MRI: Acquisition of FACS Cell Sorter for Research on Antibiotic Resistance and Environmental Toxicant Receptors

凯尼恩学院被授予获得荧光激活细胞分类器(FACS)的奖项。该细胞分选器将能够分离和定量细胞类型，用于细菌的实验进化，以研究抗生素耐药性和在酸中的生存。该项目可能揭示化学制剂在细菌种群适合性中的重要作用。该仪器还将能够测量动物细胞中的DNA含量，揭示细胞如何分裂并对环境毒物做出反应。这两个目标对环境质量都有潜在的好处。FAC将加强两个本科生研究项目，服务于大约25名在凯尼恩学院发表变革性研究的本科生；他们中的许多人随后进入了国家-S科学研究管道。一年级学生将参与研究，这是一项重要的高影响力实践(HIP)，可提高STEM保留率。本科生研究人群包括凯尼恩国家科学基金会资助的S-STEM项目中经济困难的学生。在接下来的几年里，该仪器将服务于环境微生物学和免疫学的更多本科生研究项目。FACS将被用于测试可能逆转细菌群体中抗生素耐药性的化学试剂。该仪器能够通过细胞分析快速筛选抗药性逆转药物，以进行适合度竞争分析。它还将促进一种新的方法来分离改变细胞质pH的细菌突变体，使用具有pH依赖的激发峰的荧光团。另一个本科生的研究项目是研究两栖动物对二恶英和其他重要的环境污染物芳香烃的受体机制。FACS将能够测试一个令人兴奋的假设，即芳香烃受体在调节细胞周期中发挥着不同的作用，细胞周期是发育和癌症发生的关键过程。在授权期过后，FACS将促进对受人类干扰的水生系统微生物群落结构的新研究。一个免疫学项目将调查巨噬细胞激活在应激诱导哮喘中的作用。

An award is made to Kenyon College to obtain a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). The cell sorter will enable separation and quantitation of cell types for experimental evolution of bacteria to study antibiotic resistance and survival in acid. This project may reveal chemical agents important in the fitness of bacterial populations. The instrument will also enable measurement of DNA content in animal cells, revealing how cells divide and respond to environmental toxicants. Both these aims have potential benefits for environmental quality. The FACS will enhance two undergraduate research programs serving approximately 25 undergraduates who publish transformative research at Kenyon College; many of them subsequently enter the nation?s science research pipeline. First-year students will participate in research, an important high-impact practice (HIP) that enhances STEM retention. The undergraduate research population includes economically disadvantaged students in Kenyon's NSF-funded S-STEM program. In subsequent years, the instrument will serve additional undergraduate research projects in environmental microbiology and immunology. The FACS will be employed to test chemical agents that may reverse antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations. This instrument enables rapid screening of resistance-reversal agents by cell analysis for fitness competition assays. It will also facilitate a novel means of isolating bacterial mutants that have altered cytoplasmic pH, using a fluorophore with pH-dependent excitation peaks. Another undergraduate research program addresses the mechanism of amphibian receptors for dioxins and other important environmental pollutants called aryl hydrocarbons. The FACS will enable testing of an exciting hypothesis that aryl hydrocarbon receptors play distinct roles in regulating the cell cycle, a key process for development and carcinogenesis. Beyond the grant period, the FACS will enable development of new research on the microbial community structure of aquatic systems subject to human disturbance. An immunology program will investigate the role of macrophage activation in stress induction of asthma.