Cell Sorter Upgrade for Flow Cytometry Service Facility

描述（由申请人提供）：通过本NCRR共享仪器补助金申请的资金用于为肯塔基州大学医学院的流式细胞术服务设施购买iCyt Reflection高速并行细胞分选机。流式细胞术服务设施是一个由大学资助的核心，成立于25年前。该中心目前由两名经验丰富的仪器操作员在首席研究员的指导下工作。该设施为肯塔基州大学5个不同学院、22个不同系、14个部门和6个中心的100多个实验室提供流式细胞仪分析和分选服务。在这些实验室中，有68名NIH资助的研究人员利用该设施的服务为他们的研究项目提供流式细胞术数据和分选细胞。流式细胞术服务设施目前有一台细胞分选机，即MoFlo系统，现已使用11年。在过去的三年里，这一仪器变得不可靠，要求该设施取消一些调查人员的预定排序。此外，在过去几年中，对活的人类细胞和/或感染细胞进行分选的请求数量显著增加。然而，由于MoFlo系统不是为BSL 2生物遏制设计的，调查人员的要求不得不被拒绝。无法在BSL 2控制下进行细胞分选和分析，严重限制了我们大学NIH资助的研究人员实现其赠款目标的能力。出于这些原因，我们将购买iCyt Reflection平行分选机，该分选机集成在Baker Sterigard III BSL 2生物安全罩中，作为我们老化MoFlo分选机的替代品。该大学已同意为流式细胞术服务设施提供新的实验室空间，该设施将进行翻新，以便有一个限制进入的房间，用于所有生物危害性的分选和分析，与我们的其他细胞分析仪分开。此次设施升级将建立该大学唯一的细胞分选机，该设备可在充分保护设施人员的条件下分析和分选受感染的活细胞。通过这次重要的升级，该设施将能够帮助需要为研究项目分类潜在危险样本的研究人员。此外，iCyt分选仪将为NIH资助的研究人员提供机会，以扩大他们的研究工作在新的方向，否则无法与现有的仪器。反过来，这种仪器的可用性将产生新的合作和研究赠款的机会。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funding through this NCRR Shared Instrument Grant application is requested for the purchase of an iCyt Reflection high speed parallel cell sorter for the Flow Cytometry Service Facility at the University of Kentucky, College of Medicine. The Flow Cytometry Service Facility is a university-subsidized core which was established over 25 years ago. It is currently staffed by two experienced instrument operators under the direction of the principal investigator. The facility provides flow cytometric analysis and sorting on a fee-for-service basis to over 100 laboratories in 5 different colleges, 22 different departments, 14 divisions and 6 centers at the University of Kentucky. Among these labs are 68 NIH-funded investigators who utilize the services of the facility to provide flow cytometric data and sorted cells for their research programs. The Flow Cytometry Service Facility currently has one cell sorter, a MoFlo system, which is now 11 years old. Over the last three years this instrument has become unreliable requiring the facility to cancel scheduled sorts for a number of investigators. In addition, the number of requests for sorting of live human cells and/or infected cells has increased significantly over the last several years. However, since the MoFlo system is not designed for BSL2 biocontainment, requests by investigators had to be denied. The inability to perform cell sorting and analysis under BSL2 containment has severely restricted the ability of NIH-funded investigators at our university to carry out the aims of their grants. For these reasons, we will purchase the iCyt Reflection parallel sorter which is integrated within a Baker Sterigard III BSL2 biosafety hood as a replacement for our aging MoFlo sorter. The university has agreed to provide new laboratory space for the Flow Cytometry Service Facility, which will be renovated so as to have a restricted-access room for all biohazardous sorting and analysis that is separated from our other cell analyzers. This facility upgrade will establish the only cell sorter at the university that is equipped for analysis and sorting of live, infected cells under conditions that fully protect facility personnel. With this important upgrade the facility will be able to assist investigators who need to sort potentially hazardous samples for their research programs. Moreover, the iCyt sorter will offer NIH- funded investigators the opportunity to expand their research efforts in new directions that were not otherwise available with the existing instrumentation. In turn the availability of this instrumentation will spawn new opportunities for collaborations and research grants.