High-throughput homogenizer for analysis of gene expression and metabolic profiles

本资助申请中要求的资金用于支持购买配备Cryolys冷却系统的高通量Precellys 24组织匀浆器。 这是唯一一款具有冷却选项的市售高通量组织匀浆器，这是处理温度敏感型样品所必需的。 分解组织（均质化）以释放细胞化合物通常是生物体遗传分析的任何生物化学的第一步，这个过程可能是最耗时的过程之一。 使用标准的组织匀浆技术，学生和研究人员可以在匀浆器前花费数周时间，但使用新的高通量技术，如Precellys 24组织匀浆器，处理样品所花费的时间可以减少5至10倍。 能够快速处理数百或数千个组织样本非常重要，这样数据就可以以最省时的方式发表。 这种高通量匀浆器将直接支持PM Schulte和JG理查兹博士的研究计划。 结合起来，他们的研究计划试图确定动物，主要是鱼类，如何应对环境挑战。从人类对环境影响日益增加的角度来看，这一研究目标特别重要，因为生物体正在经历前所未有的环境变化，正在考验它们的耐受极限。了解设定物种耐受极限的因素是预测哪些动物因全球变化而面临最大风险的重要组成部分。

The funding requested in this grant application is to support the purchase of a high-throughput Precellys 24 tissue homogenizer with the Cryolys cooling system. This is the only commercially available high-throughput tissue homogenizer with a cooling option, which is necessary for the processing of temperature sensitive samples. Breaking apart tissues (homogenization) to release cellular compounds is the often the first step in any biochemical of genetic analysis of organisms and this process can be one of the most time consuming. Using standard technology for tissue homogenization, students and researchers can spend weeks in front of a homogenizer, but with new, high-throughput technology, such as the Precellys 24 Tissue homogenizer, time spent processing samples can be reduced by up to 5 or 10 fold. Being able to process hundreds or thousands of tissue samples quickly is important so that data can reach publication in the most time efficient manner possible. This high-throughput homogenizer will directly support the research programs of Drs. PM Schulte and JG Richards. Combined, their research programs attempt to determine how animals, mostly fish, respond to environmental challenge. This research goal is of particular relevance when viewed from the perspective of increasing human impacts on the environment, because organisms are now experiencing unprecedented environmental changes that are testing their tolerance limits. Understanding the factors that set a species' tolerance limits is an important component of predicting which animals are most at risk due to global change.