Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting System

About This Grant

This proposal outlines a request to acquire a BD Biosciences FACSMelody Cell Sorter at Florida A&M University (FAMU), a state-controlled public institution. The BD FACSMelody has standard forward scatter (FSC) and side scatter (SSC) detection with nine fluorescence channels and the ability to sort 34,000 drops per second with up to 4-way sorting, enabling analysis and sorting of cell populations based on fluorescently labeled phenotypic markers and reporter gene expressions. The state-of-the-art equipment will greatly enhance research capability and capacity at FAMU, aiding several on-going NIH projects including: 1) engineering liver organoids for in vivo tissue restoration and ex-vivo drug screening, 2) enhancing efficacy of nanoparticles in pancreatic patient-derived xenografts (PDX) models, and 3) development of organoid systems tailored to probe lung cancer. The shared use equipment will improve research and biomedical activities at FAMU and promote collaborations with other biomedical researchers in Tallahassee. Aims of this project are to: (1) Acquire the BD Biosciences FACSMelody System at FAMU, (2) combine the instrument into research programs to promote and expand collaborations across disciplines between FAMU and other research-intensive institutions in Tallahassee and north Florida. This equipment item has been highly requested by the faculty, students, and staff members engaged in the areas of biomedical engineering, biology, pharmaceutical sciences, and food systems. The advanced functions of the FACSMelody are currently unavailable to FAMU researchers. Acquisition of the state-of-the-art system will foster long-term shared instrumentation use and promote collaboration between research groups across campus. As FAMU's west campus in Tallahassee's Innovation Park is currently without fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) capabilities, the requested system would fill a major need to advance biomedical activities at the institution. To facilitate usage, the instrument will be housed in a newly constructed research building at the college of engineering that has a collaborative concept design. Graduate and undergraduate students in biomedical engineering, biological systems engineering, and pharmaceutics will incorporate use of equipment in their undergraduate research theses and Ph.D. dissertations. The requested system will improve workforce development, while also increasing success of external research funding, further improving the research ability of the FAMU faculty.