X-Ray Irradiation Platform for cells and small animal studies

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This application is to request funding for the purchase of an X-Ray irradiator that allows whole body irradiation of small animals as well as ex vivo cell culture models. The Lady Davis Institute (LDI) has witnessed a massive surge in users requiring ionizing irradiation for their studies. Ionizing radiation is a powerful tool that is utilized in the fields of immunology, DNA damage/repair and telomere biology. Whole body irradiation is a standard procedure in immunology to produce bone marrow ablation in small animals, which allows the subsequent transplantation of donor hematopoietic stem cells. Ex vivo X-ray irradiation is also commonly used to evaluate the potential of cells to repair DNA breaks and maintain telomere structure. Up to now, researchers at the LDI have used the hospital’s clinical irradiator. This has been problematic for basic researchers as it is only available when clinicians are done treating patients. With the increased demand for radiation therapy, the access to the irradiator for basic researchers has become more and more difficult and worsen. Moreover, while researchers can reserve time to use it, appointments are frequently canceled to prioritize patient care. Furthermore, researchers are unable to operate the irradiator themselves and rely on coordinating with the technician to perform the actual procedures. This ongoing situation has prevented critical experiments to be performed and significantly decreased the productivity of a number of fundamental research programs, including those of the principal applicant Dr. Alexandre Orthwein and his co-applicants Drs. Koren Mann and Chantal Autexier. Acquiring an ‘in house’ irradiator is therefore essential for multiple LDI research labs to reach their full potential. These include 9 additional researchers at the Lady Davis Institute, for whom ex vivo or in vivo studies to understand DNA repair mechanisms in different cellular contexts. This equipment will complement the existing infrastructure and core facilities already offered at the LDI. It will be installed in the small animal Research Core facility to promote maximal usage. This will allow whole body irradiation to be performed with mouse or rat animal cages, irradiation to targeted areas with the use of a fixed collimator, or irradiation on cells. The X-ray cabinet provides a large area with space for up to 12 small animals or multiple samples to be irradiated, and is self-shielded, thereby requiring no additional barrier or infrastructure renovation. Once integrated into the LDI, this equipment will serve to: (i) accelerate multiple research programs, (ii) allow for training of high quality personnel (i.e. students and post-doctoral fellows), and (iii) produce quantitative data that will allow researchers to increase the impact of their projects. It will also be critical to enhance collaborations between different research units at the LDI.