Cell Sorter Upgrade for Flow Cytometry Service Facility

描述（由申请人提供）：通过NCRR共享仪器拨款申请申请资金，为肯塔基大学医学院流式细胞术服务设施购买iCyt反射高速平行细胞分选仪。流式细胞术服务中心是一个由大学资助的核心机构，成立于25年前。目前在首席研究员的指导下，由两名经验丰富的仪器操作员组成。该设施为肯塔基大学5个不同学院、22个不同系、14个分部和6个中心的100多个实验室提供流式细胞分析和分类服务。在这些实验室中，有68名美国国立卫生研究院资助的研究人员利用该设施的服务，为他们的研究项目提供流式细胞术数据和细胞分类。流式细胞术服务设施目前有一个细胞分选器，MoFlo系统，已经有11年的历史了。在过去的三年中，该仪器变得不可靠，要求该设施取消对一些研究人员的预定分类。此外，在过去几年中，要求分选活人类细胞和/或感染细胞的数量显著增加。然而，由于MoFlo系统不是为BSL2生物防护设计的，因此调查人员的要求不得不被拒绝。由于无法在BSL2控制下进行细胞分选和分析，严重限制了美国国立卫生研究院资助的研究人员在我校实现其资助目标的能力。出于这些原因，我们将购买iCyt Reflection并行分选机，该分选机集成在Baker Sterigard III BSL2生物安全罩中，以替代我们老化的MoFlo分选机。大学已经同意为流式细胞术服务设施提供新的实验室空间，该设施将进行翻新，以便与我们的其他细胞分析仪分开，有一个限制进入的房间，用于所有生物危险分类和分析。这一设施升级将建立该大学唯一的细胞分选机，在充分保护设施人员的条件下，对受感染的活细胞进行分析和分选。有了这一重要的升级，该设施将能够协助需要为其研究项目分类潜在危险样本的调查人员。此外，iCyt分类器将为NIH资助的研究人员提供在现有仪器无法提供的新方向上扩展研究工作的机会。反过来，这种仪器的可用性将为合作和研究资助带来新的机会。

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.