We are proposing to develop a center for cell sorting and cell characterization at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The number of projects positively impacted by establishing such a center are numerous and varied. The investigators involved in this proposal come from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, and Agriculture in the general disciplines of Immunology, Physiology, Mycology, Cell, Developmental and Molecular Biology. The requested flow cytometer will be utilized heavily in sorting and characterizing immune cell populations. A major project will be involved in identifying immune cells responsible for melanocyte destruction in birds afflicted with autoimmune vitiligo. Because of the ease of access, and ability to repeatedly sample large numbers of melanocyte-specific immune cells, the Smyth chicken represents a valuable animal model for studying autoimmune disease. Flow cytometry would also be used for sorting based on the ploidy of cultured prostate cells. Cell sorting will also be instrumental in screening for Dictyostelium transformants in efforts to study and clone the gene for an antiporter from golgi bodies.
