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Director
Astar Winoto
Address
447 Life Sciences Addition #2751
Telephone
510 642-4714
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The Cancer Research Laboratory began in 1951 when the California state legislature provided funds to establish a colony of mice of reliable genetic background to be made available to cancer researchers throughout the state and elsewhere. Since then, the CRL acquired other technical support staff and equipment as research support need changed. Currently, the CRL provides advanced technical resources to cancer and biomedical researchers in the areas of microscopy, flow cytometry, microarray analysis, mass spectrometry as well as gene targeting/transgenic mouse technology. The mission of the CRL has always been to enhance communication among members of the U.C. Berkeley cancer/biomedical research community, to provide training in cancer research for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and to enhance the research environment at U.C. Berkeley by providing investigators with access to methods and technologies which are either too expensive or too specialized to be acquired by the laboratories of individual faculty. Information about the Cancer Research Laboratory, including the available services, recharge information, personnel and links to affiliated faculty research programs is available on the web page: http://biology.berkeley.edu/crl/
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Gene Targeting Facility
Embryo Injection |
Communication
The CRL sponsors a seminar course, IDS 282 “Tumor Biology Seminar Series,” in which predoctoral-, postdoctoral- trainees, and faculty members present and discuss their current research findings. In an effort to give student researchers an understanding of the eventual goal of their research, there is at least one seminar that highlights the clinical side of cancer. The Cancer Research Laboratory also sponsors the annual "CRL Distinguished Lectureship". These lectures feature prestigious researchers from other universities with the format allowing interaction between the speaker and the trainees.
Training
Training for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows is supported by stipends and research funds provided by a training grant entitled "Regulatory Biology of Cancer and Growth Control" from the National Cancer Institute. This grant was competitively renewed in year 2000 and is now in its 30th year. It provides support in the amount of $428,709 (direct annual costs) for stipends and partial research support to 4 predoctoral- and 7 postdoctoral-trainees. The Flow Cytometry Facility is involved in the undergraduate laboratory course (MCB 150L) required for MCB Immunology majors and taken as an elective by students from several departments. Students are trained in the use and applications of the flow cytometric analyzers. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows using flow cytometry or cell sorting in their research can receive individualized training in sample preparation, instrument operation and data analysis. The Molecular Imaging Center also offers training in new imaging techniques to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and senior researchers. Research Facilities
The CRL currently operates four research facilities: the Flow Cytometry Facility, the Molecular Imaging Center, the Gene Targeting Facility, and the newly established Proteomics/Mass Spectrometry Facility. The CRL also administers the Immunology Genomics Consortium that supports a technician devoted to gene chips tailored for the cancer/immunology researchers. The CRL has remained a fluid unit acquiring new equipment and personnels to meet the latest research needs of the biological research community. In cooperation with the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, the Mass Spec facility was created in October 2004 to meet the needs of campus investigators. Even at its inchoate stage, the facility has already served 18 labs in 7 departments and performed analysis for five laboratories at four other universities. The Molecular Imaging Center features two confocal microscopes, two calcium imaging microscopes, one deconvolution microscope and two photon microscope systems. Two new major systems are being installed this year, a fast confocal system, and a third photon instrument. The user base is now over 80 users from over 60 different labs including 12 different campus departments, LBNL, and industry partners. The Flow Cytometry houses the MoFlo high speed sorter, three Coulter XL analyzers and the Coulter Elite cell sorter. We are also in the process of acquiring a fourth analyzer. The facility offers technical support for the measurement of individual cell fluorescence and individual cell sorting. It serves a wide sector of the molecular and cell biology research community within the University of California at Berkeley including the Cancer Research Laboratory, the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, the Departments of Toxicology, Public Health, Chemistry, Microbial Physiology and Chemical Engineering. It also serves several investigators from LBNL, and the Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute(CHORI) and industry partners. The facility has served over 60 individual labs and ten biotechnology firms as well as a couple of LBNL investigators during this fiscal year. The Gene Targeting Facility has made many transgenic and chimeric mice for the use of researchers in MCB. CRL also sponsors a photographer who also provides web page designs for researchers as part of his service.
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Flow Cytometry Facility
Ratio of indo-1 violet/blue fluorescence vs. time to measure relative intracellular calcium response |
Imaging Facility
3-dimensional reconstruction of the fovea imaged via multi-photon microscopy |
Mass Spectrometry Facility
A good match to the sequence HLEQPEDNARRT is illustrated by the color coded peaks which mark the predicted positions for fragments of this peptide |
CRL Significance
The facilities operated by the Cancer Research Laboratory have been an incalculable and indispensable part of the UC Berkeley research community. It is safe to say that without these facilities it would be much harder, if not impossible, to recruit the best and brightest researchers in biomedicine and cancer biology to Berkeley. Many of the discoveries would also not have happened without the CRL. The CRL has also produced a number of antibodies that have been licensed to several commercial laboratories and distributed to the research community. The CRL's commitment to service and the ability to evolve and remain at the forefront of research technology make it the vital Organized Research Unit it is today. |
