Making a Tissue Microarray

Abstract

Tissue microarray (TMA) is a widely used, high-throughput, cost-effective, and tissue and reagent-conserving method of performing molecular analysis. Multiple donor tissue cores are procured and transferred into a recipient TMA block for simultaneous differential and comparative molecular profiling under theoretically identical performance conditions. Described herein is a discussion of the theory behind the TMA, an overview of the concepts and principles of TMA design and construction, a brief summary of its advantages and disadvantages, and a sample protocol of TMA construction.

Keywords: Comparative analysis; Immunohistochemistry; Molecular profiling; Pathology; Research; Tissue microarray.