Canadian lung tissue biobank with associated clinical data supporting respiratory research for four decades

Abstract

RATIONALE: The James Hogg Lung Registry (JHLR) was established in 1977 to enable respiratory disease research through the biobanking of human lung tissues. The objective of this report is to provide a summary of the different respiratory diseases, tissue samples, preservation methods and novel imaging technologies available to researchers. METHODS: Lung specimens were obtained with informed consent. To protect patient confidentiality, all samples were assigned a unique de-identified barcode and data were stored in an encrypted database. The methods used over the years by the JHLR for preserving lung structure included formalin, and later cryomatrix solution or air inflation with freezing, to preserve molecular tissue components. Lung specimens are systematically sampled to obtain multiple samples per specimen, which are stored in the form of frozen samples or formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The registry contains over 40,000 lung tissue specimens from over 3,000 well-phenotyped patients with a range of respiratory conditions including but not limited to acute respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung disease and lung cancer. The inflation, fixation and sampling protocols of the JHRC have enabled the anatomical assessment of lung disease that is compatible with molecular techniques for quantitative assessment of DNA, RNA and protein, as well as novel imaging approaches. CONCLUSIONS: This report serves as a blueprint for those who wish to establish a similar biobank. The curators welcome applications to use the biobank from academic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical researchers to further the understanding of respiratory diseases.