Developmental Biology
Core Resources

Core Resources

The Division of Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation continues to administer the following core resources:

The Transgenic Animal and Genome Editing Core facility provides streamlined service from DNA vector to founder animals. This facility uses the latest genome-editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9 and TALEN, to generate animals carrying multiple knockout or knock-in alleles in a highly efficient and time-saving fashion. This facility also uses conventional approaches to generate transgenic mice by pronuclear microinjection and chimeric mice using embryonic stem cells. Other services available in the facility include cell targeting, targeting vector construction, sperm and embryo cryopreservation, BAC transgenics, mouse recovery from cryopreserved sperm, intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and embryo transfer (re-derivation). The facility has also undertaken several new initiatives including implementation of a fast CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screen system and generation of genetically modified rats. The facility provides consultation services and instruction in basic molecular biology techniques to researchers and trainees beginning to use these tools.

Director:Yueh-Chiang Hu, PhD
Phone: 513-803-4962
transgenics@cchmc.org

The Microarray Core facility is operated under the supervision of S. Steven Potter, PhD. Microarrays allow a global, sensitive, and quantitative analysis of gene expression. Essentially all genes are represented on the arrays. Transcripts with only a few copies per cell are detected. Quantitative readouts of expression levels are provided. Only nanograms of total RNA per sample are required. The Microarray Core offers both the Affymetrix and Illumina platforms. The user provides the sample RNA, and the core performs a series of biochemical reactions to generate labeled target material to hybridize to the arrays. Several target amplification options are offered. The core provides advice on experimental design, RNA purification procedures, and data analysis.
The overall mission of the Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility (PSCF) is to facilitate all aspects of pluripotent stem cell experimentation and contribute to advancing stem cell therapies for human disease. The PSCF is dedicated to providing high quality, well characterized, and reliably archived human embryonic stem cells for distribution to researchers. Additionally, the facility will provide investigators with expert training in the protocols and techniques for proper handling and manipulation of human embryonic stem cells. Our objectives are to: 1) Establish a bank of well characterized, quality controlled human embryonic stem cells (hESCs); 2) Provide reagents and expertise for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs); 3) Provide training in the culture and manipulation of hESCs and iPSCs; and 4) Utilize and develop protocols for directed hESC/iPSC differentiation. We will make these cells available to Cincinnati researchers and will assist investigators in experimental design, data analysis and interpretation, and provide support for manuscript and grant proposal development.

Core Summary

For a capsule summary of all the cores at Cincinnati's Children's, visit the core summary page. View the Full Core Listing