One of the most difficult components of clinical and translational research is the task of monitoring disease activity and developing insights into the mechanisms of disease. One well established method of addressing these issues is the measurement of biomarkers from human and animal specimens. The goal of this Core is to provide for the measurement of biomarkers in samples derived from the individual projects of this SCCOR program. In order to accomplish this goal, we will offer these individual projects a uniform resource for the large-scale measurement of biomarkers in plasma, serum, and urine. We will also use tissue culture methods to develop reporter assays that will employ the exposure of patient samples to cultured cells and measuring the evoked response. We will also centralize and organize the storage of samples from the individual projects so that samples are readily available for assay with any new or emerging biomarkers that become available during the course of this project. The principal means of measuring biomarkers in this core unit will be commercially available enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assays (ELISAs) or radioimmunoassays (RIAs). Because some assays may not be commercially available, this core will also generate in house ELISA and RIA methods using commercially-available antibodies. This core unit will generate data that spans all projects of the SCCOR program and thus, should provide a common basis for comparison between animal models and human disease.
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