Fluorescent Activated Cell Sorter for C. elegans (worms)

描述(申请人提供)：线虫秀丽线虫已经成为一个重要的实验系统，用于研究与真核生物密切相关的各种生物学问题。线虫的大小、有限的细胞数量和易于接近的遗传学使其成为一种非常有用的生物。这项提议是购买一台Union Biometrica Biosort 2。这台仪器将根据线虫的大小和荧光对线虫进行分析和分类；它是一种“蠕虫细胞分选器”。该仪器的高容量与其区分不同大小的蠕虫或表达不同荧光蛋白的能力相结合，使遗传筛选的规模达到了以前未知的水平。该仪器对活虫的分选能力(50,000条/小时)将提供足够的转基因或突变动物，以便进行生化研究。 该仪器将由七名不同的首席调查人员使用，他们属于三所不同学院(文理学院、药学院、医学院)的五个不同系。该仪器将被安置在我们现有的荧光激活细胞分选器设施中。这一核心设施位于犹他大学校园的中心，距离所有调查人员都很近。这个设施已经运行了十多年，由一名全职博士主任和一名熟练的技术人员监督。主任向使用当前荧光激活细胞分类器和扫描仪的用户提供培训和支持，并将为Union Biometrica Biosort 2这样做。 这一工具得到了强有力的机构支持。该机构将提供主任和技术人员的工资。除了核心设施的空间外，该机构还将保证仪器的维护。这一机构承诺将确保调查员可以使用该工具，而不必收取令人望而却步的每小时费率。该文书的使用将由一个监督委员会监督，该委员会将管理与优先事项和宣传有关的问题。该委员会的负责人将是核心设施监督委员会的成员。这一行政结构将在机构核心设施的框架内对“蠕虫分拣机”进行无缝管理。 总而言之，针对线虫的荧光激活细胞分选器将提供新的能力，这将极大地造福于犹他大学线虫研究人员的强大群体。它将既促进现有的研究项目，又允许开发没有这一新工具就无法发挥作用的新项目。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has become an important experimental system used to study a wide variety of biological problems germane to eucaryotes. The size, limited cell number and approachable genetics has made C. elegans a highly useful organism. This proposal is to purchase a Union Biometrica Biosort 2. This instrument will both analyze and sort C. elegans on the basis of size and fluorescence; it is a "cell sorter for worms". The high capacity of the instrument in combination with its ability to discriminate worms of different sizes or expressing different fluorescent proteins permits genetic screens on a scale that was previously unknown. The capacity of the instrument to sort living worms (50,000 worms/hour) will provide enough transgenic or mutant animals to permit biochemical studies. The instrument will be used by seven different principal investigators, who belong to five different departments housed in three different colleges (College of Arts and Sciences, College of Pharmacy, School of Medicine). The instrument will be housed in our existing Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter Facility. This core facility is centrally located on the University of Utah campus and is proximal to all of the investigators. This facility has been in operation for over ten years and is overseen by a full-time Ph.D. director and a skilled technician. The director provides training and support to users using the current Fluorescence activated cell sorters and scanners and will do so for the union Biometrica Biosort 2. There is strong institutional support for this instrument. The institution will provide the salary of the Director and the technician. In addition to space in the core facility the institution will guarantee the maintenance of the instrument. This institutional commitment will ensure that the instrument can be used by investigators without having to charge prohibitive hourly rates. The instrument's use would be monitored by an oversight committee that would manage issues dealing with priorities and publicity. The head of this committee will be a member of the Core Facilities Oversight Board. This administrative structure will provide a seamless management of the "worm sorter" within the framework of institutional Core Facilities. In summary, a fluorescent activated cell sorter for C. elegans would provide new capabilities that would greatly benefit the strong group of C. elegans researchers at the University of Utah. It would both facilitate existing research projects and permit the development of new projects that could not function without this novel instrument.