Lung Tissue Biorepository
“We must break the walls that keep translational researchers working in silos and understand that sharing our resources is the only way forward to fight lung diseases” – Harry Karmouty-Quintana, PhD PCOE Director
The lung tissue biorepository was initiated in 2011, and since then, it has grown to contain over 1000 unique lung specimens.
These specimens include explanted lung tissue samples from patients receiving a lung transplant for end-stage pulmonary diseases including;
- emphysema
- pulmonary hypertension
- lung fibrosis
Additional specimens, which serve as controls, are age-sex-ethnicity matched donor lung tissue discarded for lung transplantation.
These samples are flash frozen and pulverized using state-of-the-art cryogenic milling technologies for next-generation sequencing studies or formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded (FFPE) for advanced microscopy studies including RNAScope applications.
The biorepository also houses primary cells isolated from control or diseased lungs including:
- lung epithelial cells
- endothelial cells
- fibroblasts
- vascular smooth muscle cells
- single cell lung suspensions
These cells are pivotal for mechanistic studies and for single-cell RNA transcriptomics.
The impact of this Lung Tissue Biorepository has been substantial. Not only has it helped investigators at UTHealth Houston discover new disease targets and validate transformative hypothesis; but through the extensive collaborative agreements with National and International groups the lung tissue biorepository has helped investigators across the globe validate their mechanistic hypotheses.