Immune Monitoring and Biospecimen Core

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Immune Monitoring and Biospecimen (IMB) Core is a dedicated to provide the outstanding leadership and expertise in immune monitoring and biospecimen sciences needed in this U19 to develop novel effective agents that can cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) and test them in the clinic. Working collaboratively as a team the investigators at University of California San Francisco and Northwestern University will acquire, process, and analyze biospecimens from enrolled patients and from preclinical models for GBM. Many of the procedures required to achieve these objectives are non-standard, requiring specialized knowledge and sophisticated experimental analysis. In addition, the Core will provide histopathologic and molecular analyses of human glioma xenografts, central histopathologic review, and ensure strict quality control in all aspects of biospecimen handling. The Core will address these needs based on the following specific aims: Specific Aims 1. To provide the staff and expertise for the acquisition and preservation of high-quality brain tumor patient biospecimens and preclinical models to meet the tissue accrual requirements for the projects and clinical trials. 2. To provide routine and advanced tissue handling/processing and analytical techniques and expertise for human and murine tumors, including high-dimensional flow cytometry, multiplex immunoflourescence, Cytek, and single cell RNA sequencing, that will advance project hypothesis development and goal attainment. 3. To provide the neuropathologic expertise for interpretation of the tumor tissue and extraction of appropriate quantitative and semi-quantitative parameters. 4. To provide consistent oversight of the Core activities that will ensure the stringent compliance with regulations governing informed consent and patient confidentiality, as well as management of the biospecimens and the information derived from the biospecimens.