Brain Tissue Biobank

Name of biobank:

Brain tissue biobank

General Information:

Formally, this is a recently initiated multicenter study for biobanking of neurosurgical samples in Stockholm and Uppsala. The content of the bank will mostly be material from glial, embryonal, and meningeal tumors as these are the most common tumors, but at the same time the biobank will be comprehensive and include all types of neurosurgical samples. A research program is coupled to the biobank. Research ethical permission for the biobank and research project ("Biobank for cell- och molecular biological as well as functional studies of human brain tumors") has been obtained in the summer of 2003, as a Stockhom-Uppsala multicenter study. Focus is on protein analysis. A policy document on how to submit and withdraw material to and from the biobank, respectively, has been signed by collaborating partners in Stockholm.

Responsible organisation:

Karolinska Institutet. Contact person at Uppsala University is Christer Sundström.

Responsible principle scientist:

Monica Nistér

Rules for acess:

Application to principal scientist. A committee of persons involved in collecting the samples decides access.

Biobank content:

The formal biobank has just recently been started. However, brain tumor material from adults and children has been collected for several years in Uppsala. The neuropathology department inUppsala has the tradition to obtain all neurosurgical material fresh from the neurosurgical ward. Fresh material from around 150 adult tumors and 50 childhood tumors has been collected separately, DNA has been prepared from these cases and in a subfraction, pairedDNA from blood is available. Recently, research ethical permission has been obtained separately for an Uppsala-Stockholm multicenter biobank and research project that includes childhood tumors. Dr. Susan Pfeiffer, Uppsala University, is the principal investigator in this study and Monica Nistér is a collaborator in Stockholm.

Attached database:

No

Up to five selected publications:

The previously collected brain tumor material has been used to address questions regarding tumor and molecular biology of human brain tumors as illustrated by five selected publications:

• Hermanson, M., Funa, K., Koopmann, J., Maintz, D., Waha, A., Westermark, B., Heldin, C.-H., Wiestler, O. D., Louis, D. N., von Deimling, A., and Nistér, M.
  (1996) Association of loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 17p with high platelet-derived growth factor a-receptor expression in human malignant gliomas.
  Cancer Research 56, 164-171.
   
• Smits, A., van Grieken, D., Hartman, M., Lendahl, U., Funa, K., and Nistér, M.
  (1996) Coexpression of platelet-derived growth factor a and b receptors on medulloblastomas and other primitive neuroectodermal tumors is consistent with an immature stem cell and neuronal derivation.
  Laboratory Investigation 74, 188-198.
   
• Vorechovsky, I., Tingby, O., Hartman, M., Strömberg, B., Nistér, M., Collins, V. P. and Toftgård, R.
  (1997) Somatic mutations in the human homologue of Drosophila patched in primitive neuroectodermal tumours.
  Oncogene 15, 361-366.
   
• Hesselager, G., Ren, Z. P., Saft, L., Hägerstrand, D., Wester, K., Östman, A., and Nistér, M.
  Different glioblastoma multiforme subgroups exist with regards to EGFR and PDGFRa activation.
  Submitted.
   
• De Bustos, C., Smits, A., Strömberg, B., Collins, V. P., Nistér, M., and Afink, G.
  A PDGFRA promoter polymorphism, which disrupts the binding of ZBP-89, is associated with primitive neuroectodermal tumors and ependymomas.
  Manuscript in preparation.
   

Role in The National Biobanking Programme:

The contribution to the national biobank program is to optimize handling of brain tissue samples with special focus on the intactness of proteins, to provide guidelines for extraction of proteins from tissue samples and to suggest procedures of quality assessment. The following attached documents show the current status of the work:

• "Brain Tumor Sample Handling for Histopathological Diagnosis, Biobanking and Proteomics"
   
• "Protein Extraction From Frozen Brain Samples"
   
• "Protein Extract Quality Assessment"

In order to provide standard conditions for a long series of experiments and to quickly obtain a bulk of methodological information, part of the experiments that form the basis for these preliminary guidelines have been performed on mouse brain tissue.

We now concentrate on prospective sampling of human brain tumor material under well-controlled conditions, following these guidelines. Thereby we will increase the number of common and rare brain tumor types – optimally handled and with paired blood samples. The main research focus is proteomic analysis; especially of activated cell surface receptors and signal transduction proteins in tumor tissue. The sampling will be done in a way that allows for comparison with non-tumorous brain tissue.

The protocol for protein extraction has been adopted by the Uhlén/Pontén group to be used in their KAW-supported Proteome Resource Project.