A high-speed cell sorter is an essential piece of laboratory equipment in today's research environment. Immunology procedures frequently require the use of highly-purified cell preparations to determine viral target cells, cytokine production, functional capabilities, and antigen-specificities of various well-defined lymphocyte subsets. Furthermore, the capabilities of this equipment also allow for rapid acquisition of immunophenotypic data, which is becoming increasingly important in research involving the analysis of very rare cells or events, such as antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells, pluri-potential stem cells, and cells produced through genetic therapy or transfer experiments. Furthermore, the ultraviolet capabilities of these machines make state-of-the-art cellular activation assays possible, using Indo-1 to measure calcium flux in real-time experiments. Finally, the requested machine will allow the simultaneous visualization of 6 different fluorochromes (8 parameters) on an individual cell, which is becoming increasingly important when attempting to determine the phenotype of cells that are undergoing apoptosis, cell division, and in assessing naive and memory T cell subsets. This purpose of this application is to obtain a Becton Dickinson FACS Vantage SE flow cytometer equipped with an Enterprise II and Helium/Neon laser, and the high speed Turbosort option, for use by Researchers at, and in proximity to, the Tulane Regional Primate Research Center (TRPRC). Currently, the TRPRC has no cell sorting or ultraviolet laser capabilities, and the nearest piece of similar equipment is 40 miles away. The configuration of the machine requested will allow TRPRC researchers to perform high speed cell sorting, calcium flux determination, and 6-color immunophenotyping. This equipment will be of tremendous assistance in accomplishing the aims of several currently-funded NIH-funded experiments including those of AIDS pathogenesis and vaccine studies, malaria, neonatal immunology, microsporidiosis, Lyme's disease, cytokine research, and gene therapy experiments. Use of this equipment will be shared by all NIH-funded researchers at the TRPRC and will be readily available to outside investigators wishing to perform non-human primate research at the TRPRC. Once in operation, this equipment is also expected to generate several new, cutting-edge research projects involving the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of diseases of humans and animals, that simply cannot be performed without this kind of equipment.
| Pahar, Bapi; Wang, Xiaolei; Dufour, Jason et al. (2007) Virus-specific T cell responses in macaques acutely infected with SHIV(sf162p3). Virology 363:36-47 |
