Contact: Deb Magnuson

The histology area provides resources for sectioning and staining tissue for research. The core facility is equipped with Leica microtomes for paraffin block sectioning as well as a Leitz cryostat for frozen tissue sectioning. Experienced technical staff is available to assist in all aspects of sectioning and staining of the material.

Tissue Repository
This area also serves as a centralized bank for brain and surgical tissue specimens intended solely for research purposes, providing access to the materials necessary for many of the molecular investigations that are carried out in the other laboratories of the Molecular Core Facility. For this purpose, ultralow temperature freezers and liquid nitrogen storage are housed in this laboratory.

Laser Capture Microdissection
The laser capture micro-dissection (LCM) system from Arcturus represents another innovative breakthrough in molecular biology. The PixCell II system allows investigators to precisely select single cells and nests of cells for molecular analysis. Cells can be extracted from tissues that are prepared in a number of ways, including frozen sections and paraffin-embedded tissues. From this, one can analyze the DNA, RNA, and proteins via different techniques including differential gene profiling (using differential display and cDNA microarray technology), analysis of the loss of heterozygosity, microsatellite instability, gene quantification, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and Western blots. In addition to basic science applications, a long-term goal is to incorporate the use of LCM into the clinical practice of pathology.