This P30 Ophthalmology Core Facility renewal application is submitted to provide support for NEI-funded Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) vision researchers in four Resource cores: Bio-Imaging & Confocal Microscopy (Bio-Imaging); Gene Expression & Manipulation (Gene Manipulation); Molecular Genetics & Biostatistics (Genetics/Biostats); and Proteomics & Mass Spectrometry (Proteomics). These shared resources will provide equipment and personnel that would otherwise not be available to individual researchers working in a diverse array of diseases affecting nearly all parts of the eye, including the anterior segment, trabecular meshwork, lens, retina, and optic nerve. Associated diseases include glaucoma, inherited retinal degenerations, macular degeneration, cataract, uveitis and the genetics of glaucoma and macular degeneration. Bio-Imaging will support immunofluorescence microscopy for identification and localization of proteins within tissues, as well as provide support for a new module using Spectral Domain OCT for in vivo imaging of rodent eyes. Gene manipulation will provide technical support and advice for a range of methods to identify changes in levels of gene expression and their products (proteins) that result either from disease states or their treatment, and for methods by which these responses can be manipulated, such as RNAi silencing, gene overexpression or gene variant/mutant expression via transfection or viral gene transfer agents. Methods for studying transcriptional regulation will also be available. Genetics/Biostats will provide DNA isolation services from patient samples to NEI-funded investigators, and will provide a wide range of biostatistical support, including advice on study design, data analysis, and expert assistance with sophisticated methods such as high dimensional data, advanced clustering analysis and transcription factor prediction from microarray data. The Proteomics core will provide access to advanced techniques for probing protein structure with higher sensitivity, throughput and accuracy. All 4 cores are highly complementary and, in combination with a departmental vision research seminar series, will foster a positive atmosphere of collaborative vision research.
This Ophthalmology Core Facility grant will provide funding for support of four resource cores that will provide shared access for a large group of vision scientists to resources that they would not be able to supply individually. These cores consist of (1) sophisticated imaging of tissue samples and live-imaging to provide physiologic comparisons; (2) a group of methods to detect gene expression within tissues and their manipulation to determine disease mechanisms; (3) methods to aid gene discovery in patient and model samples and sophisticated biostatistical expertise to analyze complex gene expression patterns in both; and (4) methods of detecting complex protein composition in normal and diseased tissues.
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