The Hybridoma/Cell Culture/Immune Monitoring Shared Resource of the MCC has been active since 1983. Initially, this core laboratory was established for the sole purpose of creating hybridomas and producing monoclonal antibodies for cancer research scientists at VCU. This technology has been critical for several different lines of investigation, including identification and purification of cancer-critical for several different lines of investigation, including identification of purification of cancer-related proteins and localization of these proteins and other molecules in cells and tissues. Over the past decade, as monoclonal antibodies and hybridoma cell lines have become more available from commercial sources, the need to create new hybridoma has decreased somewhat. Simultaneously, this shared resource has expanded its role to include production of monoclonal antibodies, large scale culture of cell lines other than hybridomas, growth of large numbers of lymphocytes for adoptive immunotherapy, mycoplasma testing of cell lines of all types, harvest and preparation of blood samples for correlative studies associated with clinical trials, and harvest and preparation of blood and lymphocyte samples for immunologic monitoring of endpoints associated with clinical immunotherapy trials. As with the original hybridoma production services, all of these functions serve cancer research investigators for whom it would be cumbersome and inefficient to establish the same capabilities in each of their separate laboratories. While preference is given to funded Cancer Center researchers, all VCU scientists are able to access the facility's services. Funding of this shared resource will be obtained from the CCSG and from a system of user fees designed to recover cost of supplies, while still providing a very cost- efficient service to research scientists at VCU and the Cancer Center.
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