National Xenopus Resource Center

描述（申请人提供）：该项目将在马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔的海洋生物实验室（MBL）建立一个国家爪蟾资源中心。爪蟾研究团体提交给NIH的白色论文描述了迫切需要一个中心来安置动物种群和传播新技术。几个实验室，主要是那些谁是这个建议的关键人员，已经确定了畜牧业，卫生和住房条件需要发展一个主要的股票中心。MBL是这样一个中心的理想场所，因为它被公认为是生物研究的首要场所;它与非洲爪蟾研究社区有着长期的联系，作为再生医学计划的一部分，如果2009年获得中心运营资金，它将资助建设一个新的非洲爪蟾中心。这次重新提交有四个目的。第一个需要在第一年建立设施，并产生关键的动物品系（野生型，近交，转基因和突变）。在目标2中，涵盖2-5年，该设施的范围将扩大，以提供研究界公认的高度优先的动物品系。此外，将建立转基因和遗传核心设施，作为新中心的一部分，以产生新的品系，并让研究人员访问该设施，学习与这些领域相关的技术。在第三个目标中，我们专注于拟议中心在传播新技术方面的作用，这将包括在中心提供的一系列小型课程，由特定领域的专家授课（例如畜牧业，转基因，先进成像，鸡蛋提取物的制备，生物信息学）。最终目标侧重于畜牧业，包括制定加强畜牧业和健康监测的协议，并向研究界传播这些协议。提出了优化饲养的实验，以提高雌性的生育力，缩短性成熟的时间。这次重新提交的一些关键变化是：1）增加了对X的强调。laevis股票（和伴随的减少X。2）制定更明确的领导计划; 3）减少目标的复杂性（例如减少中心的种群数量;删除前沿遗传学核心）;以及4）澄清健康和疾病爆发问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project would establish a national Xenopus Resource Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. White Papers submitted to NIH by the Xenopus research community describe the urgent need for a center to house animal stocks and to disseminate new technology. Several laboratories, primarily those who are key personnel on this proposal, have defined the husbandry, health and housing conditions needed to develop a major stock center. The MBL is an ideal place for such a center because it is acknowledged as a premier site for biological research; it has a long association with the Xenopus research community and, as part of a Regenerative Medicine initiative, will fund the construction of a new Xenopus Center if funds are obtained for Center operation in 2009. This resubmission has four aims. The first entails setting up the facility in year 1 and generating critical animal lines (wildtype, inbred, transgenic and mutant). In aim 2, covering years 2-5, the scope of the facility will be expanded, to provide a spectrum of animal lines recognized as a high priority by the research community. In addition, transgenic and genetic core facilities will be established as part of the new Center to allow new lines to be generated, and for researchers to visit the facility to learn technologies associated with these areas. In the third aim, we focus on the role of the proposed Center in disseminating new technology This would include a series of minicourses to be offered at the Center, to be taught by experts in particular areas (e.g. husbandry, transgenesis, advanced imaging, preparation of egg extracts, bioinformatics). The final aim focuses on animal husbandry, include setting up protocols for enhanced husbandry and health surveillance, and disseminating these to the research community. Experiments are proposed to optimize husbandry to improve fertility of females and shorten the time to sexual maturity. Some key changes in this resubmission are: 1) an increased emphasis on X. laevis stocks (and concomitant reduction of X. tropicalis stocks) in order to better serve community needs; 2) development of a clearer leadership plan; 3) reduction in the complexity of aims (e.g. reducing stock number in the Center; removing forward genetics core); and 4) clarification of health and disease outbreak issues.