CORE--LIGAND ASSAY AND ANALYSIS FACILITY

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The Ligand Assay and Analysis Core will serve an essential role in this U54 Center. First, the Core will measure peptide and steroid reproductive hormones in blood and tissue samples by immunoassay. Second, develop new state-of-the-art assay methods to accommodate the needs of the U54 investigators. Third, prepare labeled ligands (peptides, antibodies) for use in immunoassays, immunocytochemistry or binding studies. Fourth, the Core will assist in the transfer of technology relating to hormone measurement systems or ligand preparation to participating investigators. The accurate, precise and dependable measurement of reproductive hormones is an essential component in the investigative mission of this U54 Center. The Justification for establishing a Core facility relates to the savings in cost, resources and personnel to the U54 investigators, as they will not need to develop and maintain these methods in each individual laboratory. The technical expertise and equipment required to perform high volume or diverse testing by each investigator would be inefficient and divert effort and resources from important research questions. Also, a central Core facility can implement uniform standards for assay performance, quality controls and data reduction. The implementation of new methods or enhancement of current methods require technical expertise that would be costly and inefficient to establish in-house by each project investigator. One of the major rationales for establishing the Core is to provide state of the art assay services in a cost efficient manner. This mission will include development of assays with enhanced sensitivity and specificity, transferring methods from radioactive to nonradioactive systems, implementation of automation equipment (for high volume tests). Assay automation can enhance assay performance by improving assay precision and reducing costs by increasing the number of tests that can be performed by the technologist. Finally, the Core facility has and will continue to provide services to other U54 Centers and other reproductive scientists within the University of Virginia, promoting a spirit of cooperation that may lead to future collaborations between investigators.