Myobank-AFM broadens its scope

Myobank-AFM, the biological resource center of the Institute of Myology, has evolved to meet the demands of a team from the Institute’s Myology Research Center.

Until now, biological material has been collected in France, stored and exported at the request of French and international research teams working on neuromuscular diseases. To respond to a specific request from researchers in the team of Sonia Berrih-Aknin and Rozen Le Panseat the Research Centre of the Institute of Myology, Myobank-AFM has evolved on a regulatory, administrative and logistical level, and can now import biological material from other countries.

Importing new biological material from Italy, the thymus
Since the availability of human biological material is highly regulated in France, improvements have been essential at several levels. Thus, as it was Myobank-AFM’s first imported biological material, it was necessary to make a specific import declaration for the thymus from the Ministry of Research. In addition, several administrative documents had to be translated: patient consent for patients and various technical documents. Finally, Myobank-AFM is responsible for the organisation of on-site collection and rapid transport under optimal conditions for the proper conservation of fresh biological material, for 24-hour delivery directly to the laboratory. Thymuses were collected from myasthenic patients at the Cisanello Hospital in Pisa, Italy, and four thymus samples are already available to Sonia Berrih-Aknin’s and Rozen Le Panse’s teams.

A biological resource center for neuromuscular diseases
More generally, Myobank-AFM offers teams of researchers from around the world biological material (muscle, skin, cells) from people with neuromuscular diseases but also from control subjects. The purpose of this structure is to facilitate research on these diseases. To that end, it monitors developments in the legislation and has all the authorisations and certifications required for efficient operation. Teams using these resources are committed to citing Myobank-AFM of the Institute of Myology, which makes it possible to measure the importance of the service rendered. Since January, Myobank-AFM has been acknowledged in a dozen international articles published in peer-reviewed journals.