National Resource Center for Cephalopods

描述(申请人提供)：从上个世纪的诺贝尔奖到本世纪利用头足类动物进行的分子生物学和蛋白质组学的快速增长，头足类作为生物医学研究的无脊椎动物模型的作用怎么估计都不为过。在头足类生物医学研究大幅增加的同时，NRCC扩大了头足类物种和单个头足类动物的产量。此外，NRCC通过从使用费和等额赠款中获得其预算的很大一部分，使其资金变得具有成本效益和多样化。 NRCC的主要任务是解决NCRR的战略目标，即加强非人类模型的开发和获取，这些模型对于了解人类健康和应对新出现的健康威胁至关重要。NRCC是从1976年开始由NCRR资助的第一批替代无脊椎动物模型中心之一。NRCC现在和未来将继续满足生物医学科学家不断增长的需求(使用头足类动物为目前55%的资助提供服务)，因为我们的研究人员将继续推进转换研究项目，揭示与人类健康相关的生物有机体的发育过程和生物功能。头足类对于了解视网膜中G结合蛋白的分子生物学和神经元中离子通道的合成至关重要。头足类血蓝蛋白在癌症治疗中的应用代表了头足类在生物医学中令人兴奋和直接的作用。这项建议的具体目的是：(1)继续运作。(2)通过高性价比的电子和平面广告继续扩大我们的用户基础；(3)通过整合我们的NRCC网站(www.nrcc.utmb.edu)和我们的其他头足类互联网网站(即CephBase和CephSchool)，继续成为头足类动物标本和生物医学用途信息的主要来源；以及(4)培育两种章鱼，以增加可用于生物医学的头足类物种的数量。我们建议使用后者进行头足类动物肿瘤诱导的试点项目，并与双壳类软体动物进行比较。 在NCRR的大力支持下，NRCC已经成为开发和管理替代模式项目的原型。事实上，美国国家科学院在其1999年的出版物《从季风到微生物》中，专门将这个头足类项目确定为NCRR资助的一到两个模式项目，实现了他们成为“发现催化剂”的目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): From the Nobel prizes awarded in the last century to the rapid increase in molecular biology and proteomics using cephalopods in this century, the role of cephalopods as invertebrate models for biomedical research cannot be overvalued. Concurrent with this dramatic increase in cephalopod biomedical research, the NRCC has expanded its production of both numbers of cephalopod species and of individual cephalopods. Furthermore, the NRCC has become cost efficient and diversified in its funding by obtaining a significant portion of its budget from user fees as well as matching grants. The NRCC's primary mission addresses the NCRR's strategic goal to enhance the development of and access to nonhuman models that are critical to understanding human health and responding to emerging health threats. The NRCC was one of the first of the alternative invertebrate model centers funded by NCRR beginning in 1976. The NRCC will continue to meet the expanding needs of biomedical scientists now(serving 55% of current grants using cephalopods) and in the future, as our investigators move forward with translational research projects that unravel the developmental processes and biological functions of living organisms in relation to human health. Cephalopods have been critical to understanding the molecular biology of G-binding proteins in the retina and ion channel synthesis in neurons. Use of cephalopod hemocyanin in cancer treatment represents an exciting and direct role for cephalopods in biomedicine. The specific aims of the present proposal are (1) To continue to operate the. NRCC economically by culturing key species; expanding production of the symbiont model Euprymna scolopes; moving to anew facility with two new collaborating non-profit institutions; and monitoring the model animals long-term health; (2) To continue to expand our user base through cost-effective electronic and print advertising; (3) To remain the primary source of both specimens and information on the biomedical uses of cephalopods by integrating our NRCC web site (www.nrcc.utmb.edu) with our other cephalopod internet sites (i.e., CephBase and CephSchool); and (4) To expand the number of cephalopod species available for use in biomedicine by culturing two octopus species, Octopus bimaculoides, and Enteroctopus dofleini. We propose to use the latter to conduct a pilot project on tumor induction in cephalopods in comparison with bivalve mollusks. The NRCC with NCRR's strong support has become the archetype for the development and management an alternative model program. In fact, the National Academy of Sciences in their 1999 publication, "From Monsoons to Microbes," identified this cephalopod program specifically as one or two model programs funded by NCRR, meeting their goal of being "A Catalyst for Discovery."