Resources
Molecular Biology Core Services |
Cell
Analysis Facility | Transgenic Mice
The Department of Immunology includes more than 25,000 square feet of
contemporary and well-equipped laboratory and office space in the H and
I wings of the Health Sciences Building of the University of Washington.
Additionally, students train in the nearby laboratories of our adjunct
faculty members (those with primary appointments in other UW departments)
and in the laboratories of our affiliate faculty at the Children's Hospital Research Institute (CHRI),
Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Research Center (BRI),
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
(FHCRC), or at the Institute
for Systems Biology (ISB) which are all aproximate to the University. Trainees
in immunology have access to the aggregate facilities of the Department
of Immunology and the interdisciplinary resources of the basic science
departments at the University of Washington.
The Department of Immunology maintains a collection containing complete
issues of the past ten years for the major immunological journals. The
Health
Sciences Library of the University of Washington, one of the most
complete medical libraries in the world, is located less than 100 yards
away. This library also provides online access to a number of journals.
The Department of Immunology maintains subscriptions to key journals to
which it provides online access to its faculty and trainees for those
journals not available online through the health sciences library. This
provides easy access for our students and post-doctoral trainees who favor
the online format.
Computers are, of course, ubiquitous in the laboratories of training
faculty and are linked by ethernet connection to the University network,
the Department of Immunology network, and the Internet. The Department
also maintains computers in its reading room for student access that are
linked to scanners, high-resolution color laser printers, instrumentation,
and the Health Sciences Visualization Lab. The department also maintains
this Web site, which provides a readily-accessible reference containing
departmental information relevant to current and prospective students,
seminar announcements, and other updates.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY CORE SERVICES
The Department of lmmunology manages an ABI 377 DNA sequencer for its
faculty. Members of faculty laboratories run the sequencing reactions,
and the facility technician batches and runs samples, providing both a
hard and an electronic copy of the data. Turnaround is usually less than
3 days. A DNA microarray facility, which includes a Molecular Dynamics
slide maker and readers and both imported and locally generated software
for analysis of results and linkage to relevant databases, has been set
up in the School of Medicine under the direction of Dr. Roger Bumgarner
(Department
of Microbiology). The Department of Immunology is a participant in
this resource, providing ready access to this technology. The University
of Washington is also home to leaders in the area of proteomics and faculty
of the Department of Immunology are engaged in proteomic-based approaches.
The Institute
for Systems Biology, which was founded by Leroy Hood (Affiliate Professor
of Immunology), is nearby and provides a unique resource for contemporary
high-throughput systems approaches to biological questions.
CELL ANALYSIS FACILITY
Trainees in immunology make frequent use of flow cytometry instruments under
the general supervision of Dr. David Coder, an expert in this field. The
Cell
Analysis Facility includes two high-speed sorters - a FACSVantage SE
and a FACStar Plus retrofitted with new lasers and Turbosort capabilities.
There are two FACScan and one LSR flow cytometers. The LSR is capable of
8-parameter and calcium analyses. The facility also has a new generation
BioRad confocal microscope on a Zeiss microscope base. Appropriate computer
terminals and peripherals are also available in this laboratory. Assistance
in using these instruments is available from two full-time operators who
make sure the sorters are set-up appropriately for the desired goals and
assist in real time. Trainees are encouraged to develop sufficient expertise
to manage their own flow cytometry studies. Data from the flow cytometers
are streamed via ethernet to the departmental server, archived centrally
and may be accessed and analyzed from any personal computer
TRANSGENIC MICE
Transgenic mice have assumed special importance in cancer biology and
immunology, and are actively employed in the research programs of most
of the training faculty. The Department of Immunology and the
Department of Comparative Medicine maintain transgenic animal resources
that are available to all participating laboratories. Hence trainees in
immunology have priority access to facilities for ES cell targeting and
for blastocyst and pronuclear injection. The Department of Comparative
Medicine oversees the AALAC approved SPF facility in which mice are maintained.
Microinjection equipment is located in suites within the SPF facility.
Other relevant equipment (cesium irradiators for bone marrow ablation)
is also housed in the facility.
Molecular Biology Core Services |
Cell Analysis Facility | Transgenic
Mice
|
