University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI)
Flow Cytometry Facility News
October 2008
Congratulations, GFP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_fluorescent_protein)!!!
By Niklas Pollard
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Two Americans and a Japanese researcher won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for the discovery of a glowing jellyfish protein that makes cells, tissues and even organs light up — a tool used by thousands of researchers around the world.
The 10 million Swedish crown ($1.4 million) prize recognizes Japanese-born Osamu Shimomura, now of the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts, Martin Chalfie of Columbia University in New York and Roger Tsien of the University of California, San Diego, for their discoveries with green fluorescent protein.
“The remarkable brightly glowing green fluorescent protein, GFP, was first observed in the beautiful jellyfish, Aequorea victoria in 1962,” the Nobel Committee for Chemistry at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.
“Since then, this protein has become one of the most important tools used in contemporary bioscience.”
Shimomura first isolated GFP from jellyfish drifting off the western coast of North America and discovered that it glowed bright green under ultraviolet light. For 20 years from 1967, he made a summer pilgrimage to Friday Harbor in Washington state to gather more than 3,000 jellyfish per day. Chalfie and colleagues got bacteria such as E. coli and tiny worms called C. elegans to produce the protein by splicing in the right gene. The green color of the jellyfish protein appears under blue and ultraviolet light, allowing researchers to illuminate tumor cells, trace toxins and to monitor genes as they turn on and off.
August 2008
The second Cyan has arrived!
Recently purchased from the Trudeau Institute, an additional three laser, nine color Cyan has been added to the facility’s consistently evolving collection of high tech instrumentation. Demand for the original Cyan has grown steadily over the past few years as more people are exploiting our ability to perform experiments using several new and increasing fluorescent probes, as well as the potential of designing experiments that incorporate many colors at one time.
A major goal for the facility in 2008 is to bring polychromatic flow cytometry (link to Polychromatic Flow Cytometry Page) to UPCI. Part I of this plan is to make available to the user the technology needed to run these kinds of experiments. The MoFlo and Cyan offer several laser (excitation) choices and have configurable detectors (emission) to accommodate an endless list of available fluorescent probes. Part II is to offer the most state-of-the-art software for analysis of data collected from these experiments. Part III, brings both components together by supporting the development of these techniques though training and consultation.
The original Cyan will be named Blue Cyan and the second will be Gold Cyan.
July 2008
The recently updated User Workstation now has CXP (current version of Expo32 software), ModFit, Winlist and Summit installed. We also have added a dedicated 64 bit dual quad processor computer to run VenturiOne and Ideas (the Amnis Image Stream image software). We will offer training in use of the VenturiOne software, as well as instruction on the latest methods in acquisition of polychromatic flow.
The User Lab Workstation is available on a first come basis and the 64 bit computer is available by appointment. The staff is available to help you with all of your analysis needs, so stop by and make an appointment for training or consultation.
May 2008
One of the many highlights of the recent ISAC meeting was the debut of VenturiOne by Applied Cytometry . This new analytical software has been in development for the past few years in collaboration between Drs. Albert and Vera Donnenberg and Applied Cytometry. “VenturiOne is revolutionary flow cytometry software that provides exceptionally fast data analysis in one easy to use package.”
The Facility was able to obtain two copies of VenturiOne and will incorporate it in a push to develop new ways to look at multi-color flow data. Daily use of the Cyan’s three laser, nine color technology has increased dramatically in the past quarter and signals a demand for just this kind of software.
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