The RHEM, Réseau d'Histologie Expérimentale de Montpellier, created in September 2008, is the platform of the UAR (Unité d'Appui à la Recherche) BioCampus Montpellier dedicated to the histological phenotyping of animal models of human diseases. It enables the pooling and rationalisation of human and material resources, expertise and skills in histological and anatomo-pathological analysis of experimental models from Montpellier research institutes.

Application Portfolio:

All applications requiring the anatomical characterization and/or immunohistochemical analysis of plant and animal tissues in normal and pathological conditions, or in genetically modified models.

Principale expertise/Services :

We offer a complete range of services, from sample collection to anatomical-pathological analysis. Two main sites are dedicated to sample preparation (Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier -IRCM and l’Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier -IGMM).

We have developed a solid expertise in:

• Automation of paraffin sample preparation (slides, histological or immunohistochemical staining) (RHEM-IRCM).
• Transparency/clarification of samples for fluorescence imaging (X-Clarity protocol), with or without immunodetection, and 3D reconstruction (RHEM-IGF).
• Observation and pathological interpretation by a veterinarian or clinician (RHEM-IRCM).
• Digitisation of virtual slides, using the brightfield and fluorescence scanners of the Montpellier Ressources en Imagerie platform (RHEM-IRCM, RHEM-INM).

We provide training on various topics and at various levels in the fields of immunohistology and experimental and pathological histology.

The portal of the Experimental BioBank (BBE) is currently being created with the aim of enhancing the biological resources of the Montpellier scientific community and of the samples processed by the RHEM. This block library will be available for online consultation by the entire scientific community. In particular, it will allow scientific interaction between research groups and will reduce the number of animals used for experimental purposes (in line with the 3Rs policy of Reduce-Replace-Replace) and give a second life to tissue blocks.

The RHEM is the link between Réseau des Animaleries de Montpellier (RAM), Imagerie du Petit Animal de Montpellier Platform (IPAM) and the Montpellier RIO Imaging Platform (MRI). All these platforms are managed by BioCampus Montpellier.

Access and service policy:

Samples can be prepared (sections, staining) by the facility staff or by users (material and reagents are available for them). Sample preparation by the facility staff and their analysis are fee-based.

RHEM has the GPTR and IBiSA labels. It implements an ISO 9001 quality management approach.

Publications

Applications note:

Platform website