Acquisition of A Microfluidic Chip-Based System for Cluster Sorting and Dispensing

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Project Summary/Abstract This proposal requests funding for a microfluidic chip-based system that will enable cluster sorting and dispensing. This will be the first system made available at a Core facility at Stanford University. The system will fill an established, unmet need for sorting cells in their tissue microenvironment. It will be installed at the FACS Center located at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, a Core facility open to all researchers at Stanford University. The major and minor users of the instrument are positioned to apply this instrument along with next generation -omic technologies for molecular and functional characterization of delicate cells and their attached microenvironments with techniques such as in vivo transplantation and in vitro culture, intra vital imaging, single cell RNA sequencing of dissociated clusters, CyTOF analysis, confocal microscopy of living clusters, proteomic analysis using mass spectrometry, to meet the goals of their NIH-funded research programs that include investigations in stem cell biology, vascular biology, cancer biology, and immunology. Stem cell biology • Characterizing the bone marrow niches of hematopoietic stem cells, mechanisms of engraftment of neural stem cells • Analyze how over-the-counter medications can change the immune microenvironment in a mouse model of COVID-19 induced ARDS Vascular biology • Understanding the interplay of different cell types and viral antigens including flu and SARS in complex atherosclerotic lesions Cancer Biology • Understanding tumor micro-environments Immunology • Understanding how resident and infiltrating immune and skin cells affect wound healing • Interrogating the mechanisms behind thymocyte development The system will be placed in a well-established, highly successful core facility open to all researchers at Stanford insures. Over the life of this instrument, it will be used by hundreds of researchers from many tens of labs to support similarly excellent research to better understand and combat disease.