Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania including the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine, the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Veterinary Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia are increasing engaged in research projects that require sophisticated, sensitive, and highly efficient detection techniques for the study gene expression, protein biosynthesis, metabolic pathways, and molecular signaling events. This technology is becoming particularly critical to the productivity of many ongoing NIH funded research projects at these institutions. Furthermore, there is every indication that demand for highly sophisticated imaging techniques will increase in the near future. Currently, investigators in this group have been using a variety of traditional detection techniques which include CCD camera chemiluminescence, standard phosphorimager technology, x-ray film, and linear scanner based image acquisition and quantization devices. Separately, each of these techniques suffers from either a lack of high-throughput, sufficient sensitivity, or adequate spatial resolution required for today's sophisticated cell signaling and proteomics approaches. In this application, we propose that routine access to a bench top analytical instrument capable of detecting a wide range of reporter technologies would greatly facilitate the execution of a spectrum of NIH funded research projects currently being pursued by the seven major users participating in this consortium. To address this, we therefore make application to purchase a state of the art, multimodal, high-throughput imaging system which unites proven storage phosphor autoradiography technology with four color fluorescence labeling and enhanced chemiluminescence detection for the quantitative analysis of biomolecules in DNA, RNA, and protein samples. The proposed equipment, a Typhoon 9400 Variable Mode Imager, will be integrated into the Protein and Molecular Biology Core already established within the Department of Medicine Laboratories housed in the School of Veterinary Medicine for the purpose of facilitating the growing biomolecular imaging needs of a group of collaborative investigators drawn from a range of research disciplines at these Schools.
