In search of an evidence-based strategy for quality assessment of human tissue samples: report of the tissue Biospecimen Research Working Group of the Spanish Biobank Network.

The purpose of the present work is to underline the importance of obtaining a standardized procedure to ensure and evaluate both clinical and research usability of human tissue samples. The study, which was carried out by the Biospecimen Science Working Group of the Spanish Biobank Network, is based on a general overview of the current situation about quality assurance in human tissue biospecimens. It was conducted an exhaustive review of the analytical techniques used to evaluate the quality of human tissue samples over the past 30 years, as well as their reference values if they were published, and classified them according to the biomolecules evaluated: (i) DNA, (ii) RNA, and (iii) soluble or/and fixed proteins for immunochemistry.

FoxP2 protein levels regulate cell morphology changes and migration patterns in the vertebrate developing telencephalon.

In the mammalian telencephalon, part of the progenitor cells transition from multipolar to bipolar morphology as they invade the mantle zone. This associates with changing patterns of radial migration. However, the molecules implicated in these morphology transitions are not well known.

Differences in number and distribution of striatal calbindin medium spiny neurons between a vocal-learner (Melopsittacus undulatus) and a non-vocal learner bird (Colinus virginianus).

Striatal projecting neurons, known as medium spiny neurons (MSNs), segregate into two compartments called matrix and striosome in the mammalian striatum. The matrix domain is characterized by the presence of calbindin immunopositive (CB+) MSNs, not observed in the striosome subdivision. The existence of a similar CB+ MSN population has recently been described in two striatal structures in male zebra finch (a vocal learner bird): the striatal capsule and the Area X, a nucleus implicated in song learning.

Developmental dynamics of PAFAH1B subunits during mouse brain development.

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) mediates an array of biological processes in the mammalian central nervous system as a bioactive lipid messenger in synaptic function and dysfunction (plasticity, memory, and neurodegeneration). The intracellular enzyme that deacetylates the PAF (PAFAH1B) is composed of a tetramer of two catalytic subunits, ALPHA1 (PAFAH1B3) and ALPHA2 (PAFAH1B2), and a regulatory dimer of LIS1 (PAFAH1B1). We have investigated the mouse PAFAH1B subunit genes during brain development in normal mice and in mice with a hypomorphic allele for Lis1 (Lis1/sLis1; Cahana et al.