Cell Sorter Upgrade for Flow Cytometry Service Facility

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funding through this NCRR Shared Instrument Grant application is requested for the purchase of an iCyt Reflection high speed parallel cell sorter for the Flow Cytometry Service Facility at the University of Kentucky, College of Medicine. The Flow Cytometry Service Facility is a university-subsidized core which was established over 25 years ago. It is currently staffed by two experienced instrument operators under the direction of the principal investigator. The facility provides flow cytometric analysis and sorting on a fee-for-service basis to over 100 laboratories in 5 different colleges, 22 different departments, 14 divisions and 6 centers at the University of Kentucky. Among these labs are 68 NIH-funded investigators who utilize the services of the facility to provide flow cytometric data and sorted cells for their research programs. The Flow Cytometry Service Facility currently has one cell sorter, a MoFlo system, which is now 11 years old. Over the last three years this instrument has become unreliable requiring the facility to cancel scheduled sorts for a number of investigators. In addition, the number of requests for sorting of live human cells and/or infected cells has increased significantly over the last several years. However, since the MoFlo system is not designed for BSL2 biocontainment, requests by investigators had to be denied. The inability to perform cell sorting and analysis under BSL2 containment has severely restricted the ability of NIH-funded investigators at our university to carry out the aims of their grants. For these reasons, we will purchase the iCyt Reflection parallel sorter which is integrated within a Baker Sterigard III BSL2 biosafety hood as a replacement for our aging MoFlo sorter. The university has agreed to provide new laboratory space for the Flow Cytometry Service Facility, which will be renovated so as to have a restricted-access room for all biohazardous sorting and analysis that is separated from our other cell analyzers. This facility upgrade will establish the only cell sorter at the university that is equipped for analysis and sorting of live, infected cells under conditions that fully protect facility personnel. With this important upgrade the facility will be able to assist investigators who need to sort potentially hazardous samples for their research programs. Moreover, the iCyt sorter will offer NIH- funded investigators the opportunity to expand their research efforts in new directions that were not otherwise available with the existing instrumentation. In turn the availability of this instrumentation will spawn new opportunities for collaborations and research grants.