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    Shared resources: Core facilities and resources for research

    Throughout Mayo Clinic and its three campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, scientific facilities and offices house 11 shared resources that support cancer research at the basic, translational, clinical and population sciences levels.

    Shared resources are crucial to the mission of Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and its cancer research initiatives.

    Shared resources provide numerous valuable material and services, including access to cutting-edge instruments, technologies, testing and scientific consultation. Shared resources provide training and education along with services that allow researchers to explore new approaches to their work and innovate novel ways to perform experiments, analyze data and use technology. Shared resources expand capabilities, foster collaboration, and accelerate discovery and its translation into new strategies to treat cancer.

    Through the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NCI-Designated Cancer Centers such as Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center are characterized by scientific excellence and the ability to integrate diverse research methods to focus on cancer. NCI grants help fund cancer research initiatives at designated cancer centers, including assistance for shared resources at Mayo Clinic.

    These shared resources are:

    1. Bioinformatics.
    2. Biospecimen Accessioning and Processing.
    3. Biostatistics.
    4. Genome Analysis.
    5. Immune Monitoring.
    6. Microscopy and Cell Analysis.
    7. Pathology Research.
    8. Pharmacology.
    9. Proteomics.
    10. Survey Research.
    11. Precision Mouse Engineering Core.

    In addition, the Spatial Analytics and Spatial Omics resource and the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence resource are two new shared resources still in development.

    • The Bioinformatics Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Bioinformatics Core provides bioinformatics services and collaborative research support to Cancer Center investigators engaged in genomics research. The core supports every stage of cancer research, including study design, data acquisition, data analysis and publication.

      The Bioinformatics Core also facilitates collaborative research opportunities between Cancer Center researchers and bioinformatics faculty members. The core closely partners with the Mayo Clinic information technology team to develop bioinformatics workflows and systems to process and analyze different types of omics data.

      Contact

      Karla V. Ballman, Ph.D.
      Director
      Email: ballman.karla@mayo.edu

      Yan W. Asmann, Ph.D.
      Co-Director
      Email: asmann.yan@mayo.edu

    • The Biospecimen Accessioning and Processing Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Biospecimen Accessioning and Processing Core provides vital services needed in basic, translational and epidemiological cancer research protocols, including:

      • Specimen accessioning and processing.
      • Nucleic acid extraction.
      • Electronic biospecimen tracking.
      • Kit production and fulfillment.
      • Storage.
      • Shipping.

      Mine Cicek, Ph.D., leads the Biospecimen Accessioning and Processing Shared Resource within the Cancer Center.

    • The Biostatistics Shared Resource provides collaborative statistical support for investigators in Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center who are conducting basic, translational, clinical and epidemiological cancer research.

      Statisticians in the Biostatistics Shared Resource are disease focused, providing a high level of specialized expertise for all Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center programs and disease groups.

      Teams within the Biostatistics Shared Resource offer expertise in:

      • Cancer clinical trials, including associated translational research, interventional psychosocial research, and patient and public education research.
      • Population science, including studies involving genetic and molecular epidemiology.
      • Cancer quality of life, such as studies investigating the impact of clinical and psychosocial interventions on patients, families and caregivers.

      The Biostatistics Shared Resource is a cancer-focused extension of the Biostatistics Core at Mayo Clinic. The Biostatistics Core offers standard biostatistical services, such as protocol design, data collection, and data analysis and reporting.

      Services

      For Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center faculty members, the Biostatistics Shared Resource provides:

      • No-charge initial consultations on projects with Ph.D.-level or master's-level biostatisticians who have particular expertise in the investigator's area of cancer research.
      • Funding for meritorious cancer research projects that are approved by the Cancer Center and would otherwise go unfunded.
      • Short-term funding to supplement unexpected gaps associated with an NCI-funded award.

      Funding for subsequent biostatistical consultation on a project is expected to be included in a principal investigator's budget for external grants.

      Contact

      Karla V. Ballman, Ph.D.
      Director
      Email: ballman.karla@mayo.edu

      Jennifer G. Le-Rademacher, Ph.D.
      Co-Director
      Email: le-rademacher.jennifer@mayo.edu

    • The Genome Analysis Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Genome Analysis Core offers Cancer Center researchers access to state-of-the-art genomics technologies to study gene structure and function, including next-generation sequencing, gene expression, genotyping, and DNA methylation services, including:

      • Deep-sequencing studies of RNA and DNA.
      • Genotyping and methylation analyses.
      • Reduced representational bisulfite sequencing.
      • Spatial biology analytical resources.

      Stephen J. Murphy, Ph.D., and E. Aubrey Thompson, Ph.D., lead the Genome Analysis Shared Resource.

    • The Immune Monitoring Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Immune Monitoring Core provides Cancer Center researchers with access to advanced technology and specialized expertise to study complex biological systems using high-dimensional, single-cell techniques, including:

      • Mass cytometry sample processing and data acquisition.
      • Sample barcoding for mass cytometry.
      • Tissue sectioning, tissue processing and data acquisition for spatial imaging.
      • Custom panel design and validation.
      • Data analysis, including mass cytometry and spatial biology.
      • Cell sorting.
      • Miscellaneous immunological assays.

      J.C. C. Villasboas Bisneto, M.D. leads the Immune Monitoring Core.

    • The Microscopy and Cell Analysis Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Microscopy and Cell Analysis Core provides several services to Cancer Center investigators conducting clinical or basic science cancer research, including:

      • Optical microscopy.
      • Electron microscopy.
      • FACS cytometry.
      • Data analysis.

      Many specialized techniques and analysis methods are available within these service areas.

      The Microscopy and Cell Analysis Core team offers training for instrumentation use and aids in designing, planning and executing experimental studies using high-end imaging, flow cytometry and cell sorting. The team also provides cyberinfrastructure for efficient data storage, management, transfer and analysis of image data files.

      Jeffrey L. Salisbury, Ph.D., leads the Microscopy and Cell Analysis Core.

    • The Pathology Research Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, providing histological and related services to support tissue-based science to Cancer Center investigators. These services include procuring fresh, frozen and fixed clinical and animal tissues and preanalytical processing and analytical functions, including immunohistochemistry and assistance with morphological interpretation.

      Services available in the Pathology Research Core include:

      • Assistance with collecting and storing fresh, frozen and fixed tissues.
      • Tissue sectioning for hematoxylin and eosin staining; immunostaining; RNA in situ hybridization (RNA-ISH); multiplexed imaging; laser-capture microdissection; and DNA, RNA and protein isolation.
      • Frozen sectioning of fresh tissues, including potentially infectious specimens.
      • Staining optimization protocols for commercially or internally developed antibodies.
      • Automated immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and RNA-ISH.
      • Whole-slide brightfield and fluorescence scanning.
      • Tissue microarray construction.
      • Fluorescence multiplexed imaging.
      • Anatomic pathology services provided by cytotechnologists.

      Thomas J. Flotte, M.D., leads the Pathology Research Core.

    • The Pharmacology Shared Resource provides preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and pharmacogenetic expertise, methodologies and services for investigators in Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center who are developing and evaluating anticancer drugs, imaging agents and chemical compounds.

      Supported research includes:

      • Clinical pharmacokinetic studies conducted within phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and developed in Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center programs, such as the Novel Therapeutics and Therapeutic Modalities Program.
      • Preclinical pharmacological studies undertaken by Cancer Center investigators as part of NCI-funded grants or conducted to generate data for NCI grant applications.

      Within the Pharmacology Shared Resource is state-of-the-art instrumentation necessary for preclinical investigations and phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. This instrumentation includes high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography with tandem and quantitative time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

      The Pharmacology Shared Resource contributes to clinical trials sponsored by the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, the Children's Oncology Group,  the National Cancer Institute  and Mayo Clinic.

      Pharmacology services

      The Pharmacology Shared Resource provides numerous vital services for Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center faculty members and others.

      Services include:

      • Developing assays for quantitative analysis of drugs and metabolites in biological fluids.
      • Measuring drugs and their metabolites in drug formulations and biological matrices.
      • Investigating in vitro and in vivo drug metabolism.
      • Identifying drug metabolites.
      • Analyzing in vitro drug biostability, including whole blood, plasma, microsomal and hepatocyte.
      • Pharmacokinetic analysis, including defining clearance, volume of distribution, and half-life via noncompartmental and compartmental analyses.
      • Designing and conducting preclinical pharmacological studies in animal models.
      • Designing and conducting clinical pharmacology studies in early-phase clinical trials.
      • Pharmacometric modeling and simulation, including assessing interindividual variability in drug distribution using population pharmacokinetics, physiologically based pharmacokinetics and machine learning.
      • Supporting pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies in early-phase clinical trials, including study management, specimen processing, aliquoting and shipping.
      • Providing other pharmacological support, including investigating drug mechanisms of action in vitro and developing and implementing pharmacodynamic assays.

      Cancer-related studies

      The Pharmacology Shared Resource supports several cancer-related studies, including:

      • Preclinical and clinical pharmacology studies of Z-endoxifen as a hormonal therapy for breast cancer.
      • Clinical pharmacology support for phase 1 clinical trials of anticancer agents in children.
      • Preclinical pharmacological support for the discovery and development of novel agents.

      To evaluate innovative cancer therapies using a team-based approach, the NCI created the Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network (ETCTN). As ETCTN participating sites, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center's three geographic locations have the flexibility to expand phase 1 clinical studies quickly. The Pharmacology Shared Resource plays a crucial role in this work.

      Contact

      For more information about the Pharmacology Shared Resource and the services available to cancer investigators, contact:

      Joel M. Reid, Ph.D.
      Director
      Email: reid@mayo.edu

    • The Proteomics Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Proteomics Core provides Cancer Center investigators with cutting-edge proteomics technologies to solve important biomedical questions in cancer research, including discovering novel biomarkers, identifying potential therapeutic targets, dissecting mechanisms underlying disease, and developing diagnostic assays.

      The experienced staff members of the Proteomics Core provide Cancer Center investigators with access to expertise in cancer biology and signaling, mass spectrometry, protein and peptide chemistry, protein separation, liquid chromatography, protein quantification, peptide synthesis, and proteomics data analysis.

      Equipped with cutting-edge technologies, the Proteomics Core provides comprehensive mass spectrometry and nonmass spectrometry-based proteomics services, including:

      • BioSITe to identify biotinylated peptides.
      • Data-independent acquisition (DIA)-based high throughput quantitative proteomics.
      • Human proteome microarrays.
      • Immunopeptidome analysis.
      • Interactome analysis of protein-protein and protein-DNA/RNA interactions by co-immunoprecipitation.
      • Olink Explore HT analysis of about 5,400 proteins.
      • Peptide synthesis.
      • Peptide microarrays customized for specific applications.
      • Protein characterization, including posttranslational modifications and cleavage sites.
      • Single-cell proteomics using mass spectrometry.
      • Single-cell functional proteomics on the IsoSpark platform for secreted proteins.
      • Tandem Mass Tag (TMT)-based quantitative analysis of proteins and posttranslational modification, including acetylation, phosphorylation and ubiquitylation.
      • Targeted assay development for absolute quantitation of proteins.

      The Proteomics Core evaluates the latest proteomics techniques with the goal of implementing advanced state-of-the-art instrumentation and novel technologies to push boundaries in cancer research.

      Akhilesh Pandey, M.D., Ph.D., leads the Proteomics Core.

    • The Survey Research Center serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Survey Research Center facilitates high-quality science in the Cancer Center by providing researchers with consultation and services for all aspects of survey design and conduct.

      These services include:

      • Survey design and draft review.
      • Review of other survey materials, such as recruitment materials and consent scripts.
      • Support for qualitative survey methods, including semistructured interviews, focus groups and cognitive interviews.
      • Expertise in data collection and web-based survey design (Qualtrics and REDCap), scannable (optical mark recognition) paper survey design and scanner programming, and nonscannable paper survey design.
      • Double data entry for nonscannable paper surveys.
      • Survey administration via flyers, social media, email, text, postal mail and telephone interviews.
      • Survey project management, from initial consultation through delivery of data to the client, including tracking responses with a customized Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Relationship Management system.
      • Education about survey research methods and best practices.

      Kathleen J. Yost, Ph.D., leads the Survey Research Center.

    • The Precision Mouse Engineering Core serves as a shared resource within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Precision Mouse Engineering Core generates transgenic and gene-targeted mouse models for cancer research projects that explore the underlying causes of cancer.

      Transgenic and gene-targeted mouse models enable Mayo Clinic cancer researchers to study in vivo how the overexpression of specific genes and their mutants is involved in the initiation, progression and metastasis of certain types of cancer in people.

      Services include:

      • CRISPR-Cas9-mediated editing of genes of interest in fertilized eggs to generate knockout and knockin animal models with inactivated or tagged genes, or with introduced point mutations, reporter genes, loxP sites, or large deletions.
      • Founder screening, founder breeding, sperm cryopreservation, recovery of cryopreserved mouse strains through in vitro fertilization, and standard histopathology.
      • Novel transgenic and gene-targeted strain generation, cryopreservation of lines, and in vitro fertilization.
      • Advice on DNA preparation and animal model genotyping, handling and husbandry.

      Darren J. Baker, Ph.D., M.S., leads the Precision Mouse Engineering Core..

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