This is a proposal for a Tissue Culture and Immunoassay Core (TCIC) facility which purpose is to provide a centralized resource for cell culture maintenance, cellular and viral purification, and immunoassay performance, in support for four projects included in the Allergic Disease Center (AADRC) at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Specific objectives of the TCIC to provide infrastructure necessary to: 1. Maintain a tissue bank of human cell lines (mostly of epithelial origin); 2. Routinely isolate blood eosinophils from normal, non-allergic donors; 3. Prepare pools of sucrose-purified respiratory synctial virus; 4. Perform ELISAs for human and mouse cytokines/chemokines. The support of the TCIC facility is justified because of the critical need for a number of biological reagents, methodological procedures and immunological assays, common to all four projects of the AADRC. In addition, centralized acquisition of reagents and performance of the tests will minimize the cost of M&O and personnel for the whole center and will result in an optimal standardization of assays and experimental procedures. The proposed TCIC facility will take advantage of some resources currently available to the AADRC investigators at UTMB, including the Child Health Research Center (CHRC) laboratory, a 4,000 ft/2, state-of-the-art laboratory facility where the TCIC will be physically located. The central location of the TCIC within the UTMB campus will facilitate the communications among the different investigators of the AADRC resulting in a more efficient and timely completion of the proposed research.
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