Quality Biospecimens
Mayo Clinic core laboratory facilities provide high-volume, high-quality tissue and biospecimen preparation and processing in support of Mayo research. Mayo Validation Support Services utilizes these resources to deliver extensive validation capabilities specific to individualized Sponsor requirements. Medical scientific expertise at Mayo Clinic allows for unique collaborations combining quality biospecimens linked to comprehensive clinical outcomes.
Biospecimens can be accessed via archives or prospectively collected via individualized standard operating procedures. Patient information for all biospecimens is protected through oversight by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Specimens may be collected and/or processed in a variety of customized formats for individual collaborations. Typical formats include:
Specimen Processing
- Tissue RNA/DNA extraction capabilities
- Paraffin and frozen sectioning
- Immunostaining
- Digital imaging
- Laser capture microdissection
- Tissue microarray construction
- Preparation of protocol-collected tissue (FFPE, OCT, Snap-frozen, PBS)
Blood
- Circulating tumor cells
- Serum
- Plasma
- PBMC
- Whole blood for FACS analysis
- Blood smears
Other
- Induced sputum
- Saliva
- Buccal swabs
- Lip biopsies
- Colonoscopy biopsies
- Synovium
- Stool
- Urine
Biospecimens located within archives are well-characterized and associated with phenotypic information. In addition:
- Soft tissue specimens are spot-diagnosed at the time of surgery by a pathologist, ensuring proper disease and normal tissue properties
- Specimens are electronically accessioned and tracked in a fully-validated system
- Frozen specimens are stored at -70ºC in a monitored system with alarm response
Archive Volumes
Multiple types and formats of biospecimens are available for customized validation purposes.- Mayo Clinic biospecimen resources include approximately 140,000 tissue samples from over 63,000 cases--dating back to 1910
- Paraffin blocks: 180,000 per year; over 2 million archived blocks spanning over 20 years
- Frozen samples: 100,000 per year
