PROTEIN & NUCLEIC ACID CORE FACILITY

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The research performed at the UCC Medical School covers a wide range of areas including behavioral neuropharmacology, neuronal and muscular receptor studies to cellular physiology, neuronal and glial networking, endothelial cell biology, steroid actions in the immune system and the effect of microgravity on the immune system, caveolae and caveolin expression and the analysis of toxin with its receptor, Parkinson's Disease, DNA vaccine production, cancer biology and platelet function. The Protein and Nucleic Acid Core Facility (PNACF) will aid the UCC investigators in the transition from the more classical studies to a more molecular and up-to-date analysis of the problems being addressed by each investigators. PNACF will focus on faculty training, seminars, training on specialized molecular biology techniques, protein expression and protein purification and characterization. Therefore, the PNACF continues to be an important core facility for the maintenance and future development of research at this institution. Specific Aims are: (1) To continue helping researchers with training/service current molecular biology techniques and training other researchers including post-doctoral fellows and research assistants, on the use and maintenance of specialized equipments. (2) To introduce two powerful techniques, namely gene microarray and nanotechnology in collaboration with the core facilities of other institutions in the mainland USA. (3) To sponsor 'hand-on" workshops in molecular biological techniques, cell-free protein expression and fusion protein purification techniques given by the invited experts in each of these fields. This will help the UCC researchers to directly address their research problems and to obtain preliminary data for publications/presentations/external funding. (4) To continue to be a resource center where the UCC faculty can obtain technical information and cost estimation for molecular biological/protein analysis techniques and services that are not available at UCC. (5) To continue helping the researchers for the computerized analysis of nucleic acid and protein data.