“Collection of a lifetime: A practical approach to developing a longitudinal collection of women's healthcare biological samples”

Abstract

Objective The objective is to develop a biorepository of samples that represent all stages of a women’s life. Importantly, our goal is to collect longitudinal physical specimens as well as the associated short and long-term clinical information. Study Design The Women’s Health Tissue Repository was established to encompass four tissue banks: Well Women Tissue Bank, Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Tissue Bank, Maternal Fetal Tissue Bank, and the long-established Gynecologic Malignancies Tissue Bank. Based on their health status, women being seen in Women’s Health at the University of Iowa are recruited to contribute samples and grant access to their electronic medical record to the biorepository. Samples are coded, processed, and stored for use by investigators. Results The Maternal Fetal Tissue Bank was the first expansion of our department’s biobanking efforts. Approximately 75% of the women approached consent to participate in the Maternal Fetal Tissue Bank. Enrollment has steadily increased. Samples have been used for over 20 projects in the first 3 years and are critical to 7 funded grants and 3 patent applications. Conclusion Patient samples with corresponding clinical data are initially important to women’s health research. Our model demonstrates that many research projects by faculty, fellows, and residents have benefited from the existence of the Women’s Health Tissue Repository. While challenging to achieve, longitudinal sampling allows for the greatest opportunity to study normal and pathological changes throughout all phases of a women’s life, including pregnancy. This bank facilitates and accelerates the development of novel research, technologies, and possible therapeutic options in women’s health. The establishment of more longitudinal biorepositories based on our model would enhance women’s health research.

Dopaminergic Toxin 1-Methyl-4-Phenylpyridinium, Proteins α-Synuclein and Glia Maturation Factor Activate Mast Cells and Release Inflammatory Mediators

“…Human umbilical cord blood-derived mast cells (hCBMCs) were grown by culturing human umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells with stem cell factor (SCF, Millipore, Billerica, MA) and IL-6 for 12–14 weeks as we and others have previously reported [ 37 , 38 ]. Human umbilical cord blood (20 ml or more, n = 20) was collected in anti-coagulant citrate phosphate dextrose solution and diluted with DPBS at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA) as approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Iowa (IRB#200910784) [ 39 ]. Non-phagocytic mononuclear cells were separated using sterile Ficoll-Paque solution.…”

Mast Cells Release Chemokine CCL2 in Response to Parkinsonian Toxin 1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-Pyridinium (MPP+)

“…Briefly, human umbilical cord blood (20 ml or more) was collected in anti-coagulant citrate phosphate dextrose solution at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA) as approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Iowa (IRB#200910784) [35]. Hematopoietic stem cells (CD34 + ) were isolated by magnetic-associated cell sorting (MACS) procedure using an AC133 + cell isolation kit.…”

The miR-503 cluster is coordinately under-expressed in endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma and targets many oncogenes, cell cycle genes, DNA repair genes and chemotherapy response genes

“…Tissues were obtained under written informed consent from patients undergoing surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and who were enrolled in the Gynecologic Tissue Bank (Institutional Review Board [IRB]#200209010) that is part of the Women’s Health Tissue Repository (WHTR; IRB#200910784) maintained in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. 11 In addition to the archived tissue samples, the WHTR provides complete clinical information and outcomes for each patient ( Table 1 ).…”