A Cs Irradiator to Support Various Projects in Molecular Biology at UNTHSC

描述（由申请人提供）：近年来，沃斯堡的北德克萨斯大学健康科学中心在项目和资助资金方面经历了前所未有的增长。资助项目的核心配套设施建设相对滞后。在这个共享仪器拨款申请中，它证明了NIH资助的校园和沃斯堡/阿灵顿地区其他大学的项目可以从多功能137Cs伽马辐照器的可用性中显著受益。在技术上易于引入定义明确的细胞损伤的能力将在各种项目和各种实验系统中得到利用。某些项目直接涉及研究DNA损伤反应，而另一些项目则将这种电离辐射仅仅作为一种工具，例如为了引入突变。例如，在个别项目中使用伽马辐照：1)诱导出芽酵母的细胞周期检查点和转录变化。2)允许骨髓操作用于免疫学研究。3)在蛋白激酶c的研究中作为细胞凋亡的触发剂；4)在癌症相关解毒系统的研究以及衰老和阿尔茨海默病的研究中引入氧化应激。5)作为一种方便且被广泛接受的引入秀丽隐杆线虫突变的方法。几个次要用户也已确定，希望访问这个新颖而重要的资源不仅会导致更成功的拨款申请，而且会扩大校园研究工作的范围。该资源的特点不在于运营成本高或运营物流困难。该仪器机械简单，坚固耐用，免维护。辐照时间很短，可以很容易地容纳大量的潜在用户。所有主要用户的个人项目都由NIH拨款资助，它们与人类健康的相关性可以很容易地得到证实。一般来说，研究电离辐射的影响具有巨大的医学意义，因为它经常被用作诊断和治疗手段。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In recent years, the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth has experienced unprecedented growth in terms of programs and influx of grant funds. The development of core facilities supporting funded projects has somewhat lagged behind. In this shared instrument grant application, it is demonstrated that NIH funded projects on campus and at other universities in the Fort Worth/Arlington area can benefit significantly from the availability of a versatile 137Cs gamma irradiator. The capability to introduce with technical ease well-defined cellular damage is going to be exploited in a variety of projects and a variety of experimental systems. Certain projects are directly involved in studying DNA damage responses while others use this type of ionizing radiation merely as a tool, e.g. in order to introduce mutations. For instance, gamma irradiation in individual projects is used: 1) to induce cell cycle checkpoints and transcriptional changes in budding yeast. 2) to permit bone marrow manipulations for immunological studies. 3) as an apoptosis triggering agents in studies of protein kinase C. 4) to introduce oxidative stress in studies of cancer-relevant detoxification systems and in studies concerned with aging and Alzheimer's disease. 5) as a convenient and widely-accepted way to introduce mutations in C. elegans. Several secondary users have also been identified and it is hoped that access to this novel and important resource will not only lead to more successful grant applications but also to a widening of scope of research endeavors on campus. The resource is not characterized by high operating costs or difficult operational logistics. This instrument is mechanically simple, robust and maintenance-free. Irradiation times are brief and a large group of potential users can easily be accommodated. The individual projects of all primary users are funded by NIH grants, and their relevance for human health can easily be confirmed. In general, the study of effects of ionizing radiation is of tremendous medical importance because of its frequent use as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent.