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

MRI：购买 FACS 细胞分选仪用于抗生素耐药性和环境毒物受体研究

• 批准号: 1725426
• 负责人: Joan Slonczewski
• 金额: $ 22.42万
• 依托单位: Kenyon College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1725426&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; FACS; Cell; Sorter

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.

凯尼恩学院获得荧光激活细胞分选仪 (FACS) 的奖励。细胞分选仪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。该项目可能会揭示对细菌种群适应性很重要的化学试剂。该仪器还将能够测量动物细胞中的 DNA 含量，揭示细胞如何分裂以及对环境毒物的反应。这两个目标都对环境质量有潜在的好处。 FACS 将加强两个本科生研究项目，为凯尼恩学院约 25 名发表变革性研究的本科生提供服务；其中许多随后进入国家的科学研究渠道。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。本科研究人群包括凯尼恩 NSF 资助的 S-STEM 项目中经济困难的学生。在接下来的几年中，该仪器将为环境微生物学和免疫学方面的其他本科研究项目提供服务。 FACS 将用于测试可能逆转细菌群体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耐药逆转剂，以进行健康竞赛测定。它还将促进一种使用具有 pH 依赖性激发峰的荧光团分离改变细胞质 p​​H 的细菌突变体的新方法。另一个本科生研究项目涉及二恶英和其他重要环境污染物（称为芳基碳氢化合物）的两栖动物受体的机制。 FACS 将能够测试一个令人兴奋的假设，即芳基烃受体在调节细胞周期（发育和致癌的关键过程）中发挥独特的作用。资助期结束后，FACS 将有助于开展有关受人类干扰的水生系统微生物群落结构的新研究。免疫学计划将研究巨噬细胞激活在应激诱导哮喘中的作用。