National Resource Center for Cephalopods

描述（申请人提供）：从上世纪获得的诺贝尔奖到本世纪使用头足类动物的分子生物学和蛋白质组学的快速增长，头足类动物作为生物医学研究的无脊椎动物模型的作用不能被高估。在头足类生物医学研究急剧增加的同时，NRCC扩大了头足类物种和个体头足类的产量。此外，NRCC通过从用户费和匹配赠款中获得其预算的很大一部分，实现了成本效益和资金多样化。 NRCC的主要使命涉及NCRR的战略目标，即加强对了解人类健康和应对新出现的健康威胁至关重要的非人类模型的开发和获取。NRCC是1976年开始由NCRR资助的第一个替代无脊椎动物模型中心之一。NRCC将继续满足生物医学科学家不断扩大的需求，现在（使用头足类动物提供当前赠款的55%）和未来，因为我们的研究人员将继续推进转化研究项目，这些项目将揭示生物体的发育过程和生物功能与人类健康的关系。脑豆荚对于理解视网膜中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。头足类动物血蓝蛋白在癌症治疗中的应用代表了头足类动物在生物医学中令人兴奋和直接的作用。本建议的具体目标是：（1）继续经营。NRCC经济地通过培养关键物种;扩大共生体模型Euprymna Escheropes的生产;与两个新的合作非营利机构搬到新的设施;并监测模型动物的长期健康;（2）通过具有成本效益的电子和印刷广告继续扩大我们的用户群;（3）通过将我们的NRCC网站（www.nrcc.utmb.edu）与我们的其他头足类网站（即，CephBase和CephSchool）;（4）通过培育两种章鱼（Octopus bimaculoides和Enteroctopus dofleini）来扩大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一个试点项目，在头足类动物的肿瘤诱导与双壳类软体动物相比。 NRCC在NCRR的大力支持下，已经成为开发和管理替代模式计划的原型。事实上，美国国家科学院在1999年出版的《从季风到微生物》中，明确指出这个头足类动物项目是由NCRR资助的一两个示范项目，符合他们成为“发现的催化剂”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."