The Central Virus Core (CVC) will play a pivotal role in the Birmingham CFAR. The CVC will provide a centralized, fully- equipped, and highly supervised Biosafety Level 3 (BSL 3) laboratory facility for all infectious HIV work by center members and will further serve as a Center resource for the maintenance and storage of thoroughly characterized stocks of HIV virus isolates, infected cell lines, and virus-specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. Although all recombinant HIV plasmid and phage constructs will be catalogued, propagated, and provided to CFAR members through the Molecular Biology Core, the CVC will play an important role in the initial construction of these recombinant HIV containing vectors which are often derived initially from primary or passaged cultures of HIV virus. The CVC directors (Drs. Shaw and Hahn) have demonstrated the successful application of the concept of a CVC for provision of virus-specific reagents by their current ongoing contract with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the provision of HIV proviral clones, growing stocks, and relevant genetic information for the NIAID AIDS Reagent Program (Appendix). The six programmatic areas comprising the CFAR Basic Sciences Program and the three programmatic areas comprising the Clinical Sciences Program will maximally utilize the CVC as the primary site for all infectious HIV work, as a source for HIV related reagents, and as a resource for information and experimental design and development relevant to their programmatic areas. Thirty-three NIH funded CFAR members have been identified who will utilize the CVC services. The CVC facility will be centrally located to these investigators and will consist of a 2,000 sq.ft. containment facility having six individual culture rooms, a common shared equipment area containing centrifuges, automated cell counter, microscopes, freezers, and all other equipment required for virus culture and analysis. The CVC will be operated on an at-cost reimbursement basis from the research funds of its users. The CVC will limit potential exposure to infectious HIV to a single tightly controlled laboratory facility providing maximal safety and efficiency, obviate duplication of equipment, and make available to all CFAR members full facilities for HIV research and a complete spectrum of fully characterized, high quality HIV related reagents.
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