Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Understanding fundamental biological processes and the cell response to its environment is essential to inform the development of biomedical devices and innovative strategies to reduce inflammation, improve immunity, wound healing and fertilization. To assess how cells respond to their environment, cell characteristics, such as changes in membrane receptors, can be measured using flow cytometry. Flow cytometry characterizes a cell phenotype using fluorescent probes and provides a quantitative measure of the state of cell activation; it can also identify different cell subpopulations in samples. Each fluorescent probe/marker (or color) allows to identify a specific cell parameter and characterize a cell phenotype usually using 8 to 21 markers. At the University of Waterloo (UW), limited flow cytometry resources exist. A UW team of six investigators is in critical need of a flow cytometer to analyse cells in a comprehensive manner and advance their innovative research programs. The flow cytometer currently available 24/7 to the research team is now obsolete, impacting post processing of the data and ability to publish. Furthermore, a maximum of four fluorescent parameters can be analyzed to identify cell characteristics. Another instrument with more capacity for analysis (9 colors) has restricted hours of operation and constraints on sample preparation, which affect the team ability to characterize certain intra-cellular mechanisms and biological live samples. These limitations impede research progress and innovation as well as HQP recruitment and training. A high-performance flow cytometer, allowing to identify up to 21 fluorescent parameters and small particles, is proposed for fast, sensitive and comprehensive cell characterization. The proposed flow cytometer will enable creation of significant new knowledge and the development of new biotechnologies, as well as expand research activities and build new research collaborations. This equipment will allow to study ocular cell interactions, enabling a deeper understanding of the immune response in the front of the eye. It will play a pivotal role in the investigation of sperm-nanoparticle interactions to develop novel solutions for reproductive biology and it will also support characterizing the impact of nanotopography on cell behavior. It will also allow to assess the impact of environmental factors on fish immunity. Furthermore, it will enable the comprehensive study of material-induced leukocyte and platelet activation to support the development of nanorobots for surgery and blood-contacting materials to reduce the risks of blood clot formation. Over 30 HQP/year will have unrestricted access to the proposed 21-color flow cytometer, allowing them to develop excellent technical skills while working on innovative research projects. The training they gained will prepare them to contribute to the rapidly emerging and critically important Canadian biotechnology and biomedical industry.