NMSU CELL AND ORGANISM CORE FACILITY

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The Cell and Organism Core Facility (COCF) at New Mexico State University provides a proper facility equipped with instrumentation to carry out tissue culture experiments using funds from the New Mexico BRIN/INBRE grant. This facility is a critical asset to the research programs of junior faculty in the Biology and Chemistry/Biochemistry Departments at NMSU who use in vitro approaches in their studies - some junior faculty who also receive INBRE funding through pilot projects. Hence, the function of the COCF meets one of the stated goals of the New Mexico INBRE: to create a research infrastructure for investigators and students to perform studies using primary cell cultures, live tissue explant preparations from a variety of animal organisms, and established cell lines. In addition, the COCF supports research activities that benefit non-INBRE researchers at NMSU and promotes its use by non-university scientists in the community. Specifically, the COCF currently supports research activities that involve students and focus on: 1) cell dedifferentiation and transdifferentiation during regeneration in vertebrates (Dr. Graciela Unguez), 2) functional characterization of teleost muscle regulatory factors in mammalian embryonic cells and their myogenic conversion capacity (Dr. Graciela Unguez), 3) molecular mechanisms involved in the timing of cytokinesis and cell cycle regulation (Dr. Charles Shuster), 3) protein-protein interaction of Grb7 and its candidate binding proteins in mammalian cells (Dr. Barbara Lyons), 4) biocompatibility of carbon nanotube polymer on mammalian cells (Dr. Seamus Curran), 5) the mechanism of Drosophila eye development (Dr. Jennifer Curtis), and 6) the adaptation of dengue viruses to their mosquito vectors and how such adaptation affects virulence of the viruses for humans (Dr. Kathryn Hanley). The COCF is enabling daily research activities involving not only faculty, but their graduate and undergraduate students as well. In the past 8 months, a total of twelve students (8 graduate; 4 undergraduate) have been trained in cell culture techniques and have developed protocols optimized for tissue-specific in vitro studies. Further maturation of the facility will allow for a broader range of research and instructional projects and support the needs of additional NMSU researchers and visiting scientists.