{"id":84130,"date":"2016-06-15T12:02:19","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T12:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/britains-biggest-brain-bank-where-organs-are-sliced-and-diced-for-research\/"},"modified":"2016-06-15T12:02:19","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T12:02:19","slug":"britains-biggest-brain-bank-where-organs-are-sliced-and-diced-for-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/britains-biggest-brain-bank-where-organs-are-sliced-and-diced-for-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain’s biggest brain bank where organs are sliced and diced for research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of white Tupperware buckets are stacked on top of each other in a room in Hammersmith.<\/p>\n

The entire room reeks of chemicals and the tubs look like they might contain paint or cement.<\/p>\n

In fact, they are storing the fresh, wobbling brains of people who have recently died and decided to donate their organs to science.<\/p>\n

This is the brain bank at Imperial College London, which is funded by Parkinson\u2019s UK and Multiple Sclerosis Society UK.<\/p>\n

Its purpose is to send tissue to researchers who need it for studies into the diseases.<\/p>\n

The biggest of the 12 in the UK, it currently has around 1,650 specimens \u2013 and the charities hope examining live organs will one day lead to a breakthrough.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The brain bank at Imperial College London is the biggest in the UK – it has around 1,650 specimens to send to researchers needing tissue. When they come into the bank half the organ is frozen and the other half is ‘fixed’ – mixed with chemicals to preserve them forever<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The frozen half is cut into chunks, or sliced, and photographed before being stored in big freezers until researchers request the tissue. Charities Parkinson\u2019s UK and Multiple Sclerosis Society UK who fund the bank hope studies on live organs will lead to breakthroughs<\/p>\n

Steve Gentleman, a professor of neuropathology, at Imperial College, runs the bank, and slices into the organs on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

He creates detailed reports about the physiological changes he sees in the organ \u2013 and how these led to symptoms described in the patients’ medical notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the benefits of signing people up to brain donation while they are still alive is it means the bank will get the organs early, he tells MailOnline.<\/p>\n

\u2018The brain is no use to us unless we get it within 48 hours,\u2019 Professor Gentleman tells MailOnline. \u2018It starts falling apart after that.\u2019<\/p>\n

If the pink, jelly mass can be brought to west London in time, half is frozen immediately.<\/p>\n

It is cut into chunks, or sliced, and photographed before being stored in big freezers until researchers require iced brain for their work \u2013 usually genetic studies.<\/p>\n

The other half is \u2018fixed\u2019 \u2013 put in chemicals that will preserve it forever \u2013 allowing it to be kept in plastic vats at room temperature and sent to researchers who need fresh tissue.<\/p>\n

The fixing process turns the brain – which is pinkish-grey and jelloid in its natural state – into a firmer, yellow-brown mass.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s firm, like fruit. It\u2019s like cutting into a melon,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

\"Steve <\/p>\n

Steve Gentleman, a professor of neuropathology, at Imperial College, runs the bank, and slices into the organs on a daily basis. When a brain is fixed it is ‘firm, like fruit’, he says. \u2018It\u2019s like cutting into a melon,\u2019 he adds<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The brains must be brought to the lab within 48 hours after the donor has died – where they are stored in white tupperware before being fixed.\u00a0\u2018The brain is no use to us unless we get it within that time frame,\u2019 Professor Gentleman says. \u2018It starts falling apart after that\u2019<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The fixing process the bank uses turns the brain – which is pinkish-grey and jelloid in its natural state – into a firmer, yellow-brown mass \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The chemicals allow the brains to be kept in plastic vats at room temperature and sent to researchers who need fresh tissue for studies<\/p>\n

Four weeks after the organ is fixed, Professor Gentleman can begin to slice it up.<\/p>\n

\u2018I produce a neuropathological report,\u2019 he says. \u2018I cut it up and look at all the physiological changes. I can then tell the GP or the family whether the disease the patient had is what they thought.<\/p>\n

\u2018Doctors are keen to get feedback \u2013 especially if it is a difficult case of a disease where they didn\u2019t really know what was wrong with the patient.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sometimes it\u2019s impossible to tell what was wrong with the person until you examine their brain.\u2019<\/p>\n

Once this report is complete, the brain can be sent to various researchers who need tissue.<\/p>\n

\u2018Before tissue needs to go out, I need to confirm the diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u2018I need to describe changes in the brain. It could be a little bit of Alzheimer\u2019s tissue, a little bit of vascular [blood vessel] damage.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s no such thing as \u201cpure\u201d Parkinson\u2019s or \u201cpure\u201d Alzheimer\u2019s \u2013 when you cut into the brain you see a mix of changes.\u2019<\/p>\n

While he is doing the dissection, a neurologist will have been through the patient\u2019s medical records and will have documented the symptoms they experienced as well as the drugs they took.<\/p>\n

All this information can be sent to the researchers who are seeking for find out how brain diseases occur \u2013 and how they can be treated.<\/p>\n

\u2018As a brain bank, our performance isn\u2019t measured on how many brains we collect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It\u2019s measured on how many we send out to researchers to get a breakthrough,\u2019 Professor Gentleman says.<\/p>\n

\"Four <\/p>\n

Four weeks after the organ is fixed, Professor Gentleman can begin to slice it up. He looks for changes in the brain which signify disease. He says: ‘I can then tell the GP or the family whether the disease the patient had is what they thought.\u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s impossible to tell what was wrong with the person until you examine their brain\u2019. After the GP and family report is written – the tissue is sent to researchers<\/p>\n

\"While <\/p>\n

While he is doing the dissection, a neurologist will have been through the patient\u2019s medical records and will have documented the symptoms the patient experienced as well as the drugs they took<\/p>\n

\"Just <\/p>\n

Just as an orthopaedic surgeon could look at a patient\u2019s gait and fairly accurately guess their prognosis, Professor Gentleman can usually quickly discover what was wrong with the patient by examining their brain<\/p>\n

\"Professor <\/p>\n

Professor Gentleman says he looks at the physical changes in the brain – but others study biochemical changes as well as genetics. One day, he hopes one of his specimens will help drive further breakthroughs. He says: ‘We need to work out the process of how the disease occurs, find a therapeutic – like a drug – and work out how we can target people in early stages’<\/p>\n

Just as an orthopaedic surgeon could look at a patient\u2019s gait and fairly accurately guess their prognosis, he can usually quickly discover what was wrong with the patient by examining their brain.<\/p>\n

\u2018I can spot patterns. I can speculate how certain changes might be linked with symptoms.\u2019<\/p>\n

For example, Parkinson\u2019s is predictable in its pathology, he says.<\/p>\n

The condition \u2013 a progressive disease of the nervous system \u2013 causes a tremor, rigid muscles and slow movement.<\/p>\n

\u2018The tremor is caused by a loss of nerve cells in the brain stem.<\/p>\n

\u2018Those cells, the substantia nigra, normally have a pigment running through them, so they look black.<\/p>\n

\u2018So healthy people have a black line running through them.<\/p>\n

\u2018But people with Parkinson\u2019s lose that black line. So when I see that I immediately think it might be Parkinson\u2019s.\u2019<\/p>\n

Similarly, multiple sclerosis is caused by loss of myelin, the insulin sheath that surrounds nerve cells.<\/p>\n

\"\u00bfBefore <\/p>\n

\u2018Before tissue needs to go out to researchers, I need to confirm the diagnosis,’ he says. \u2018I need to describe changes in the brain. It could be a little bit of Alzheimer\u2019s tissue, a little bit of vascular [blood vessel] damage’<\/p>\n

\"Professor <\/p>\n

Professor \u00a0Gentleman urges people to donate their organs so the work can continue. ‘Even healthy brains,’ he says. ‘We always need controls – something to compare it to’<\/p>\n

The symptoms depend on which part of the brain is affected.<\/p>\n

\u2018When I\u2019m doing the cut up I can see areas of loss of sheath, called plaques.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I can see that by eye, and look down the microscope and see exactly where the plaques are \u2013 and they usually correlate with the symptoms.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He says he looks at the physical changes in the brain – but others study biochemical changes as well as genetics.<\/p>\n

In terms of markers for the disease, studies have proven that having certain proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid seems to signal a degenerative brain disease.<\/p>\n

And he says researchers are getting better at taking brains scans of live patients and recognising the changes seen in their brains.<\/p>\n

\n

One day, he hopes one of his specimens will help drive further breakthroughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘We need to work out the process of how the disease occurs, find a therapeutic – like a drug – and work out how we can target people in early stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Until then, he urges people to donate their organs so the work can continue.<\/p>\n

‘Even healthy brains,’ he says. ‘We always need controls – something to compare it to.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you are interested in joining the donor register please <\/span>download or request an information pack.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or contact the brain bank via brainbank@imperial.ac.uk or\u00a0<\/span>020 7594 9732<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of white Tupperware buckets are stacked on top of each other in a room in Hammersmith. The entire room reeks of chemicals and the tubs look like they might contain paint or cement. In fact, they are storing the fresh, wobbling brains of people who have recently died and decided to donate their organs Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}