CellCelector Flex for versatile automated single cell and colony picking - PROJECT SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT The University of Colorado Functional Genomics Shared Resource (FGSR) is applying for funds to purchase the Sartorius CellCelector Flex system to bring state-of-the-art live cell and organoid imaging and handling technology to empower cell line development and rare cell detection and analysis. The Major and Minor Users will be 8 investigators, with diverse research interests like oncology, neuro-oncology, immunology, microbiology, biochemistry, and Down Syndrome with 7 active NIH R awards and 5 institutional/foundational grants, and 4 Shared Resources from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU-AMC). The estimated need for the CellCelector for NIH-funded projects in Year 1 is ~1352 hours (75% of total Accessible User Time or AUT). The requested system will become a part of the FGSR which is a prominent institutional core facility, located within the Department of Pharmacology on the Anschutz Medical Campus and supported by the University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC, P30CA046934) and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome (Crnic). The FGSR team is composed of a highly qualified research scientist and PI (Dr. Molishree Joshi) and two professional research assistants (PRA). Dr. Joshi has a proven track record of >10 years of providing unrivaled support for functional genomics. The FGSR is the only comprehensive shared resource for functional genomics in Colorado. Their success is reflected by the fact that they have provided a myriad of RNAi, ORF and CRISPR-focused services to >360 research labs in Colorado, supported >280 peer-reviewed publications, and aided in bringing in millions of dollars in federal funds. FGSR was established in 2010 with the mission to support and promote scientific research in Colorado through functional genomics. Since then, FGSR has expanded from a plasmid- distribution core facility to a service center that creates turn-key solutions to support biomedical research. Today, they provide individual reagents for knocking down, over-expressing, and knocking out specific genes and access to carefully amplified pre-made genome-wide and pathway-specific pooled shRNA and CRISPR libraries for genetic screens. They also design and create customized CRISPR libraries and generate model isogenic cell lines with desired genetic modifications. As the core facility progresses towards establishing gene-editing protocols for challenging cells like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), integrating the CellCelector system for hands-free cell handling is vital. In addition to FGSR’s need for the CellCelector Flex system for the various cell line engineering projects, other users intend to use the platform for 1) cell line development, 2) single cell isolation for multi-omics analysis, 3) single cell cloning of edited cells, 4) picking organoids, spheroids and neurosphere, 5) for selecting rare cell populations from patient samples, 6) single-cell secretion screening and 7) spatial single-cell genomics. Overall, FGSR has a comprehensive technical, financial and administrative infrastructure, generated by strong leadership and institutional support in place, and has rallied a substantial scientific interest supported by NIH funds to support the new system and the FGSR.
