Biospecimens from plutonium-exposed workers: an update on the status of the Russian human radiobiological tissue...

Founded in 1999 under the bilateral U.S.-Russian Agreement on International Cooperation for Minimization of the Effects of Prolonged Radiation Exposure, the Human Radiobiological Tissue Repository (HRTR) at the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute aims to collect, store, annotate, and disburse biological materials from individuals occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation, to support scientific investigations of the effects of radiation exposure on human health. In compliance with international best practices guidelines, the RHTR has assembled a collection of over 100,000 biospecimens donated by workers of the Mayak Production Association, and by non-occupationally exposed persons living in the same city. Included in its biobanks are fully annotated autopsy tissues stored in formalin, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, microscope slides, frozen surgical tissues, whole blood and blood components, and genomic DNA from parental-offspring triads. The biorepository's database contains information on radiation dose characteristics, occupational history, non-radiation risk factors, detailed medical history, and social and demographic characteristics of each donor. This comprehensive approach has resulted in a unique resource that has supported both molecular and non-molecular studies of radiation health effects.