This proposal requests funding for a state-of-the-art fluorescence activated cell sorter, the Beckman Coulter Epics Altra. This instrument will serve a growing community of researchers at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth as well as a number of other researchers from local institutions. There is currently no cell sorter in UNTHSC or Fort Worth. Users have to travel to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to sort cells. This limits the ability of graduate students to obtain data using this powerful approach. The requested instrument will be housed in the Flow Cytometry Core of the Health Science Center within the Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology. The Beckman Coulter Epics Altra is a state-of-the-art instrument that will enable the University of North Texas Health Science Center to meet the current and future needs of its researchers, as well as modernize its teaching technology. The ability to utilize a wider range of fluorochromes and perform high speed sorting of rare cells will increase the types of approaches that can be used to address important research questions. All of the major users hold at least one NIH peer reviewed grant. Thus, the instrument will be of significant benefit for several NIH funded projects and enable continued progress to a wide range of questions being asked.
