Laboratory:
The laboratory consists of approximately 1900 square feet of "wet lab" space located in seven separate rooms (N514-N522 of Doan Hall). Pertinent capabilities include: Biosaftey Level 2 facilities for tissue culture and molecular biology applications, fixed and living cell epifluorescence microscopy, protein chemistry, analytical methods and general reagent preparation. The laboratory is located one floor below the Labor and Delivery Unit.
Computer:
The laboratory is equipped with eight Pentium 4, IBM-compatible computers. These computers contain a variety of software packages for word processing, image analysis, statistical analysis, data analysis/spreadsheets, reference database management, and graphics. Six of the eight computers are connected to the internet.
Office:
The co-directors have office space located directly adjacent to the lab suite (N527 and N525). There is also additional office space in N521 for the research associate and N505 for other research personnel, incluing visiting scientists, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
Equipment:
- Biological safety cabinets (2) (Nuaire, Inc.), Class II (Laminar Flow), that can be used for tissue culture or molecular biology applications. These 2 safety cabinets, located in N514 (Molecular Biology Applications) and N522 (Tissue Culture Applications), meet the specifications for NIH-03-112c and NSF STD No.49, Class II Type A.
- Biological safety cabinet (1) (Forma Scientific), located in N522, that can be used for tissue culture applications. This safety cabinet also meets the specifications for NSF STD No.49, Class II Type A.
- Laminar flow work station (1) (Forma Scientific), located in N522, that serves as a clean bench for tissue culture applications. Specifically, it houses a stereomicroscope (Stemi-2000C, Zeiss) that can be used to visualize cells in vitro, without risk of contamination.
- Chemical fume hoods (2) (Hamilton), located in N514 and N522, that can be used for general reagent preparation or sample processing to minimize exposure to harmful chemicals or irritants.
- CO2 Water-jacketed incubators (3) (Forma Scientific) with adjustable oxygen control, located in N522 that can be used for cell culture.
- Benchtop refrigerated centrifuges (2) (Beckman Coulter), located in N516 and N522, that can be used for cell isolation and whole blood separation.
- Refrigerated microcentrifuge (1) (Labnet International, Inc.), located in N514, that can be used for the centrifugation of samples in standard applications (e.g., protein and RNA extraction).
- Preparative ultracentrifuge (1) (Beckman Coulter), located in N519, that can be used for gradient separations and resolution of fine particulate fractions, such as subcellular organelles (mitochondria, microsomes, ribosomes) and viruses.
- Incubator shaker (1) (Lab Companion), located in N516, that can be used for bacterial culture for recombinant DNA techniques.
- Ultra-low temperature freezers (3) (Thermo, Revco, and Harris), located in N514 and N516, that can be used for safely storing biological samples over an extended period of time.
- Cryogenic dewars (3) (Taylor-Wharton), located in N516, that can be used for long-term storage of cell lines and other biological samples.
- Multilabel plate reader (Perkin Elmer), located in N517, that can be used for fluorometry (top and bottom counting) and luminometry, and is equipped with a 2-channel injector.
- Microplate reader (Dynex Technologies), located in N517, is a filter-based colorimetric absorbance reader that can be used for various tissue culture assays.
- VersaDoc Imaging System (Bio-Rad), located in N517, is a quantitative imaging system that can be used for capturing high resolution digital images from single and multi-color fluorescence, chemiluminescence, chemifluorescence, and colorimetric signals.
- Thermal cyclers (2) (Techne), located in N514, used for molecular biology applications, particularly PCR amplification.
- Epi-fluorescence microscope (Nikon), located in N523, equipped with a color digital camera. This system can be used for examining and imaging fixed biological samples.
- Marianas live cell imaging system (Intelligent Imaging Innovations), located in N523, includes an epi-fluorescence microscope (Zeiss), a deep-cooled quantitative interline CCD camera (Princeton Instruments), a linear-encoded x,y motorized stage, and a full enclosure environmental chamber. This system can be used for quantitative imaging both live (unfixed) and fixed biological samples.
