The Tissue Core (TC) assists with investigator-initiated protocols and Moffitt Cancer Center’s implementation of the Total Cancer Care® general banking protocol by ensuring proper sample collection, processing, annotation, and storage and to provide quality samples to members with approved studies.
TC has established a state-of-science biorepository resource to facilitate access and use of biospecimens to support basic science and translational and clinical research.
The Cancer Center has two automated storage systems:
- ThermoScientific Biobank Automated Freezer Storage System provides -80° sample storage and rapid retrieval. The system has a capacity of nearly 112,000 tubes.
- Nexus Universal Biostore (NEXUS), with a storage capacity of over 2.5 million tubes stored at a constant -80°C, the Nexus Universal Biostore automated freezer system provides long-term storage of TCC® general banking and investigator-driven collected biospecimens.
Major Equipment includes:
- TC-Solid Tissue: Qiagen Universal automated samples processing platform, Qiagen QIAcube, Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer, Nanodrop spectrophotometer, Cellometer Automated Cell Counter, Qiagen Autopure DNA extraction system.
- TC- Research Histology Services: Leica AutoStainer XL automatic stainer, Leica CM1850 cryostat, Leica ASP300 tissue processor, Ventana Discovery Automated Stainer, Beecher Instruments Tissue Microarray Manual Arrayer.
- Storage: Tissue Core has two automated ultra-low temperature freezer system for long-term archival storage of human biospecimens (ThermoScientific Biobank Automated Freezer Storage System and Nexus Universal Biostore).
Services include:
- TC- Intake/Acquisition: Collection, initial annotation, and de-identification of biospecimens for investigator-driven and general banking protocols.
- TC-Sample Processing Lab: Biospecimen processing services ranging from processing of blood to extraction of nucleic acids.
- TC-Research Histology Services: Basic histology services, research-focused immunohistochemistry, and construction of tissue microarrays.
- TC-Lifetime Cancer Screening (LCS): Operating as a TC satellite facility at the LCS Center, less than 1 mile from the on-campus TC. This section provides sample acquisition, annotation, processing, and temporary storage of biospecimens collected at LCS.