Biospecimen Repository

team members working together in the lab

The Veterinary Biospecimen Repository is a collection of tumor and normal tissue samples, stored under controlled conditions for future use by multiple investigators. Following established collection guidelines for sample collection and processing, tissues are collected and archived only after receiving consent from the owners. 

Our repository has been providing samples to researchers at The Ohio State University, Nationwide Children's Hospital, and other universities and research institutes, resulting in the identification of new targets for therapy in osteosarcoma, melanoma, lymphoma, and pulmonary carcinoma common to both humans and canines. As a result, these efforts have generated several new research opportunities that will benefit human and animal patients.  

 

The Veterinary Biospecimen Repository represents a remarkable resource that continues to assist investigators as they strive to develop new prevention and treatment strategies for both animals and people with a variety of illnesses. 

Benefits

The benefits of using the Biospecimen Repository include:

  • Collection, annotation, storage and dissemination of high-quality biological material for research.
  • Many companion animal diseases are similar in biology and behavior to human diseases, making them an excellent research model for human disease.
  • Dogs and cats are exposed to the same environmental risk factors as humans, so studying their cancers may provide clues about what causes cancer in people.
  • Specimens can be used by clinicians, molecular biologists, geneticists, and epidemiologists to conduct research that will improve the lives of both animals and humans.
lab technician examining samples

Collection and Processing

All samples are collected from client owned animals after obtaining informed consent from owners. Urine and blood are collected prior to surgery or euthanasia. Tissue samples are collected from tissue that is removed during surgery or immediately following euthanasia. All samples are processed immediatey following collection.

 Body fluids are frozen in cryovials at -80oC and stored in vapor phase liquid nitrogen as:

  • Whole Blood: 0.5-1.0ml aliquots
  • Serum: 0.5ml aliquots
  • Plasma: 0.5ml aliquots
  • Urine: 0.5ml aliquots

Tumor and normal tissue are processed and stored as:

  • Flash frozen aliquots stored in vapor phase liquid nitrogen (100-200 mg)
  • Optimal cutting temperature compound (OCT) frozen blocks containing 1-4 small (<100mg) samples stored at -80oC 
  • Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks containing sections that are repesentative of the frozen samples. These blocks are stored in files at room temperature.

Contact Information

Location

Room 0117

Veterinary Medical Center
601 Vernon L. Tharp Street
Columbus, OH 43210
 

Biospecimen Repository Coordinator

Holly Borghese, DVM

CVM Clinical Research Coordinator
Phone: 614-292-7954

Fax: 614-247-8428
borghese.19@osu.edu

Publications

The following is a list of publications made possible thanks to sample collections through the Biospecimen Repository.

  1. Characterization of STAT3 activation and expression in canine and human osteosarcoma.
  2. Oncostatin M promotes STAT3 activation, VEGF production, and invasion in osteosarcoma cell lines.
  3. Overexpression of miR-9 in mast cells is associated with invasive behavior and spontaneous metastasis.
  4. MiR-9 is overexpressed in spontaneous canine osteosarcoma and promotes a metastatic phenotype including invasion and migration in osteoblasts and osteosarcoma cell lines
  5. Abstract 540. Characterization of miR-9 expression and activation in canine osteosarcoma
  6. Abstract 4825: Common genetic pathways are involved in canine diffuse large B cell lymphoma relapse and human diffuse large B cell lymphoma lympomagenesis
  7. Abstract 1143: Deep sequencing of microRNAs in canine diffuse large B-dell lymphoma
  8. Met interacts with EGFR and Ron in canine osteosarcoma
  9. Evaluation of expression and function of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, platelet derived growth factor receptors-alpha and -beta, KIT, and RET in canine apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinoma and thyroid carcinoma
  10. Characterization of canine osteosarcoma by array comparative genomic hybridization and RT-qPCR: signatures of genomic imbalance in canine osteosarcoma parallel the human counterpart.
  11. Genome-wide analyses implicate 33 loci in heritable dog osteosarcoma, including regulatory variants near CDKN2A/B
  12. Genome-Wide Association Study of Golden Retrievers Identifies Germ-Line Risk Factors Predisposing to Mast Cell Tumours
  13. Canine prostate cancer cell line (Probasco) produces osteoblastic metastases in vivo.
  14. Animal Models of Bone Metastasis.
  15. Abstract 184: Breed Associated miRNA Expression in Canine Osteosarcoma
  16. Markers of iron metabolism in retired racing Greyhounds with and without osteosarcoma.
  17. Feline Mammary Cancer
  18. Canine pulmonary adenocarcinoma tyrosine kinase receptor expression and phosphorylation
  19. A clinically relevant mouse model of canine osteosarcoma with spontaneous metastasis
  20. miR-29 acts as a decoy in sarcomas to protect the tumor suppressor A20 mRNA from degradation by HuR