How to make tissue microarrays

It is now almost 20 years since tissue microarrays (TMAs) were first described by Kononen and colleagues. Today, this high throughput methodology has been widely adopted by investigators who require a cost-effective method to rapidly and simultaneously interrogate large numbers of samples, including those derived from large patient cohorts. Drawing on over 15 years of direct experience of TMA design, construction and analysis, we discuss a variety of TMA applications and provide a detailed description of TMA design, quality control and construction. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed and potential problems and practical solutions are highlighted.