Human Sample Biorepository and Allocation Core

In collaboration with our ENT/Otolaryngology colleagues in Boston, we have developed a biorepository that provides both stored and fresh samples to collaborators for the advancement of biomedical research. Samples are obtained from participants undergoing elective sinus surgery and include sinus tissue, nasal polyp tissue, nasal fluid, nasal scrapings, nasal brushings, plasma/serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and urine. Participants with the following medical diagnoses are included in the repository: aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP), chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyposis (CRSsNP), other sinus diseases, and healthy volunteers. All samples are linked to a clinical database as well. We have established protocols for all stages of cell processing and analysis, including histopathologic techniques as well as freezing, thawing, and culturing of isolated cells. Further, we regularly perform sinus tissue digestion and cell isolation through flow cytometric sorting, as well as single cell RNAseq from cell suspensions. Notable protocols have been published in peer-reviewed journals. These samples are stored within the Laidlaw Lab and are available to collaborators so that ongoing and future multidisciplinary research can be carried out.

Biorepository Director: Carolyn Baloh, MD

Biorepository Technician: Laura Cho, BA

Research Coordinator: Laura Bailey, BA

The following are selected publications where fresh or stored samples were utilized:

Optimizing cryopreservation of nasal polyp tissue for cellular functional studies and single-cell RNA sequencing

Aaqib Sohail, Carolyn H Baloh, Jonathan Hacker, Laura Cho, Tessa Ryan, Regan W Bergmark, Stella E Lee, Alice Maxfield, Rachel Roditi, Daniel F Dwyer, Kathleen M Buchheit, Tanya M Laidlaw. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2024 May;14(5):972-976.

Type 2 inflammation drives an airway basal stem cell program through insulin receptor substrate signaling

Xin Wang, Nils R Hallen, Minkyu Lee, Sachin Samuchiwal, Qihua Ye, Kathleen M Buchheit, Alice Z Maxfield, Rachel E Roditi, Regan W Bergmark, Neil Bhattacharyya, Tessa Ryan, Deb Gakpo, Soumya Raychaudhuri, Dan Dwyer, Tanya M Laidlaw, Joshua A Boyce, Maria Gutierrez-Arcelus, Nora A Barrett. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2023 Feb 17;S0091-6749(23)00211-7.

Human airway mast cells proliferate and acquire distinct inflammation-driven phenotypes during type 2 inflammation

Daniel F Dwyer, Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Samuel J Allon, Kathleen M Buchheit, Marko Vukovic, Tahereh Derakhshan, Chunli Feng, Juying Lai, Travis K Hughes, Sarah K Nyquist, Matthew P Giannetti, Bonnie Berger, Neil Bhattacharyya, Rachel E Roditi, Howard R Katz, Martijn C Nawijn, Marijn Berg, Maarten van den Berge, Tanya M Laidlaw, Alex K Shalek, Nora A Barrett, Joshua A Boyce.  Sci Immunol. 2021 Feb 26;6(56):eabb7221.

Cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 2 drives lung immunopathology through a platelet and high mobility box 1-dependent mechanism

Tao Liu, Nora A Barrett, Yoshihide Kanaoka, Kathleen Buchheit, Tanya M Laidlaw, Denise Garofalo, Juying Lai, Howard R Katz, Chunli Feng, Joshua A Boyce.  Mucosal Immunol. 2019 May;12(3):679-690.

Allergic inflammatory memory in human respiratory epithelial progenitor cells

Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Daniel F Dwyer, Sarah K Nyquist, Kathleen M Buchheit, Marko Vukovic, Chaarushena Deb, Marc H Wadsworth 2nd, Travis K Hughes, Samuel W Kazer, Eri Yoshimoto, Katherine N Cahill, Neil Bhattacharyya, Howard R Katz, Bonnie Berger, Tanya M Laidlaw, Joshua A Boyce, Nora A Barrett, Alex K Shalek.  Nature. 2018 Aug;560(7720):649-654.

Samples are available for investigators at MGB.  To request samples please contact Laidlawsamples@bwh.harvard.edu.