The Tissue and Cell Analysis (TCA) Core of The University of Chicago DDRCC provides services vital to the study of intestinal disease, particularly immune-mediated, infectious, neoplastic and inflammatory bowel diseases, in human and animal tissues. In simplest terms, the core components can be broken into seven major areas: (1) anatomic pathology review and consultation; (2) processing of formalin-fixed paraffinembedded mouse tissues; (3) access to human tissues and tissue arrays from the paraffin-embedded tissue archives of the University of Chicago Department of Pathology; (4) high quality banking of snap-frozen tissues from surgical specimens; (5) training and use of laser capture micro-dissection microscopes and cryostats; (6) training and use of the ACIS II automated cellular imaging system; and (7) training and use of 2 photon, confocal, and widefield fluorescence microscopes as well as brightfield photomicroscopes. The TCA Core was created through a 2007 reorganization of the Molecular and Experimental Pathology (MEP) Core in an effort to better meet the needs of the DDRCC membership by integrating tissue processing, imaging, and analysis. This was stimulated by a survey of DDRCC membership, evaluation of core service use, and recognition that several key recommendations made by the reviewers in the 2005 review of this core (as part of the DDRCC renewal) were precisely correct. As was true of the previous MEP Core, the TCA Core has partnered with existing resources to generate significant cost-savings to both the core and the DDRCC membership. The Administrative Director of the Molecular Experimental Pathology Core, Dr. Jerrold Turner M.D., Ph.D., oversees the operations of all components and is directly involved in all human tissue-related operations, provides anatomic pathology review and consultation services, and supervises human and animal tissue immunostaining and tissue array production. The Co-Director of the TCA Core, Dr. Vytautas Bindokas, Ph.D., directs fluorescence microscopy facilities and provides direct assistance and education in image acquisition as well as off-line analysis.
Analysis of human and animal tissues, as well as cultured cells, is required for advanced studies of intestinal disease. The Tissue and Cell Analysis Core provides state-of-the-art imaging resources, a rich library of archival human clinical specimens, essential standard services, and expert consultation to support DDRCC investigators.
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