Immunology Core

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The Immunology Core Facility (ICF) proposed for the Midwestern RCE currently serves the faculty at the University of Chicago by providing access to state-of-the-art immunological technologies and quantitative analytical approaches to measure molecular, cellular and tissue function. For consortium members, development of new immune-based therapies, such as vaccines and novel cytokines, requires careful monitoring of scientific endpoints to determine the optimal biologically active dose and schedule of these agents. The ICF represents an established facility with expertise in handling human and mouse cells and tissues for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating immunological responses. This multi-parameter immunologic analysis will provide researchers with state-of-the-art assays for determining the efficacy of pre-clinical and clinical therapies against targeted infectious agents. The ICF currently provides a wide variety of services and expertise to its users. For basic science research, the facility is utilized by researchers in many different areas of study for investigation of cellular structure/function, as well as for translational research in clinical applications and molecular medicine. The facility specializes in immunohistochemistry for cellular detection within the context of the surrounding tissue, and generation and production of novel monoclonal antibodies necessary for the detection of cells and subcellular components. The ICF also has an expert flow cytometry group for the analytical detection and sorting of single cell suspensions and subcellular components using multi-parameter fluorescence technology. For clinical trials in human patients, the ICF performs assays to monitor immune responses. This service enables clinical researchers to measure immunologic endpoints in participating study subjects. The endpoint assays are primarily focused on human T cell responses, but include a range of other immunological readouts. Thus, the ICF can provide consortium members with expert immunologic monitoring capabilities with which to carry out research and developmental projects.