The purpose of this proposal is to seek funds to purchase a robotic high-resolution picking and gridding Q-bot system. Manipulation of large libraries such as cDNA libraries or phage display libraries is quite cumbersome and fraught with points of clonal loss or contamination. Use of a robotic picker and gridder would alleviate these problems. Currently no such instrument exists in the greater Cleveland/Northeastern Ohio region. This robotic picking and gridding instrument will greatly enhance cDNA-arraying capabilities of the Laboratory of Gene Expression and the DNA Laboratory of Clinical Medicine CORE (DLCM) within the Lerner Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). The requested instrumentation will also be used to facilitate and advance research programs at institutions within the area (CCF and Case Western Reserve University). Major Users all have numerous NIH-funded research grants, which have component projects that can best, be conducted using the colony/phage picking and rearraying/cherry-picking or high density arraying features of this instrumentation system. All the Major User's projects require substantial needs to manipulate large phage or cDNA libraries. The Major Users projects are broad and include: I) identification of differentially expressed tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes in diseased tissue; 2) identification of interacting proteins with defined protein components in a complex biological protein mixture; 3) characterization of protein: protein interaction domains; and 4) identification of altered cellular signaling pathways and gene expression patterns in response to bioterroristic biological agents. The Q-bot system provides the versatility, resolution and capabilities to meet these diverse demands. In addition, the requested instrument system will be used to meet the needs of the occasional user. This service will be conducted within our existing Molecular Biotechnology Core, which provides support to investigators by performing protein sequencing, peptide synthesis, and related services. Due to the human genome project, the DNA arraying facilities have experienced greatly increased usage. Using the Q-bot, the DNA arraying facilities at CCF will be able to generate highly diverse types of arrays and maintain and replicate their valuable cDNA sequence verified 40K human and 15K mouse libraries. CCF has committed substantial resources to the developing the DNA Laboratory of Clinical Medicine and the Molecular Biotechnology Cores, including personnel to oversee its operation, and a fiscal plan to insure its operation and maintenance for the long-term. In sum, acquisition of the requested high resolution picking and gridding Q-bot system will have a significant impact on the progress and future development of biomedical research programs at multiple institutions in the region including CCF and CWRU. ? ?
