Biocontainment Research Support Service(s) Core

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Project Summary Core 3: Biocontainment Research Support Services Core The objective of the Biocontainment Research Support Services Core (BRSSC, Core 3) is to provide sustainable research resources that facilitate the pre-clinical development of medical countermeasures against emerging and re-emerging pathogens. To achieve this, the BRSSC provides world-class resources in the priority areas of aerobiology, animal modeling, immunology, imaging, and microbiology for BSL-3 bacterial and viral pathogens. The BRSSC serves the needs of MU as well as NIAID and the RBL-NBL network by focusing its capabilities to provide technical expertise under BSL-3 containment for NIAID priority pathogens and the evaluation of novel vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics. The BRSSC closely collaborates with other relevant Research Services at MU, including but not limited to the NIH-funded Resource and Research Centers for Mutant Mouse, Rat, and Swine to develop and refine novel transgenic animal models for priority pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. The technical staff of the BRSSC is a dedicated team for conducting and supporting experiments using advanced technology, high-precision instrumentation on live samples. Added layers of primary and secondary containment allow for safe handling and usage of the unique support services that are offered in the BRSSC. For example, direct access from the vivarium to the class III glovebox and its inhalation exposure chamber eliminates the need to move infected animals through corridors or other space that may expose people. In addition, there is a high- speed cell sorter, housed within a manufacturer-supplied class II BSC, that allows recovery of live cells infected with a BSL-3 pathogen for downstream analysis. The Lionheart fluorescent microscopy system allows real-time imaging of environmentally-controlled live BSL-3 samples in multi-well format, and is useful for optimization of viral growth conditions and other live and in vitro assays without need for pathogen inactivation. Further imaging and other instrumentation available in the ABSL-3 allows for longitudinal monitoring of the infection, blood chemistry and immune responses without need to chemically inactivate sample, thereby reducing time and unwanted impact for the procedure. All of these examples illustrate the capabilities for safe conduct of BSL-3 research using advanced technology instrumentation that is available through the BRSSC. The collaborative effort between the dedicated teams of Cores 1, 2 and 3 of this UC7 application combined with regular interactions with the NIAID RBL-NBL network will maximize best practices and usage of these unique resources. To create sustainability, the BRSSC is committed to training diverse technical professionals and scientists in BSL-3/ACL- 3/ABSL-3 research. Through management of the critical resources at the LIDR, the BRSSC helps advance the development of novel medical countermeasures against BSL-3 pathogens.