The purposes of Biospecimens Accessioning and Processing (BAP) Shared Resource are 1) to provide a central facility to electronically accession biospecimens intended for cancer research, 2) to process the specimens appropriately according to their projected end use, 3) to provide nucleic acid extraction services, and 4) to provide cryopreservation of mononuclear cells and EBV immortalization of B lymphocytes. Specimens accessioned in the shared resource will be linked to the Mayo Life Sciences Warehouse database, so that each specimen will be associated with patient data under Internal Review Board-approved protocols. When appropriate, accessioning also will be linked to the specimen tracking database for storage in a central warehouse freezer. Biospecimens accessioned through this resource include solid tissues as well as whole blood and other bodily fluids. Once accessioned, blood specimens will be processed for nucleic acid extraction, future or immediate EBV immortalization of mononuclear cells, and/or frozen storage as plasma, serum or buffy coats. Other fluids will be aliquoted and stored frozen for future analyses, including proteomics and pharmacokinetics. Fresh solid tissues will be dissected and flash frozen in liquid nitrogen or placed in molds containing freezing medium prior to freezing in a controlled temperature histobath. One of the most valuable contributions of the BAP resource is the specimen annotation that is brought into the Research Biospecimen Database at the time of specimen accessioning. Together, the electronic biospecimen accessioning combined with basic specimen processing, EBV immortalization, and nucleic acid extraction services have created a very powerful, synergistic Shared Resource invaluable for supporting the translational, epidemiologic, and basic research programs for Cancer Center members. Future objectives for this shared resource include 1) developing strategies to routinely collect tissues from all three Mayo sites for future RNA extraction without compromising histology and immunohistochemistry, and 2) expanding to all three Mayo sites the electronic accessioning of specimens into a central Research Biospecimen Database. This collection of biospecimens will allow us to build a unique, valuable resource of highly annotated specimens to support cancer research.
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