Aged Rodent Tissue Bank Handbook

Tissue Arrays

NIA aged rodent tissue arrays offer high-throughput analysis of tissue histology and protein expression for the biogerontology research community. Each array is a 4 micron section that includes tissue cores from multiple tissues at multiple ages on one slide. Ages are chosen to span the life from young adult to very old age. The arrays are made from ethanol-fixed tissue and can be used for all techniques for which conventional tissue sections can be used. Click on the link on the left to see images of H&E stained punches of liver, cardiac muscle and brain.

The NIA aged rodent tissue arrays were developed with assistance from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Tissue Array Research Program (TARP), led by Dr. Stephen Hewitt, Director. NCI TARP contains more information on tissue array construction, protocols for using arrays, and references.

Slides and Ordering

Preparation and Product Description Tissue arrays are prepared in parallel from different sets of animals so that experiments can be conducted in duplicate, with each array using unique animals with a unique product number. The product descriptions page describes each array, including:

Strain
Gender
Ages
Tissues
Animal Identification Numbers

The product descriptions page also provides links to the animal vital statistics documents and array layout diagram.

Because of the differences between tissues, the tissue arrays will not all be complete for all tissues at all ages, as there is some fallout of smaller tissues towards the end of the master block. NIA does not guarantee every tissue will be present on every slide. For this reason, it is important for purchasers to indicate the most and least important tissues for their projects, allowing NIA to meet the most needs possible from each set of arrays.

Availability and Delivery

The NIA Tissue Arrays are only available for projects that are directly related to aging and are funded by grants from the NIH, other U. S. Federal government agencies (ex., VA, CDC) or U. S. private, non-profit research foundations (ex. AHA, AFAR). The NIA Tissue Arrays are not available for projects funded by commercial entities including projects at universities funded by commercial entities. Orders must be submitted by e-mail. All fields on the order form (PDF, 44K) must be complete. An accessible version of the order form is available in Word (34K). Use "n/a" if a field is not applicable. Orders will be sent 1–2 weeks after order submission. The Biological Resources Branch (BRB) Order Desk sends an order confirmation via e-mail or indicates if the products are not available.

The BioReliance Credit Card Form (PDF, 43K) is also available in an accessible Word form (41K).