Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

An Australian Brain Bank: a critical investment with a high return!

  • Published:
Cell and Tissue Banking Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research into neuropsychiatric disorders, including alcohol-related problems, is limited in part by the lack of appropriate animal models. However, the development of new technologies in pathology and molecular biology means that many more questions can be addressed using appropriately stored human brain tissues. The New South Wales Tissue Resource Centre (TRC) in the University of Sydney (Australia) is a human brain bank that can provide tissues to the neuroscience research community studying alcohol-related brain disorders, schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorders. Carefully standardised operational protocols and integrated information systems means that the TRC can provide high quality, accurately characterised, tissues for research. A recent initiative, the pre-mortem donor program called “Using our Brains”, encourages individuals without neuropsychiatric illness to register as control donors, a critical group for all research. Community support for this program is strong with over 2,000 people registering their interest. Discussed herein are the protocols pertaining to this multifaceted facility and the benefits of investment, both scientific and financial, to neuroscience researchers and the community at large.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

TRC:

New South Wales Tissue Resource Centre

DOFM:

Department of Forensic Medicine

NOK:

Next-of-Kin

UoB:

Using our Brains Donor Program

DIBS:

Diagnostic Instrument for Brain Studies

DIP:

Diagnostic Instrument for Psychosis

RBANS:

Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status

WKS:

Wernicke-Korsakoff’s Syndrome

References

  • Albrechtsen R (1977) The pathogenesis of acute selective necrosis of the granular layer of the human cerebellar cortex. Acta Neuropathol 37(1):31–34. doi:10.1007/BF00684537

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC

  • Burton JL, Underwood JC (2003) Necropsy practice after the “organ retention scandal”: requests, performance, and tissue retention. J Clin Pathol 56(7):537–541. doi:10.1136/jcp. 56.7.537

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrer I, Santpere G, Arzberger T, Bell J, Blanco R, Boluda S et al (2007) Brain protein preservation largely depends on the postmortem storage temperature: implications for study of proteins in human neurologic diseases and management of brain banks: a BrainNet Europe Study. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 66(1):35–46

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flatscher-Bader T, Landis N, van der Brug M, Wilce PA (2006) Comparative gene expression in brain regions of human alcoholics. Genes Brain Behav 5(Suppl 1):78–84. doi:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2006.00197.x

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garrick T, Howell S, Terwee P, Redenbach J, Blake H, Harper C (2006) Brain donation for research: who donates and why? J Clin Neurosci 13(5):524–528. doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2005.06.014

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gottweis H, Zatloukal K (2007) Biobank governance: trends and perspectives. Pathobiology 74(4):206–211. doi:10.1159/000104446

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Green A, Garrick T, Sheedy D, Blake H, Shores A, Harper C (2008) Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS): Preliminary Australian normative data. Aust J Psychol. doi:10.1080/00049530701656257

    Google Scholar 

  • Guerrini I, Thomson AD, Cook CC, McQuillin A, Sharma V, Kopelman M, Reynolds G, Jauhar P, Harper C, Gurling HM (2005) Direct genomic PCR sequencing of the high affinity thiamine transporter (SLC19A2) gene identifies three genetic variants in Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome (WKS). Am J Med Genet B, Neuropsychiatr Genet 137(1):17–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper CG, Giles M, Finlay-Jones R (1986) Clinical signs in the Wernicke-Korsakoff complex: a retrospective analysis of 131 cases diagnosed at necropsy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 49:341–345

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harper C, Kril J, Daly J (1988a) Does a “moderate” alcohol intake damage the brain? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 51(7):909–913

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harper CG, Kril JJ, Daly JM (1988b) Brain shrinkage in alcoholics is not caused by changes in hydration: a pathological study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 51:124–127

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison PJ, Heath PR, Eastwood SL, Burnet PW, McDonald B, Pearson RC (1995) The relative importance of premortem acidosis and postmortem interval for human brain gene expression studies: selective mRNA vulnerability and comparison with their encoded proteins. Neurosci Lett 200(3):151–154. doi:10.1016/0304-3940(95)12102-A

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Howard CV, Reed MG (2005) Unbiased stereology: three-dimensional measurement in microscopy. Bios Scientific, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeganathan VS, Walker SR, Lawrence C (2006) Resuscitating the autopsy in Australian hospitals. ANZ J Surg 76(4):205–207. doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.2006.03703.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaila K, Ransom B (1998) pH and brain function, 1st edn. John Wiley and Sons, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Keks NA, Hill C, Opeskin K, Copolov DL, Dean B (1999) Psychiatric diagnosis after death: the problems of accurate diagnosis from case history review and relative interviews. In: Dean B, Kleinmann JE, Hyde TM (eds) Using CNS tissue in psychiatric research. Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingsbury AE, Foster OJ, Nisbet AP, Cairns N, Bray L, Eve DJ et al (1995) Tissue pH as an indicator of mRNA preservation in human post-mortem brain. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 28(2):311–318. doi:10.1016/0169-328X(94)00219-5

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nemetz PN, Tanglos E, Sands LP, Fisher WP Jr, Newman WP III, Burton EC (2006) Attitudes toward the autopsy – an 8-state survey. MedGenMed 8(3):80

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ogata J, Yutani C, Imakita M, Ueda H, Waki R, Ogawa M et al (1986) Autolysis of the granular layer of the cerebellar cortex in brain death. Acta Neuropathol 70(1):75–78. doi:10.1007/BF00689517

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okvist A, Johansson S, Kuzmin A, Bazov I, Merino-Martinez R, Ponomarev I et al (2007) Neuroadaptations in human chronic alcoholics: dysregulation of the NF-kappaB system. PLoS ONE 2(9):e930. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000930

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Randolph C (1998) Repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status manual. The Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, TX

    Google Scholar 

  • Riegman PH, Dinjens WN, Oosterhuis JW (2007) Biobanking for interdisciplinary clinical research. Pathobiology 74(4):239–244. doi:10.1159/000104451

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarris M, Garrick TM, Sheedy D, Harper CG (2002) Banking for the future: an Australian experience in brain banking. Pathology 34(3):225–229. doi:10.1080/00313020220131260

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt A, Bauer M, Heinsen H, Feiden W, Falkai P, Alafuzoff I et al (2007) How a neuropsychiatric brain bank should be run: a consensus paper of Brainnet Europe II. J Neural Transm 114(5):527–537. doi:10.1007/s00702-006-0601-8

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sinard JH (2001) Factors affecting autopsy rates, autopsy request rates, and autopsy findings at a large academic medical center. Exp Mol Pathol 70(3):333–343. doi:10.1006/exmp.2001.2371

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stan AD, Ghose S, Gao XM, Roberts RC, Lewis-Amezcua K, Hatanpaa KJ et al (2006) Human postmortem tissue: what quality markers matter? Brain Res 1123(1):1–11. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.09.025

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sundqvist N, Garrick T, Bishop I, Harper C (2008) Reliability of post-mortem psychiatric diagnosis for neuroscience research. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 42(3):221–227. doi:10.1080/00048670701827242

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson AD, Cook CC, Guerrini I, Sheedy D, Harper C, Marshall EJ (2008) Wernicke’s encephalopathy: ‘Plus ça change, plus c’est la mème chose’. Alcohol Alcohol 43(2):180–186

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ward HE, Clarke BE, Zimmerman PV, Cleary MI (2001) The decline in hospital autopsy rates in 2001. Med J Aust 176(2):91

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster MJ (2006) Tissue preparation and banking. Prog Brain Res 158:3–14. doi:10.1016/S0079-6123(06)58001-X

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weis S, Llenos IC, Dulay JR, Elashoff M, Martinez-Murillo F, Miller CL (2007) Quality control for microarray analysis of human brain samples: the impact of postmortem factors, RNA characteristics, and histopathology. J Neurosci Methods 165(2):198–209. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2007.06.001

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

On behalf of the current members of the TRC we would like to acknowledge the efforts of previous staff, DOFM staff and the kind support of the donor families. The NSW TRC is supported by The University of Sydney, Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI), National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA—grant no: R01AAA01272508), Sydney South Western Area Health Service (SSWAHS), National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Pathology, University of Sydney, Blackburn Building, D06, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    D. Sheedy, T. Garrick, I. Dedova, C. Hunt, R. Miller & C. Harper

  2. Schizophrenia Research Institute of Australia, 384 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    T. Garrick, I. Dedova & N. Sundqvist

  3. Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    C. Harper

Authors
  1. D. Sheedy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. Garrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I. Dedova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. Hunt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. Miller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. N. Sundqvist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. C. Harper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. Sheedy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sheedy, D., Garrick, T., Dedova, I. et al. An Australian Brain Bank: a critical investment with a high return!. Cell Tissue Banking 9, 205–216 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-008-9076-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-008-9076-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation