated with nanosilver to protect against microbial contamination. There is vacuum assisted sectioning set up for easier sectioning.

Leica BOND-III and Bond RX - Fully Automated IHC and ISH

It is a fully automated IHC stainer, with least maintenance and easy to use. It can do 30 slides at up to 15 different antibodies at a time. It has many different antigen retrieval methods and can be modified for the required staining protocol. It can be programmed to do double staining.

Nikon NI-U

It is an upright epi-fluorescent microscope with the double slide holder for viewing 2 slides side-by-side. The fluorescence light source is with SOLA white-light excitation system. The objectives on the microscope are Plan Apochromat – 4X NA 0.20WD20.00; - 10X NA0.45WD4.00; - 20X NA0.75WD1.00 – 60X NA0.95WD0.15MM and -100x NA1.45WD0.13MM. The software that handles the images is the NIS-Elements software from Nikon.

Usage Acknowledgement

If research supported by Stephenson Cancer Center core facilities results in a publication or news release, please acknowledge this support in your manuscript. Following publication, please send us one of your reprints for our records.