Tissue Culture Shared Resource

Address:
W314, New Research Building
3970 Reservoir Rd NW
Washington DC 20007

Hours of Operation

Walk-in services:
Monday through Friday 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Access to liquid nitrogen storage:
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Thursday and Friday 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Description

The Tissue Culture Shared Resource (TCSR) exists to assist the Cancer Center investigators and other members of the Georgetown University research community with the tissue culture related aspects of their research. This is accomplished by providing a number of support services that include:

• Maintaining an expanding collection of human and animal cell lines
• Purchasing, preparing, and testing the highest quality tissue culture reagents which are then made available to investigators
• Providing a mycoplasma testing service
• Providing EBV immortalization of B cells
• Providing DNA preparation and genetic fingerprinting services
• Assisting with the establishment of primary cultures
• Providing large scale tissue culture services
• Maintaining shared tissue culture space
• Providing a cryo-storage facility
• Providing expert consultation and training in the use of tissue culture and related techniques.

A detailed description of the services offered is provided below.

New investigators to the Cancer Center as well as first time users should contact the Director or the Manager of the TCSR to become familiar with our facility, and to discuss any specific needs that they may have.

Services

Please use the request form to request services. Fees listed are for Georgetown Department of Oncology members; others should contact the TSCR manager for fee information.

• Cancer cell line repository. The TCSR manages Lombardi's cell line repository, which includes an extensive collection of normal and tumor cell lines (animal and human) stored in a series of liquid nitrogen freezers. These are made available to investigators either as frozen vials of cells or as growing cultures. A searchable database is available to the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators.
• Liquid nitrogen storage space. The TCSR maintains several liquid nitrogen freezers in which investigators can store stocks of their own cells/reagents. Inventory records are kept by each investigator. Investigators must contact the Manager of the TCSR to request liquid nitrogen storage space.
• Shared culture space. Three separate shared tissue culture rooms (W323A, W404, E517B) are equipped and maintained by the TCSR. These rooms provide culture facilities to investigators who do not have such facilities in their own lab. Each room contains two laminar-flow tissue culture hoods, several Forma double chamber humidified CO₂ incubators, a bench-top centrifuge, an inverted microscope, and other ancillary equipment such as water baths and a Coulter counter. The incubators are calibrated on a regular basis and cleaned regularly. Please contact the Manager of the TCSR to learn how to make use of this service.
• Quarantine lab and mycoplasma testing. It is the policy of the TCSR that all cell lines must be tested for mycoplasma before they can be cultured in shared tissue culture rooms. The TCSR provides a mycoplasma testing service. A 200-square foot quarantine laboratory is provided for investigators to culture cells prior to mycoplasma testing. To use the quarantine lab, investigators must check in with the Manager of the facility. Samples for mycoplasma testing can be dropped off at the main TCSR lab in W314 in the Research building. A detailed description of how to prepare and store your samples can be found here.
  
• EBV transformation. The TCSR provides an EBV immortalization service. Blood from study subjects is used to generate lymphoblastoid cell lines. Before this service can be provided, investigators must provide a copy of their approved IRB protocol. Information on how to obtain an IRB approval can be found on the Office of the Dean of Research Web page. Details of how blood is to be drawn, shipped and stored are provided here.
• Culture reagents. The TCSR purchases, tests, and prepares several tissue culture reagents that are made available to investigators. These reagents can be obtained on a walk-in basis at W314 or through the completion of the appropriate request form.
  
  • Fetal calf serum
  • Charcoal stripped calf serum
  • Penicillin/Streptomycin
  • G418
  • Fibronectin
  • Glutamine
  • Horse serum.
• Primary cultures. The preparation of primary cultures of both normal and tumor cells, and the generation of cell lines from these cultures is another service that the facility provides. Investigators must contact the Manager of the TCSR to access this service.
  
• Instruction. The TCSR staff will train investigators and/or their staff in basic tissue culture techniques.
• Shared Equipment. The following equipment are maintained by the core and are available for use by the investigators:
  
  • Coulter Counters (models Z1 and Z2) are available 24/7 in shared rooms W404 and E517. (Use for counting total cells
  • Coulter Multi-sizer (model M3) available in W314A during business hours. Ke can be signed out. (Use for counting cells and cell size analysis.
  • Luminometer (Geneprobe, model Leader 50) is available in W314 during business hours. Ke can be signed out. (Use for test tubes, but not for 96 well plates).
• Other services. A number of other services are offered. These include a cell banking service to assist investigators who receive frequent requests for cell lines they have generated, verification of the identity of cells by DNA fingerprinting, DNA extraction from cell lines, and the preparation of cell pellets and lysates for various purposes. In addition, the resource will provide custom tissue culture related services to investigators.

Acknowledgements

For funding purposes, it is important to acknowledge the Tissue Culture Shared Resource (TCSR) in all publications that include data derived as a result of using the resource. Please mention in the acknowledgement that the TCSR is partially supported by NIH/NCI grant 1P30-CA-51008 (Cancer Center Support Grant, to Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center).