? ? In October 2002 the NIDA Center for Functional Genomics and HCV-Associated Liver Disease was funded to bring together a diverse group of investigators from basic science and clinical medicine to advance a systems level understanding of host-virus interactions in the progression of liver disease in patients with chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) or HCV/HIV infection. This supplemental application focuses on the reorganization of the Proteomics & Modeling Core of the NIDA Center. As a result of the impending departure of key proteomics personnel, including Dr. Ruedi Aebersold, a world expert in proteomics at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), we propose to transfer routine protoemics proteomics work from the ISB to Dr. Katze's laboratory. We will purchase proteomic reagents (e.g. ICAT kits), acquire additional proteomics software tools and licenses (e.g. Mascot, Rosetta Elucidator), and expand our data storage capabilities to support the NIDA Center' s routine mass spectrometry analyses to be carried out on the LTQ mass spectrometer being purchased by the Katze lab. In addition, we propose to establish a new collaboration with Dr. Richard Smith, a world expert in proteomics at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Dr. Smith's group will leverage major developments in mass spectrometry instrumentation and data processing capabilities to address our unmet need for robust, ultra-sensitive analysis of global protein expression profiling in HCV infected clinical human liver biopsy samples. Moreover, the integration of Dr. Smith's group into the NIDA Center will allow us to replace the proteomics expertise lost by Dr. Aebersold's departure. The continuity of expert technical support for the Center's routine proteomics efforts combined with the incorporation of rare, ultra-sensitive proteomics technologies will ensure continued progress toward our ultimate goal of providing a comprehensive molecular blueprint of the cellular response to HCV infection and a detailed picture of the cellular events characteristic of HCV associated liver disease. ? ?
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