Tissue Collections and Processing Core

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Tissue Collections and Processing Core (TCPC) is led by Manish Patankar, PhD, of our Division of Reproductive Sciences. 

The TCPC provides researchers in the fields of gynecology, obstetrics, and neonatology with high-quality human biospecimens for translational and clinical research. Through an IRB-approved tissue bank, we have a growing portfolio of banked specimens and associated clinical datasets. Our fee-for-service lab is available to all researchers to acquire and process biospecimens, provide histology and serum assay services. Our facility, located at UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital, has a repository available for long-term storage of biospecimens.  

We work closely with the Department of Ob-Gyn Human Subjects Core and offer a full spectrum of services, including IRB protocol development, patient recruitment and consenting, biospecimen collections and processing, storage and shipment of biospecimen, and clinical data abstraction.  

Examples of biospecimens collected, processed, and banked by TCPC include umbilical cord tissue and blood, maternal blood, placenta, ovaries, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and follicular fluid. Paired clinical data are available through a REDCap database. 

Our services are available for all researchers irrespective of their UW-Madison affiliation. We also collaborate with industry partners. For questions and inquiries, please contact us at obgyn_tcpc_obgyn@wisc.edu. 

Facilities and Resources

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Our staff are experienced in several forms of quantitative assays including the use of our Multiplex setup, a Luminex 200 System (Millipore Sigma, Cat No. 40-012). Multiplex assays are used to analyze several analytes at once in the same sample well which saves time, reagents, and sample.  Depending on the kit, serum, plasma, cell culture supernatants, tissue homogenates, and urine can be analyzed. For example, our system runs both magnetic and non-magnetic bead assays holding up to 100 analytes per well of a 96- well plate in as little as 25 µL of sample.

Our main supplier, Millipore Sigma, currently offers 42 verified preassembled human assay kits, with 80 different analytes.  

They also offer kits for non-human primates (8), rats (15), mice (17), feline (3), canine (3), equine (1), ovine (2), pig (3), and chicken (3). Kits may also be purchased from other vendors such as BioRad, Thermofisher, R&D Systems, and many others. If you need assistance identifying the right kit for your samples, please reach out to Surena Becraft, Lab Manager, at sbecraft@wisc.edu.  

The Biobank is a 24-hr monitored liquid nitrogen storage and multiple -80 C freezers to ensure the retainment of the highest quality samples. 

Per kit or per sample (each kit measures 30 samples). Labs may purchase their own kit and may choose to set up the kit themselves. Pricing will depend on our level of involvement, with the minimum being 1 hour of technical time to set up, to read, and to download data, plus reagents to run the assay. Prices of kits vary by number of analytes.

Services, Price Lists, and Collaborations

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You will find our prices for collection and processing are quite affordable. Full lists are available here. 

The TCPC Lab works in close collaboration with the UW Biotech Center for the handling of services outside of our capability, including multiple forms of Omics analysis. Together, with our dedicated collection and storage facilities, we can maintain an operational timeline that ensures the highest quality samples and analysis.