A Cs Irradiator to Support Various Projects in Molecular Biology at UNTHSC

描述(由申请人提供)：近年来，沃斯堡的北得克萨斯大学健康科学中心在项目和助学金资金流入方面经历了前所未有的增长。支持资助项目的核心设施发展有些滞后。在这一共享仪器赠款申请中，证明了NIH资助的校园和阿灵顿地区沃斯堡/阿灵顿地区其他大学的项目可以从多功能137Cs伽马辐射器的可用性中受益匪浅。在技术上容易地引入明确定义的细胞损伤的能力将在各种项目和各种实验系统中得到利用。某些项目直接参与研究DNA损伤反应，而其他项目仅将这种类型的电离辐射用作工具，例如为了引入突变。例如，在个别项目中使用伽马辐射：1)在萌芽中的酵母中诱导细胞周期检查点和转录变化。2)允许用于免疫学研究的骨髓操作。4)在癌症相关解毒系统的研究以及与衰老和阿尔茨海默病有关的研究中引入氧化应激。5)作为一种方便和被广泛接受的在线虫中引入突变的方法。还确定了几个二次用户，希望使用这一新颖和重要的资源不仅会导致更多的赠款申请，而且还会扩大校园内研究工作的范围。这种资源的特点不是运营成本高，也不是运营后勤困难。该仪器机械简单、坚固耐用、免维护。照射时间短，可以很容易地容纳一大群潜在的用户。所有初级用户的个人项目都是由NIH赠款资助的，它们与人类健康的相关性很容易得到确认。总的来说，研究电离辐射的影响具有巨大的医学意义，因为它经常被用作诊断和治疗试剂。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In recent years, the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth has experienced unprecedented growth in terms of programs and influx of grant funds. The development of core facilities supporting funded projects has somewhat lagged behind. In this shared instrument grant application, it is demonstrated that NIH funded projects on campus and at other universities in the Fort Worth/Arlington area can benefit significantly from the availability of a versatile 137Cs gamma irradiator. The capability to introduce with technical ease well-defined cellular damage is going to be exploited in a variety of projects and a variety of experimental systems. Certain projects are directly involved in studying DNA damage responses while others use this type of ionizing radiation merely as a tool, e.g. in order to introduce mutations. For instance, gamma irradiation in individual projects is used: 1) to induce cell cycle checkpoints and transcriptional changes in budding yeast. 2) to permit bone marrow manipulations for immunological studies. 3) as an apoptosis triggering agents in studies of protein kinase C. 4) to introduce oxidative stress in studies of cancer-relevant detoxification systems and in studies concerned with aging and Alzheimer's disease. 5) as a convenient and widely-accepted way to introduce mutations in C. elegans. Several secondary users have also been identified and it is hoped that access to this novel and important resource will not only lead to more successful grant applications but also to a widening of scope of research endeavors on campus. The resource is not characterized by high operating costs or difficult operational logistics. This instrument is mechanically simple, robust and maintenance-free. Irradiation times are brief and a large group of potential users can easily be accommodated. The individual projects of all primary users are funded by NIH grants, and their relevance for human health can easily be confirmed. In general, the study of effects of ionizing radiation is of tremendous medical importance because of its frequent use as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent.