Automated Tissue Arrayer

描述(申请人提供)：高通量基因组筛选技术，如微阵列、SAGE和蛋白质组学，使从组织和细胞准备中一次调查数千个基因/蛋白质成为可能。这些信息的翻译有助于我们理解基本的生物过程，或改善临床诊断、预后和治疗应用，需要广泛的验证。在研究生物现象或开发新的诊断测试或治疗靶点时，通常需要数百个实验和/或临床样本来确定基因或蛋白质的重要性。对于传统技术来说，这通常是乏味的，并且这种组织资源的可用性通常是速率受限的。组织微阵列提供了一种使用数百个探针对数百个组织样本进行快速、大规模分析的方法。组织微阵列是通过采集数百个单独组织的圆柱形活检组织进入组织微阵列块，然后将其切片成200多个部分，用于探测DNA、RNA或蛋白质靶标来构建的。一次免疫染色或原位杂交反应可以提供载玻片上所有标本的信息，而随后的切片可以用其他探针或抗体进行分析。总而言之，新的基于发现科学的工具与组织微阵列相结合，为体内基因发现的验证提供了一种强大的方法，以及一种快速评估给定基因的生物和/或临床意义的手段(S)。目前，芝加哥大学有一台手动纸巾排布器。然而，这种类型的制造是时间和劳动力密集型的。因此，我们目前无法满足寻求它们的NIH资助的大量调查人员制造它们的大量请求。比彻仪器的自动组织排列器将为我们提供满足我们研究人员需求的能力。该仪器将在病理学系研究项目协调员Maria Tetriakova博士的高度合格的监督下，完全整合到现有的核心中。一个已经成立的内部咨询委员会将监督广泛的科学家学科群体的公平和适当使用，同时优先考虑NIH支持的群体。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): High-throughput genome screening technologies, such as microarrays, SAGE, and proteomics have made it possible to survey thousands of genes/proteins at a time from tissue and cell preparations. The translation of such information to contribute to our understanding of basic biologic processes or to improve diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic applications in the clinic requires extensive validation. Hundreds of experimental and/or clinical specimens are typically required to ascertain the significance of a gene or protein when one studies a biologic phenomenon or when developing a new diagnostic test or therapeutic target. This is often tedious with conventional technologies, and availability of such tissue resources is often rate limiting. Tissue microarrays provide a means for rapid, large-scale analysis of several hundred tissue specimens with hundreds of probes. Tissue microarrays are constructed by acquiring cylindrical biopsies from hundreds of individual tissues into a tissue microarray block, which is then sliced into over 200 sections for probing DNA, RNA or protein targets. A single immunostaining or in situ hybridization reaction can provide information on all of the specimens on the slide, while subsequent sections can be analyzed with other probes or antibodies. Taken together, the new discovery science based tools, in conjunction with tissue microarrays, provide a powerful approach for the in vivo validation of gene discoveries, as well as a means to rapidly assess the biologic and/or clinical significance of a given gene(s). Presently, the University of Chicago has a manual tissue arrayer. However, this type of fabrication is time and labor intensive. As such, we are presently unable to fulfill the large number of requests for their fabrication by the large number of NIH funded investigators who are seeking them. An automated tissue arrayer from Beecher Instruments would provide us with the ability to meet our investigators' needs. The instrument would be fully integrated into an existing core under the highly qualified supervision of Dr. Maria Tetriakova, Research Program Coordinator for the Department of Pathology. An already established Internal Advisory Committee will oversee an equitable and appropriate use by a broad disciplinary group of scientists while giving priority to NIH-supported groups.