BD FACSCANTO FLOW CYTOMETER - DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The La Jolla Institute for Molecular Medicine (LJIMM) is a nonprofit research institute conducting basic and applied research in the fields of stem cell biology, asthma/allergy, chemokine biology, vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases, immuno therapies for cancer and asthma, signal transduction, vascular biology and angiogenesis. The flow cytometer is one of the common pieces of equipment that all the investigators use for their research projects at LJIMM. The institute currently has a FACScan with capabilities limited to detecting a maximum of three colors and is inadequate for the present needs of the investigators. Several investigators utilize off-campus multi- color flow cytometers for their work. However, it is not always practical to use equipment at off-campus locations due to high costs, time sensitive nature of the experiments, and the difficulty in transportation of samples between the institutes. Therefore, a core group of primary users of FACScan determined the specific needs of the faculty and have chosen an appropriate flow cytometer, namely FACSCanto, from BD Biosciences as the ideal system for present and future requirements. In this grant, we are requesting funds to purchase a FACSCanto system with FACSDiva program and two work stations at a total cost of $192,172. With the purchase of a FACSCanto, we will establish a Flow Cytometry Core facility, an Internal Advisory Committee (IAC) for the core and set policies for the use of the equipment. LJIMM is committed to developing core facilities and providing the necessary financial support (annual service contract and salary for a part-time research associate) and infrastructural (Server, LAN and computers) requirements. In combination with our existing Microscopy and Intravital Imaging Core, the proposed flow cytometer will be an important addition to maximize the impact of our existing research programs.
