Cell, tissue and organ banks in Japan with special reference to the study of premature aging

Cell and tissue banking facilities exist in Japan in a) 7 laboratories of national institutions, for the conservation of living organisms, b) the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, operating its own bank of cultured human cells for aging research, c) the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research which is performing pilot experiments for cell research and cell banking, and d) more than 50 laboratories operating small-scale repositories in the fields of cancer research, virology, genetics, gerontology, radiation biology, cell biology, and cell physiology. Except for several eye banks, no organ banks have yet been developed in Japan. As an example of cell and tissue banking, some details for studying a premature aging syndrome, i.e., Wistar's syndrome (WS) is shown. Four cases of autopsied WS patients and more than 20 clinically traced WS patients have been reported in Japan. At present, cultured skin cells from more than 20 WS patients and skin tissues from several WS patients for the initiation of culture, are on deposit and under investigation.