CORE INTRODUCTION

The overall objective of the Core Units is to facilitate the execution of Center Research Projects by providing Center investigators with "state-of-the-art" technology that would otherwise be difficult to establish or maintain in an individual laboratory. The Cores chosen in this center application are ones which represent a centralization of resources that would translate into a significant cost savings to the individual research project. The resources which are incorporated into the Cores are those which require expensive equipment, highly skilled personnel or the execution of labor intensive, tedious, repetitive procedures. The current P30 Center currently supports 10 Core Laboratories and has a 25-year history of administering Core services to Center investigators. In the formulation of the current U54 Center application, the investigators selected 4 Cores from among the 10 existing Cores as essential for the execution of the Center's Research Program. The Cores chosen in this center are the Administrative Core (Core A), the Animal Core (Core B), the Cell Culture Core (Core C) and the Integrated Microscopy Core (Core D). The Core Directors are directors of the respective Cores in the current Center and have had several years' experience in directing Core services. The Core Directors have the responsibility of establishing the priorities of services to be provided by their respective Cores, as well as, supervising the day-to-day Core operations. Core functions will be reviewed by the Operations Committee for efficiency and quality. The Operations committee will act to resolve any disputes over the utilization of Core resources. The Organizational Chart of the Cores is shown in the figure below. The Core structure chosen in this Center application is that of the Closed Core structure, i.e., the Center Research Projects would have sole access to the cores with no charges incurred for Core services.

The Service Cores (the Animal Core, the Cell Culture Core and the Integrated Microscopy Core) were chosen because they represent a source of reagents and technology that are valuable to Center investigators. The Animal Core will serve as a resource for the maintenance and identification of transgenic and knockout mice as well as a centralization of the technology required to generate these animals and perform technical surgical manipulations on these animals. The Cell Culture Core will provide investigators with specific reagents for the culture of primary cells and cell lines as well as the expertise required to manipulate these cells. The Integrated Microscopy Core will aid investigators in the histological immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analysis required in the execution of their projects. These Cores represent a means of centralizing and standardizing reagents and technology for Center investigators. However, these Cores were designed to have inter-Core interactions that will efficiently allow execution of Center Research. The Figure below diagrams the interactions of the Cores. The Animal Core will work with the Cell Culture Core in assuring a high degree of quality control in the generation of knockout mouse models. This will be accomplished by coordinating the culture of ES cells with the generation of chimeric mice. The Animal Core will also work with the Cell Culture Core in the preparation of animals for the establishment of primary cell cultures from granulosa cells and hypothalamic neurons. The Animal Core and Cell Culture Core will coordinate their efforts with the Integrated Microscopy Core to insure that all animal tissue and cell preparations are prepared appropriately for microscopic analysis. This synergistic interaction among the Cores will enhance the research effort of Center investigators.

Although some Cores will be utilized more heavily by certain projects, all investigators will utilize all Cores. Below is a table estimating the relative utilization of the Cores by the individual research projects.

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