Organization and research applications of the U.K. Multiple Sclerosis Society Tissue Bank

The Multiple Sclerosis Society Tissue Bank contains post-mortem central nervous system tissue from over 100 clinically and neuropathologically well-documented multiple sclerosis (MS) cases, and from normal control subjects. This bank is a resource centre which provides histologically screened snap-frozen material for immunological, neurochemical and nucleic acid studies in our own and other MS laboratories in Europe and the USA. In addition to immunopathological studies, Tissue Bank material has been used to investigate changes in CNS-specific proteins and lipids in MS plaques and responses of oligodendrocytes and astrocytes to the inflammatory demyelinating process. MS lesions detected in unfixed post-mortem brain and spinal cord by magnetic resonance imaging techniques prior to dissection have been characterized histologically and biochemically. A computer database on Tissue Bank post-mortem cases has been established to link clinical, pathological and scientific aspects of MS research.