UTMB Department of Pathology

Facility Description

The Research Histopathology Core (RHC) is a centralized core facility funded by The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) in 2001. This core facility provides Analytical Morphology related services to the research teams at UTMB to facilitate their advancement in basic science and clinical research.

Analytical Morphology is a contemporary science dealing with the analysis of shape, size and color arrangement of cell and tissue components by means of a variety of analytical maneuvers. It differs from conventional morphology and histopathology in that it employs methods beyond routine hematoxylin and eosin or histochemical staining. To a great extent, the advancement of analytical morphology is based on new advances in other disciplines, such as immunology, molecular biology, laser technology, microwave technology and computer science. Using these new methods, particular cellular components that would otherwise remain invisible, such as peptides, or nucleotide sequences, are highlighted by visible markers through chemical, physical, immunological or molecular biological reactions. These methods include immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, in situ PCR, antigen retrieval, image analysis, confocal microscopy, and the like.

This core facility is equipped with the latest available instrumentation and operated by highly skilled personnel. You can expect qualified assistance with antibody searching, experiment design, tissue preparation, data acquisition, digital photographing, and paper preparation.

RHC can perform theses services or develop special protocols to fit your needs. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate on projects or apply jointly for new grants . If you want your histopathological research to be done in an efficient, economic way with high quality and short turn around time, please contact RHC.

One of the latest additions to the RHC is the Automated Comet System. The Automated Comet system is a state-of-the-art robotic system optimized for automatic detection and measurement of cells using application specific, computer-based, imaging-processing algorithms. The Comet Assay is a sensitive method to measure DNA damage in single cells at the strand break level, and virtually any eukaryotic cell can be used for analysis. The Comet Assay has been widely used in in vivo/in vitro, aging, radiation effects, drug treatment, antioxidants, biomonitoring and envirogenomics studies – aquatic biology (fish, oyster, shrimp), etc. The system is currently located at 2.102 Ewing Hall on the UTMB campus.

The remarkable feature of the System is that hundreds and thousands of nuclei can be analyzed in a matter of hours. Cell spread and slide quality are very important to assure good quality data. The system is manufactured by MD Biotech - TriTek Co.

The versatility of the system allows the use of generic microscope slides, two-well slides or three-well slides that can be made in the researcher's lab or through the purchase of commercially-available slides (through Trevigen).

For information about the Automated Comet System or to request service, please contact: James J. Salazar, PhD at jjsalaza@utmb.edu or (409) 772-9110 or (409) 772-1803.

Services

Tissue Processing:

1. Paraffin Embedding
2. Frozen Embedding
3. Resin Embedding (pending)

Tissue Sectioning:

1. Paraffin Section
2. Frozen Section

Staining:

1. H&E
2. Special Staining

Immunohistochemistry:

1. Immunoenzymatic Staining (including double or triple staining)
2. Immunofluorescent Staining (including double or triple staining)
3. TUNEL for apoptosis

In Situ Hybridization: (Including Fluorescence ISH)

1. DNA Probes
2. RNA Probes
3. Oligonucleotide Probe
4. ISH + IHC

Cytospin Cell Preparation

Produce monolayer cells on glass slide

Tissue Microarray

Place up to hundreds of tissue on one slide

In Situ PCR & In Situ RT-PCR

Under development