Our TSC Biosample Repository now has 203 blood samples from individuals with TSC (and some parents of children with TSC who do not have TSC themselves). These samples are linked to detailed clinical data in the TSC Natural History Database. High-quality biosamples and their associated clinical data will enable researchers to discover biomarkers, establish human cell lines or tissue arrays for drug testing, and search for clues to understand why TSC is so different from person to person.
We expect to collect brain tissue from epilepsy surgeries (frozen or fixed, paraffin-embedded) by the end of 2017. Future samples may also include kidney, pancreas, skin, lung, and cell lines derived from fresh TSC tissue samples. The Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan processes, stores, and delivers TSC Biosample Repository samples on behalf of the TSC Alliance.
If you are interested in using our samples for research, please contact Jo Anne Nakagawa. All biosample requests will be reviewed by the Biosample Use Committee, a group of external experts on TSC.