Tissue Micro Array (TMA)
The pathology core can construct custom TMA's for researchers who have large collections of their tissue of interest and would like to be able to perform "high-throughput" analysis.
Why Work With Small Samples?
- Preserve valuable tissue
- Increased efficiency
- Cost Savings for expensive reagents
- Less antibody
- "High throughput"
- Large populations = interesting questions
Why Do I Need a TMA?
- Basic research
- Validate and verify gene expression data
- Translational research
- Diagnostic markers
- Prognostic markers
- Theraputic markers
- Response to therapy
- Query signaling pathways
- Drug discovery
- Tissue is a valuable resource
What Do I Need to Make a TMA?
- Source tissue
- Animal tissue from experimental models
- Clinical archival tissue
- Prospectively acquired clinical tissue
- Associated data
- Pathologist
- Confirm diagnosis
- Select representative areas for sampling
- TMA cores are representative
- 20 studies to date on a variety of tumors have shown strong correspondence in IHC results on TMAs when compared to "large" sections (n=3-4 cores)
- TMA cores are representative
- Validate the constructed array
- Score the array
- Antibody or in situ probe to query array
- Phosphorylation state specific antibodies
- Signaling pathways
- Data management and analysis tools
- Willingness to have many collaborators
TMA data analysis
- IHC scoring
- 0 negative
- 1 indeterminate
- 2 weakly positive
- 3 strongly positive
- Scores for each individual core in TMA are collected for every stain performed
- Large data sets
- Expression data can be analyzed by bioinformatic methods developed for cDNA microarrays
- Quantitative scoring (pixel counts/percent area stained) can also be performed as well
Arrays Previously Constructed:
| Array Description | Primary Investigator | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| Neurodegenerative Disease | Mark Forman | UPENN |
| Head and Neck Tumor | Duane Sewell | UPENN |
| Mouse Neuroblastoma | Michael Hogarty | CHOP |
| Developmental Mouse | Jeff Golden | CHOP |
| Lung Tumor | Steve Albelda | UPENN |
| Bone Marrow | John Choi | CHOP |
| Glioblastoma | Syd Evans | UPENN |
| Hu Neuroblastoma | John Maris | CHOP |
| Hu Neuroblastoma | Novartis | Novartis |
| Developmental Lung | Portia Kreiger | CHOP |
| Rhabdomyocarcoma | Diana Corao | CHOP/Dupont |
| Bone Fracture | Theresa Freeman | TJU |
| Upper Urinary Tract Cancer | Tina Edmonston | TJU |
| Glioma Array | Eric Jackson | UPENN |
| Hu Neuroblastoma Met. | John Maris | CHOP |
| Breast Cancer Array | Juan Pallazzo | TJU |