Johns Hopkins High Throughput Fluorescence Reader System

描述(由申请人提供)：许多生物过程，特别是神经系统中发生在毫秒量级的那些过程，发生在快速的时间尺度上。识别生物活性化合物或核酸以探索机制过程，以及开发治疗疾病的线索，是推进和扩大约翰·霍普金斯大学研究的关键方面。这些项目以及其他生物信号传递过程往往需要专门的仪器、昂贵但必要的试剂和独特的技术专长。这些先决条件禁止个别实验室解决这些领域的重要问题。为了克服这一障碍，我们建议获得一种快速、高通量的荧光动力学阅读器系统。共享仪器将被整合到已经在运营的高通量复合屏幕设施ChemCORE中。将获得的仪器与现有的专业知识相结合，提供了资源和服务，这些资源和服务对于各个实验室来说是难以或不切实际的。这一仪器的使用将利用霍普金斯大学现有的机器人能力和化学库，并将大大加强正在进行的研究方案，并鼓励来自不同部门和校园的研究人员在拟议的核心项目中概述的新的研究方向。即将收购的仪器提供的新的实验机会补充了现有的大学核心设施，但不会重复。核心项目负责人有着非同寻常的丰富历史，领导着研究项目和富有成效的合作。他们的项目如提案中详细描述的那样，解决了生物医学科学不同领域中概念上或临床上的重要问题，这些领域将基础研究和翻译应用结合在一起。因此，在ChemCORE内部对这一仪器能力的资本投资既支持并扩大了NIH资助的项目的合作研究。针对疾病目标的高通量复合筛查的综合能力，以及各个实验室更广泛地获得高端仪器，将有助于对人类疾病的临床干预。PHS 398/2590(05/01版

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many biological processes, especially those in the nervous systems that occur on the order of milliseconds, take place with rapid temporal scales. Identification of bioactive compounds or nucleic acids to probe mechanistic processes and development of leads for treating diseases are vital aspects to advancing and expanding research at Johns Hopkins. These projects as well as other biological signaling processes often require specialized instrumentation, expensive but necessary reagents and unique technical expertise. Such prerequisites prohibit individual labs from tackling important problems in these areas. To surmount this barrier, we propose to acquire a fast and high throughput fluorescence kinetics reader system. The shared instrument will be incorporated into already operating high throughput compound screen facility, ChemCORE. The combination of the to-be-acquired instrumentation with existing expertise provides both resources and services that are difficult or impractical for individual laboratories to accomplish on their own. The use of this instrument will leverage the existing robotics capability and chemical libraries at Hopkins and will significantly enhance on-going research programs and stimulate new directions of research as outlined in the proposed core projects by investigators from different departments and campuses. The new experimental opportunities offered by the to-be-acquired instrument complement, but do not duplicate, existing University Core facilities. The core project leaders have unusually strong histories leading research programs and productive collaborations. Their projects as detailed in the proposal address conceptually or clinically important questions in different areas of biomedical sciences that interface basic research and translational applications. Therefore, the capital investment of this instrumentation capability within ChemCORE both enables and expands collaborative research of NIH-funded projects. The combined capability of high throughput compound screens against disease targets and the broadening accessibility of high-end instrument to individual laboratories will facilitate clinical intervention of human diseases. PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 05/01