E. Cell and Tissue Culture Core
The Joseph P. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research CenterCenter URL: http://iddrc.uchicago.edu/
Core URL: http://iddrc.uchicago.edu/cores/coree.shtml
Core Personnel
Core Director: Richard Kraig
Core Associate Director: Miriam Domowicz, Ph.D.
Core Associate Director: Jermy Marks, M.D., Ph.D.
Core Staff: Judith Henry
The purpose of this core is to provide IDDRC researchers with the critical technology and expertise needed for the creation of neural-cell and tissue-slice preparations, and for application of transfection technology. This Core is designed to offer techniques that, owing to their technical demands or equipment requirements, are not readily available to individual researchers.
Neural Cell Culture Services
The Neural Cell Culture Subcore provides neural-cell culture services that include cell lines, primary neuronal and glial cultures from rodents and in some cases, chicks. In addition, the Subcore's capacity to provide an array of well-characterized and long-lived brain slice cultures is being expanded to include rodent brain slice cultures from hippocampus, neocortex, and cerebellum. This Subcore provides consultation and equipment/space needed for the preparation of neural slice-culture systems for investigators who wish to create their own larger scale use of these preparations.
The following cultures are currently available:
• Embryonic mouse cortical and hippocampal neuron culture
• Rat cerebellar Purkinje neuronal cultures
• Rat spinal motor neuron cultures
• Rat postnatal hippocampal neuron and astrocyte cultures
• Rodent cerebellar granule cells
• Rodent oligodendrocytes
• Rodent astrocytes and microglia
• Chick neuronal cultures
• Chick astrocyte cultures
• Rodent hippocampal slice cultures
• Other rodent and chick brain area slice cultures
In vitro Gene Transfer Services
The in vitro Gene Transfer Subcore provides the equipment, consultation, and training needed for gene transfection of neural-cell cultures and slice preparations. Gene transfection (and RNA interference) techniques have become an increasingly effective, and thus essential, means to explore the mechanisms of neural cell and circuit function in health and disease. An array of transfection strategies are available from which the most suitable techniques can be matched to IDDRC researcher's needs.
Stem Cell Pilot Grants
Stem Cell pilot grants are available to IDDRC researchers to provide opportunities to explore the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) in their research efforts.
These pilot grants are aimed at enabling pilot projects by IDDRC members to propose use of the Northwestern Stem Cell Facility
IDDRC investigators who wish to use the Northwestern Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell facility will submit brief pilot grant proposals. Successful applicants will contact the technical Director at Northwestern to schedule classes and preparation of cell cultures. Costs for training and pilot experiments will be borne by this IDDRC Subcore. Continued use of cells from the Northwestern facility will be the responsibility of the involved PI.
Last Edited: 05/04/11 12:00 AM by Miriam Domowicz
