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Liquid nitrogen cryo-freezer unit is used to store patient specimens and the temparature is set at -130 degree (Celsius). At this ultralow temparature, all patient samples can be safely stored for many years as long as we supply the storage unit with fresh liquid nitrogen once per week. The storage unit holds over 12,000 tubes of priceless biomaterials that were derived from donated patient specimens. Each specimen can generate up to 50 vials of biomaterials and all vials must be kept at this low temperature in order to maintain and control the quality. Using high quality biomaterials is the most important requirement for scientific research, especially for biomarker discovery projects that are designed for personalized treatments and translational medicine. These biomaterials are currently used for multiple scientific projects in the laboratory, including lymphoma, melanoma, ovarian cancer and breast cancer. Another freezer unit is for -30 degree (Celsius) storage, and this unit is used for storing general laboratory reagents that need low temperature with minimum fluctuation, even during defrosting period. The unit is a high performance grade that is designed for a laboratory use with a strict temperature control device and an alarm system.

Two dimensional gel device: This apparatus is used to separate proteins from tissue, blood and cells. Tens of thousands of proteins from patient samples are first separated by their size (1st dimension) and then separated again based on their electrical charge ("isoelectric point for 2nd dimension). After the separation, each protein will be visualized as protein "spots" by staining the gel, the medium used for the separation process, with protein dyes. By accomplishing this separation procedure, scientists can analyze protein spots that are different in cancer patient samples when compared to normal control. For example, protein spots that disappeared or newly appeared in cancer samples will be picked and isolated for further studied. Once confirmed and validated by other scientific methods, these abnormally expressed proteins will be designated as potential biomarkers for that specific cancer type. These biomarkers will be extensively studied to generate diagnostic and prognostic assays that can be implicated to personalize cancer treatment options.

Aerosol and temperature controlled centrifuge: When patient samples are processed in the Tissue Bank laboratory, scientists must be protected from the pathogenic particles (i.e. virus and bacteria) that may be present in the samples. This device will eliminate the spill over of any pathogenic agents to outside of the machine during the sample processing due to the aerosol protection design. In addition, all samples must be processed in temperature controlled environment (4 degree Celsius) in order to maintain a high quality status throughout the processing period. This centrifuge allows our scientists to process high quality patient samples without worrying about possible contact with harmful pathogens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an enormously successful golf outing in July 2008, Research for the Cure is proud to announce it has made its first purchase for the Tumor Bank at Hackensack University Medical Center. In conjunction with Dr. Andre Goy, the director of the Tumor Bank, and Dr. Stephen Suh, Research for the Cure has purchased the Chemi Doc imaging system. Central to much of modern life sciences research is the use of electrophoresis gels, which are used to separate complex mixtures of DNA and protein found in the cell. The gels are stained with a number of different chemicals, to reveal various patterns. DNA fingerprinting is one such test using these gels. It shows how one individual is related to another. Once you have the patterns elucidated, you must then document them, and in many cases, analyze them. In this way, researchers can see differences between normal and cancerous cells. How these cells react as the grow, how a drug may change the workings of a cell, and many hundreds of other tests. A sophisticated system is needed to visualize the different types of dyes. In some cases the samples are prepared so that they emit their own faint light, and you need a sensitive camera to pick up these signals. Sophisticated software is then used to quickly give the scientist key information about their experiment. Because of the ubiquitous role these gels play in everyday research, these devices are indispensable. They allow multiple labs to expand the range of experiments, and can lead to boosting the speed of their research. We are sure that the arrival of the Chemi Doc system will be a tremendous asset to the research being done at the Tumor Bank.