The Translational Pathology Shared Resource (TPSR) is requesting funds for a high throughput automated tissue microarray system, the TMA Grandmaster-Panoramic 250 system (TMAG/P250). This system is designed for outstanding productivity partnered with the highest possible precision in array preparation. In addition to automation of labor intensive tissue microarray (TMA) preparation and improved standardization, there are other major benefits to the TMAG/P250 integration. The P250 produces a digital image of an H&E stained section of the donor block that is imported into the TMAG and co-registered with an image of the donor block. This effectively consolidates tissue core selection and donor block annotation into one step which equates to significant time savings and more importantly increased accuracy in core selection. Using Case Center software, the digital slide images can be viewed and annotated for tissue core collection from any internet access point which makes collaboration opportunities virtually infinite. Post-processing, the metadata from the TMAG can be exported for a continuous dataflow, which eliminates date entry errors and facilitates rapid image analysis. There is no other comparable high throughput system available for Vanderbilt investigators. TMAs represent a powerful tool for analyzing large patient cohorts for target proteins while minimizing the consumption of valuable tissue. Hundreds of tissue samples on one slide can be tested under uniform experimental conditions preventing interassay variability. Considerable success in the fields of proteomics, genomics, and mass spectrometry depends on validation in tissue based assays and has resulted in increased demand for TMAs. TMAs for melanoma, colorectal, pancreatic, hepatocellular, thyroid, breast, prostate, head and neck, and lung cancers have been constructed in the TPSR using a manual Beecher arrayer. Manual TMA construction and analysis is tedious and time consuming and has limited their use. The major users in this application are highly successful NIH-funded scientists that have previous experience with TMAs, currently utilize TMAs, or have planned projects that require TMA preparation. These users represent a cross section of Vanderbilt investigators engaged in clinical and basic research with diverse interests including melanoma, lung cancer, renal disease, infectious disease, prostate cancer, and gastroenterology. The TMAG/P250 system will accelerate their rate of discovery by providing a platform for high through-put screening of novel biomarkers on large sample groups. .
