NEUROMUSCULAR BANK OF TISSUES AND DNA SAMPLES ( NMTB )

General Bank Organization

The "Neuromuscular Tissue Bank" (NMTB) at the Regional Neuromuscular Center of the University of Padova was started in 1978.
Cases of genetic and acquired muscle diseases have been collected from the linked clinical units and from many other Neurological
and Pediatric Centres throughout Italy.


The bank includes tissues from patients affected with a variety of neuromuscular disorders (see table 1 OMIM).

A parallel patients’ clinical follow-up and appropriate molecular analyses enable to assess more precise diagnoses.
A standard protocol for collection of biopsies is followed.

At the arrival in laboratory, each sample is subdivided in several fragments, stored both in a bank of frozen tissues and in a bank for
tissue culture kept in "vital freezing" in liquid nitrogen (see table 2).

The bank stores 2000 DNA samples from patients and relatives with inherited neuromuscular disorders (see table 3).

An informatic database records the clinical data, diagnosis, muscle biopsy code number and location of each sample.

The "Neuromuscular Tissue Bank" is supported by Telethon Italian Foundation since 1996 (current project # GTF02009).

	General laboratory equipment ULTRAPHOT Microscope >> original size
	Tissue storage for cell culture Vial-tanks for liquid nitrogen >> original size