Tissue Microarrays

Elizabeth Brese
TMA Laboratory Pathology Core Facility Basic Science Building Rm S616 Email: Elizabeth.Brese@roswellpark.org Tel: (716) 845-4420

Listing of available TMAs

Traditionally, individual slides from different patients have been and still are used as markers for research. Having one slide with many small specimens representing a multitude of patients is much more efficient. A tissue microarray (TMA) is a way to achieve this. TMAs can be a very efficient and effective way to screen for potential biomarkers using various instruments which include but not limited to immunohistochemistry,  FISH, RNA in situ hybridization etc.

Many blocks can be selected to create one TMA. Various histological types of diseases can be represented on a single TMA or alternatively a TMA can be created using all of the same histological disease.
	Cores of the specimens are taken from each paraffin donor block and are then inserted into the recipient TMA block. The cores can be of various predetermined diameters. Typically we use 0.6, 1 and 2mm diameter cores. These are arranged using a specific ‘map’ to create the layout of the TMA.
Once fully created, the TMA can be sectioned and stained. Many sections can be cut from a single TMA block for research initiatives. The stained slides can also be scanned for image analysis.