BANK OF DNA CELL LINES AND NERVE-MUSCLE CARDIAC TISSUES

The Bank is part of the "Unità Operativa Semplice Malattie Neuromuscolari" of Dpt. di Scienze Neurologiche, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, University of Milan. Our service has been operative for 27 years and consists of 4 different laboratories (morphology, biochemistry, genetics, tissue cultures) with two specifically equipped storage rooms, all related to a Department for the clinical evaluation of patients and their follow-up. All specimens - obtained after informed consent from patients affected with neuromuscular disorders - are studied step by step from the basic routine examination to the final genetic diagnosis. The Bank includes 2705 skeletal muscle, 17 cardiac muscle and 334 nerve specimens for morphological studies, 4301 muscle specimens for biochemical studies, 2484 DNA samples and 1779 samples for tissue cultures (update August 2002). All data are collected through an informatic system which keeps all the information regarding each specimen separated from the patients’ name, in respect to the patients’ privacy. Our specific Italian/English web site www.centrodinoferrari.com/neuromuscolari.htm., can be contacted to get all the information regarding the Bank: List of tissues and diseases, aims and purposes, collaborators, modalities for Bank access. Several Italian and one foreign hospitals signed a legal agreement allowing us to study and store their specimens. The existence of selected banks for neuromuscular samples allows the collection of a consistent number of specimens per single disease –almost always genetic diseases -and therefore examination of the same by experienced people for both research and diagnostic purposes. In order to know more about the causes of unknown genetic diseases, all samples and data are available to the scientific community for both research and diagnostic purposes, according to the Telethon rules. In this regard, we are currently collaborating with both Italian and foreign groups.