Fluorometry and cytofluorometry in the investigation of transmitted diseases

• Grant number: 09/54219-8
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
• Duration: October 01, 2010 - December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Heitor Franco de Andrade Junior
• Grantee: Heitor Franco de Andrade Junior
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• EMU web page: Página do Equipamento Multiusuário não informada
• Type of equipment: Tipo de Equipamento Multiusuário não informado
• Manufacturer: Fabricante não informado
• Model: Modelo não informado

Abstract

Several research groups at the USP School of Medicine supported by LIM - Laboratories for Medical Research and also affiliated with the São Paulo Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMTSP) - have long been devoted to the study and control of transmissible diseases. We are mainly involved in the study of tropical and neglected diseases, in all their aspects, as experimental models, vaccine and drug development and diagnostic and immunopathology assays. Our laboratories are well-equipped to perform conventional molecular and cellular biology techniques, as well as immunopathology and immunodiagnostics. We have also used modern techniques of fluorescence detection, such as flow cytometry luminescence, and other spectrofluorometry techniques, in collaboration with other USP research groups. The support of FAPES allows us to implement a multiuser facility to avoid a number of problems that have restricted the use of external collaborative resources, as scheduling in congested multiuser systems and biosafety, as alleged contamination of the equipment by transmissible agents. This has restricted the progress of some quite promising projects in the area, that guides our proposal to FAPESP Multi-User Equipment Program. The creation of a multiuser facility in advanced fluorescence techniques, namely, spectrofluorometry and flow cytometry, will expand the technological arsenal of researchers working in the field of communicable diseases, binging them on the forefront of world science. This facility is perfect both for data collection but also for training staff, with a cluster of partially overlapping devices in constant operation—essential in a world in which research has become increasingly more competitive and data must be promptly published. Those 10 laboratories that are active in the study of transmitted diseases, and offer a an area of 15 m2, with anteroom and one trained staff member with two small flow cytometers with 4 color array and a high-performance flow cytometer, with three lasers and 11 color arrays, aside to a multiplate spectrofluorometer accepting plates with up to 384 wells. This facility provide equipments for studies of cellular markers, studies on components of intracellular signaling pathways, studies on markers of cell death or cell proliferation, studies on intracellular production of cytokines, chemokines, and all events on pathogen-host cell interactions, allowing the simultaneous analysis of multiple parameters. There are also studies on the development of multiplex diagnostic tests, for facilities such as blood banks for the control for neglected diseases and other tests to assess the effectiveness of vaccines, by detecting cell immune responses. (AU)