Resin tissue microarrays: a universal format for immunohistochemistry.

Tissue microarray (TMA) technology allows the miniaturization and characterization of multiple tissue samples on a single slide and commonly uses formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue or acetone-fixed frozen tissue. The former provides good morphology but can compromise antigenicity, whereas the latter provides compromised morphology with good antigenicity. Here, we report the development of TMAs in glycol methacrylate resin, which combine the advantages of both methods in one embedding format. Freshly collected tissue fixed in -20C acetone or 10% neutral buffered formaldehyde were cored and arrayed into an intermediary medium of 2% agarose before infiltration of the agarose array with glycol methacrylate resin. Acetone-fixed resin TMA demonstrated improved morphology over acetone-fixed frozen TMA, with no loss of antigenicity. Staining for extracellular, cell surface, and nuclear antigens could be realized with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies as well as with monomeric single-chain Fv prepar...