ShEEP Request for Parkin-Elmer Spectrum Series Bio-imaging Device

Objectives:The goal of this proposal is to establish a multi-user Whole Animal Bioluminescence/ Fluorescence/microCT Imaging Facility at the VA Portland Health Care System facility (VAPORHCS). The VAPORHCS currently has approximately 150 funded investigators and a research budget in fiscal year 2011 that exceeded $34 million in direct costs. The VAPORHCS currently ranks in the top 10 nationwide among VA Medical Centers in grant support from the DVA. Research is conducted in a total of ~93,000 square feet of wet and dry lab space that supports programs in basic science, clinical research, health services, cooperative studies, epidemiology and outcomes research. Investigator-initiated independent research programs represent the majority of research activities at the VAPORHCS. The established research programs reflect the special needs and interests of veterans treated at this medical center. The VAPORHCS has been fortunate to receive several large grants that reflect the critical mass of scientists who have assembled here to investigate important diseases. Currently funded centers include: 1) NIH-funded Portland Alcohol Research Center (PARC), 2) the Northwest Veterans Affairs Cancer Research Center, 3) National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, 4) Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, 5) Research Enhancement Awards Program in Multiple Sclerosis, 6) Parkinson's Disease Research Education and Clinical Center, 7) Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence, 8) Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Resource Center, 9) NIH-funded Methamphetamine Abuse Research Center, 10) VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Innovation (COIN), and 11) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Evidence Based Practice Center. Plan: The plan is to purchase the IVIS Spectrum imaging system and to locate it within the Portland VA's facility to establish a core laboratory to service the needs of VA-funded scientists for imaging tumor cells, bacteria, and parasites in living animals, e.g., mice and medium sized rats. The request is for an IVIS SpectrumCT instrument, a pre-clinical multimodal imaging system that enables researchers to non-invasively acquire and tomographically reconstruct multiple bioluminescent and fluorescent reporter signals from the same live animal. The technique is highly sensitive and facilitates high throughput longitudinal study designs of the nature contemplated by Portland VA scientists. The technology offers an extremely powerful 3D in vivo screening method yielding quantitative and calibrated molecular and anatomical data while fully visualizing the biology of interest. Planned studies by the 5 Major VA-Funded PI's include: 1) Measure the effectiveness of antimalarial agents (including ELQs and Pharmachins), alone and in combination, on prevention and treatment of liver and blood stage infections in mice, 2) Measure the effectiveness of ELQ analogs, alone and in combination, in treatment of acute (i.e., blood stage) and latent (i.e., brain lesions) Toxoplasma infections, 3) Measure the effectiveness of preclinical cancer treatments on leukemia or solid tumor burden in xenograft cancer models using immunodeficient mice, and 4) Assess the severity of arthritis and measure the therapeutic efficacy of anti-arthritic drugs by probing inflamed tissues such as arthritic joints and skin by microCT scanning for bone erosions. Other VA-funded ?minor users? of the instrument will: 1) Assess burden of bacterial infection as a consequence of immune activation or drug treatment, 2) Assess burden of Leishmania infection following treatment with compounds from the Portland VA's chemical inventory. The long-term objective of the work that would be supported by the purchase of the IVIS bioimaging device is to improve the overall translational impact of our preclinical research results while using fewer animals under less stressful and painful procedures to generate quantitative data on the effects of experimental therapies on living animals. Version: