Facilities
Center for Biotechnology: The Center for Biotechnology, as an institution, is a contract lab with a wide basis of research. Applied biomedical research is the field in which the majority of the research is focused—be that product development for a specific discipline (ie, cryopreserved cardiovascular tissue), validation of a process for a product (ie, Allowash cleaning of bone), or materials testing to determine component leaching probability. The staff is composed of technicians, graduate students, undergraduate students, and volunteers, all with a broad range of background experience.
Facilities of the Center for Biotechnology:
Clinical Tissue Assessment Laboratory
The Center for Biotechnology has maintained an extensive effort in working with tissue engineered biomedical materials for use in various clinical applications. This work has included cryopreservation of cardiovascular tissues and tissue engineered skin substitutes, biomechanical testing of load-bearing bone grafts and soft tissue grafts, osteoinductive biomaterials such as demineralized bone and collagen constructs, and drug delivery vehicles. Most of this work has been in association with private industry and various tissue banking groups throughout the United States and Europe.
The Center for Biotechnology has extensive experience in the field of cryopreservation of cells, tissues, and bulk biomaterials. The Center maintains cell-banking facilities for two companies and has been involved for over 15 years in validating all aspects of cryopreservation of cells, tissues, and solutions. The Center Director is a recognized leader in the field of cryobiology and regularly authors review articles and general information articles in national magazines (BioPharm).
Histology Laboratory
The Histology Laboratory represents a unique function within the Center for Biotechnology. The Histology Laboratory is under the direction of a full-time histology supervisor, Ms. Davorka Softic, and includes several full-time and part-time technicians as work loads dictate. The Laboratory is capable of producing a variety of histological preparations, suitably stained to meet the needs of each project. At present, the Histology Laboratory produces primarily paraffin embedded and sectioned slides, however, immunohistochemical staining and autoradiographic staining is available to meet the needs of specific projects on a project by project basis.
The Image Analysis Laboratory in the Center primarily focuses on quantitative assessment(s) of cross-sectional areas of histology slides associated with histological areas of interest. However, the Laboratory is capable of performing a variety of analyses using scanned in images (for example, aerial and satellite photos). The Laboratory uses NIH Image Analysis Software and is capable of both MacIntosh (Apple) and PC software data collection and analyses. The Laboratory is managed by a full-time technician (Ms. Davorka Softic) with over 5 years experience in image analysis. Images can be provided on CD disc to supplement technical reports and proposals.
The EM laboratory is not a formal laboratory in the Center for Biotechnology. It is a service facility housed within the Department of Biological Sciences and is immediately available for Center for Biotechnology related projects. The EM laboratory has a full-time Director (Dr. Keith Carson) and EM technician. It has both scanning and transmission electron microscopes and a KEVEX X-Ray microanalysis system for performance of elemental analyses at the electron microscopic level. The EM laboratory includes a full function photographic service including dark-room facilities for photographic work associated with microscopic analytics and autoradiography.
The Center recently obtained a multi-angle light scattering detector (DAWN DSP from Wyatt Technology, Inc.) and a differential refractive index detector for use with conventional high performance liquid chromatographic separation of large molecular weight molecules. Using this system it is possible to observe and compare Mw, Mn, RMS, and Rz changes accurately as well as changes in aggregation and sample distribution as a function of mass or radius. Using Wyatt's ASTRA software a variety of data plots and client reports can be easily generated. This Laboratory is under the daily supervision of the Laboratory Manager of the Center for Biotechnology, Ms. Katrina Crouch, and includes two part-time technicians who are involved in the day to day operation of this facility.
Separations and Analyticals Laboratory
The Center for Biotechnology is capable of separating and analyzing a wide variety of molecules. By adapting instrumentation, the Center can perform routine amino acid analyses using pre- and post-column derivatization of cell extracts or protein hydrolysates, analyses of carbohydrate contents of polysaccharides and/or glycoproteins, and a variety of other small molecular weight solutes. In addition, the Center is experienced in the separation and analysis of large molecular weight molecules including proteins, nucleic acids, and glycosaminoglycans/polysaccharides. The Center is well equipped with columns, pumps, spectrophotometric monitoring devices, gel (both analytical and preparative) electrophoresis, capillary and non-capillary gas-liquid chromatographs, and most of the small items of equipment normally required for routine separation and analysis of complex solutions.
Tissue Culture Laboratory
The Center has a well established tissue culture capability and has maintained cell lines from insect to mammalian. With several CO2 incubators available, the Laboratory is able to maintain a number of cell lines simultaneously. In addition the Center can obtain primary cell lines from tissue sources such as human, porcine and rhinoceros. The capabilities include toxicity assays, alkaline phosphatase activity to determine osteoinductive potential, prospective anti-cancer drug testing, inhibition assays with the potential to express the data kinetically and transfection/expression systems.
Microbiology Laboratory
This Laboratory has a major function in validation studies for quality assurance of tissue processing in the tissue banking industry. The Center has been involved in efficacy studies of antibiotic cocktail solutions, developing tissue transport solutions to prevent contamination, as well as utilizing bacteria as expression vectors for the Molecular Biology Laboratory. The Micro Lab is under the supervision of a full-time technician and includes two part-time technicians. The University’s Biological Sciences Support Facility has worked in conjunction with this Laboratory and provided assistance in the preparation of cultures and media.
The Center maintains a small, but effective, molecular biology laboratory. Currently the Center is involved in cloning genes for expression of commercializable quantities of the enzyme farnesyl transferase for use by an industry sponsor in characterization of its line of anticancer drugs. However, the Laboratory is versatile and can easily adapt to the needs of specific projects. This laboratory is under the direction of one full-time supervisor (Dr. Xiaofei Qin) and two part-time technicians. The Laboratory is capable of cloning specific genes into expression vectors (various bacterial plasmids and Baculovirus) and causing expression of the desired gene products in, for example Escherichia coli and SF9 insect cells, which are then purified by the Separations and Analyticals Laboratory. The Center will soon have access to the Department of Biological Sciences' Sequencer for use in molecular biology applications where cloning of specific gene fragments into expression vectors can be readily accomplished with subsequent extraction and purification of expressed products.
The Center has an active facility involved in molecular modeling leading to rational drug design, ligand/receptor binding, and relational chemistry. Using a Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) Unix-based computer system and Molecular Simulations, Inc. (MSI) software (Insight II and Catalyst), this Facility is capable of a wide variety of computer aided analyses. The Center is involved in computations associated with industry related new drug development—specifically the design and testing of new anticancer and antiviral drugs and is evolving a bioinformatics capability and interest.
The Center maintains a sizable colony of athymic (nude) mice for use in testing of biomaterials derived from a variety of natural and synthetic polymers. The primary function of the Small Animal Facility within the Center is the assessment of biomaterials for their ability to induce new bone formation. The Center is one of the few laboratories in the United States that provides a variety of demineralized bone biomaterials and tests those biomaterials for their ability to form new bone. This osteoinductive bioassay represents the "gold standard" for assessing new bone formation and has been validated against in vitro bioassays (cells in tissue culture) and quantitative bioassays (ELISA) for bone morphogenetic proteins. In addition, the Center is capable of performing a wide variety of small animal testing procedures including toxicity and pharmacological assays where alternative testing systems are not suitable. The Center is actively involved in finding alternatives to animal testing and will work closely with companies in this endeavor.
The Center houses a radiobiology laboratory that conforms to all NRC guidelines. All Center staff undergo training to become Qualified Users of Radionuclides under the direction of the University Radiation Safety Officer, Paul Sutcliffe. The nuclides used in the laboratory include Tritium, Calcium 45 and Phosphorus 32. The Center routinely performs cellular viability testing, thymidine incorporation assays, detergent binding, release and residuals studies to various biomaterials, enzyme assay using SPA technology, tritiated glycerol penetration of cortical bone, citric acid crosslinking of various biomaterials and autoradiography. Recently The Center Assistant Laboratory Manager, Alyce Linthurst, had a chapter entitled, “Methods in Light Microscope Radioautography,” published in Methods in Plant Electron Microscopy and Cytochemistry by Humana July 2000.
The Center forms a nucleus of Faculty and Research Scientists at both Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School. Both Institutions are well established and collectively perform funding research in excess of $55M per year. In addition, the Greater Hampton Roads have recently approved a Biomedical Research Park initiative which makes incubator facilities available to new and established biomedical and biotechnological groups. The Center for Biotechnology conducts approximately $500,000 in contract work each year and is 100% funded by contracts from private industry. The Center sponsors the Hampton Roads BioVenture Forum on a quarterly basis to provide a networking opportunity to individuals and companies in the Hampton Roads area. Old Dominion University houses the only academic program in biotechnology in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the program has been successfully placing graduates in corporate positions since its inception in 1985. The Center is geared to working with private industry in recognizing the need for confidentiality and protection of intellectual properties of sponsoring organizations.
The Center is capable of performing contract research and development under Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) conditions and has experience in 510K, PMA, IND and IDE applications. Through in-house computer applications and the University's main-frame computer, the Center is capable of performing a wide variety of statistical analyses and is responsive to regulatory, quality assurance/quality control, and marketing issues.