Collective use center is an organization or structural unit with unique resource providing access to this resource for internal and third-party users. Collective use centers are a relatively new phenomenon in bioresource collections, especially collections of human biological material due to some ethical and legal issues. At the same time, the demand for human biological material continues to grow in fundamental and applied researches. The collective use center «Bioresource collection of tissues and cell cultures of tumors of the human nervous system for fundamental and applied researches» has worked since October 14, 2022. This center has access to unique collection of the Laboratory of Neurosurgical Anatomy and Conservation of Human Biological Tissues of the Burdenko Neurosurgical Center.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the experience of collective use center and biobank of the Burdenko Neurosurgical Center compared to national and international data on functioning of collective use centers specializing in tumors of the human central nervous system.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We reviewed the PubMed and e-Library databases using the following keywords: core facilities brain tumors, repository of collective use brain tumors, biobank of CNS tumors, central nervous system tumor collection centers. We also analyzed the organizations registered on the portal of scientific and technical infrastructure of the Russian Federation.

RESULTS

We analyzed 275 publications devoted to collective use centers and biobanks. These biobanks do not position themselves as collective use centers but actively realize biological material for researches. Structure of institutions presented on the portal of scientific and technical infrastructure of the Russian Federation is characterized. The collective use center «Bioresource collection of tissues and cell cultures of tumors of the human nervous system for fundamental and applied researches» has access to biobank of the Burdenko Neurosurgical Center. To date, the biobank contains more than 8478 aliquots of tumor tissue frozen at ultra-low temperature (–196°C) and obtained from 1993 patients. Considering available data, we established the basic principles of work in collective use centers with bioresource collections.

CONCLUSION

Collective use centers with bioresource collections of tumors of the central nervous system are rare. There is only one collective use center organized at the Burdenko Neurosurgical Center on the portal of scientific and technical infrastructure of the Russian Federation. At the same time, there is an urgent need to increase their number and activity in Russia and other countries worldwide. You can use the resource of brain tumor collections by leaving a request on the official website of this organization in the «Collective use center» section.