The objectives of Core C are to provide standardized methodologies, protocols, and imaging services to be utilized by each of the four projects. These include: 1) histological sectioning and immunohistochemical staining, 2) bright-field, fluorescent, and multi-spectral image acquisition, 3) image processing and quantitative analysis, and 4) automated data acquisition and spreadsheet formatting. This centralization will facilitate the comparison of immunohistochemical results among different tissues/organs/projects, as well as reduce variability due to diverse staining and imaging procedures. This will be the only such system available at the University of Rochester and will provide a much more sensitive means of discriminating overlapping spectral components in the immunohistochemical sections. In addition, recently developed texture recognition software will be implemented that allows the differentiation and quantification of adjacent tissue types having similar spectral characteristics, based on the inclusion of morphological indices. To facilitate communication among projects. Core C will also develop and oversee two centralized databases;one for the quantitative experimental results, and one for a library of compressed images. These will provide researchers with a comprehensive overview of results from each of the four tissue types.
In view of the fact that early and late effects of radiation on normal tissues have historically been characterized qualitatively or at best, semi-quantitatively, all programs with benefit from the implementation of quantitative image analysis techniques and automated data acquisition. The core will be especially valuable in providing previously unavailable multi-spectral imaging to augment the bright-field and fluorescent capabilities.
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