The initial (1999) application did not include a Cellular Neuroscience Core. Instead, it proposed separate coresin Neuropathology and Neuroscience, with the latter offering expertise in cell culture. The Director of theNeuroscience Core was David Pleasure, M.D., an internationally recognized neurologist with interests in glialbiology of the peripheral and central nervous system. Neuropathology initially was headed by JohnTrojanowski, M.D., Ph.D. and Dr. Lucy Rorke, M.D., distinguished neuropathologists with respective eminencein neurodegenerative diseases and pediatric brain tumors. As user needs evolved, it became apparent that thesefacilities should be merged into a single Cellular Neuroscience Core. This was accomplished in 1994 with Dr.Pleasure as the Director. He served in this capacity through the renewal of the Center (1999) until 2001, whenleadership passed to Dr. Jeffrey Golden, a pediatric neuropathologist with a primary interest in braindevelopment and its disorders. Dr. Golden first joined CHOP in 1997 and immediately became engaged withthe MRDDRC, both as a user and as an Associate Director of the Cellular Neuroscience Core. Dr. Pleasure hascontinued to serve as the Director of the Stokes Research Institute at CHOP.Since its inception (1994) our Core has provided users with a diverse repertoire of state-of-the-art methods forvisualization of the distributions of gene products in normal, developing neural cells and in those undergoingvarious forms of degeneration and regeneration. We have continually and eagerly added new skills,instrumentation and reagents to better serve our users's needs. In 1995, with the generous assistance of theChildren's Hospital, we purchased a Leica confocal microscope to which we added inverted microscopy, stagemountedmicromanipulators/microinjectors, and a stage-mounted environmental chamber, thus permittingprolonged observation and manipulation of living cells under physiological conditions. In this manner weoffered 8-color capacity fluorescent imaging. Our institution paid for the apparatus and we used MRDDRCfunding to partially support a technician who worked with Dr. Peter Bannerman, the Director of ConfocalMicroscopy. Dr. Bannerman became very skillful in the use of this instrument and he made this valuableexpertise available to MRDDRC researchers.We made several other notable technological additions to the Core repertoire, including in situ hybridization inboth sections and whole embryos. Our general purpose has been not only to make available a technology, but aconsultative service that facilitates implementation of the method as well as the interpretation of data. Weadhered to this policy when we also added video-enhanced microscopy in order to better support MRDDRCinvestigators in analyzing intracellular Ca2+ and Na+ as well as the estimate of mitochondrial potential.We were especially gratified that Dr. Douglas Coulter joined the Core upon his coming to CHOP in 1999. Dr.Coulter added to our 'armamentarium' his deep experience in electrophysiology and his background instudying the epilepsies. We also welcomed (2003) Dr. Alex Judkins, a pediatric neuropathologist with interestsin pediatric brain injury and pediatric brain tumors v atypical teratoid/rhabadoid tumors and primativeneuroectodermal tumors in particular. Supported by funds from the Department of Pathology and CHOP, Dr.Judkins oversees the newly equipped histopathology labs tissue microarrayer and laser-capture microscopysystems. These systems, which are now being utilized by center investigators, will also complement servicesprovided by the Molecular Genetics core and the Analytical Neurochemistry cores.Advances in genetics have rapidly accelerated the discovery of genes implicated in the pathogenesis of thedevelopmental disabilities, including several genes that have been identified by members of our MRDDRC. Tobetter appreciate genotype-phenotype relationships, the Cellular Neuroscience Core plans to offer transgenicand mutagenesis services during the next funding period. The goal is to generate animal models for the specificintent to study disorders relevant to the MRDDRC mission. Dr. Golden has overseen the establishment of a coreat CHOP to perform these services. The MRDDRC plans to provide consultation and economical access to thisnew facility. This exciting advance will help investigators to scrutinize the basis of disease in hithertoinaccessible detail. Indeed, we note with satisfaction that MRDDRC users will explore these models not onlywith the techniques that our Core offers, but with the plethora of methods that are available through theMolecular Genetics and Analytical Neurochemistry and Spectroscopy Cores.As a result of the continued evolution of this core and the investment by the institution in new technologies andthe constant upgrading of equipment, the Cellular Neuroscience Core has been able to provide outstandingservices to Center users. Over the past 4.5 years we have serviced 25 investigators; contributing to at least 49publications. The growth of existing services and the addition of new methods ensures that MRDDRC membersenjoy ready access to that technological array that has become so essential to all contemporary interdisciplinaryresearch.
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