Histology Core

肌肉骨骼组织学核心

Musculoskeletal Histology Core Morphological techniques are widely used by biologists and are being increasingly used as outcome measures by biomedical engineers, especially in tissue engineering. Accordingly, many investigators in the Research Base (e.g., Apte, Ballock, Muschler, Bauer, Midura, Lefebvre, Derwin, McDevitt) undertake a range of histological techniques, including histochemical staining of frozen, paraffin and plastic-embedded tissue, analysis of decalcified and undecalcified tissue, generation of tissue arrays, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. At the present time, most of these investigators have established one or another, but not all, histological methods in their own laboratories or make limited use of the histology core service located in the institutional (LRI) imaging core. We propose to establish a Musculoskeletal Histology Core that will provide the specific expertise required for handling musculoskeletal tissues as well as improved access of the Research Base to routine and specialized stains, immunohistochemistry, undecalcified tissue analysis and in situ hybridization. The core will provide complete service for routine histological services and automated immunohistochemistry as well as investigator training and participation in specialized methods such as in situ hybridization. The proposed core leverages the existing institutional core service's expertise in routine histology of soft tissue and provides special expertise in musculoskeletal tissue to the Research Base. The availability of musculoskeletal histology further enhances the ability of the Research Base to exploit the resources available through the Imaging Core and could provide morphological correlates of studies undertaken in the Robotics and Mechanical Testing Core.