The Transgenic & Molecular Core of the Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) provides leadership, technical expertise, advice, and training for investigators within and outside the University of Pittsburgh community. The core is comprised of four functional sections:

Molecular Biology	Lentiviral Production
Animal Resources	Biosafety and Training

These sections are dedicated to shepherding transgenic projects from vector design through to establishment and maintenance of valuable transgenic lines. The Transgenic and Molecular Core will also provide leadership by developing creative state of the art strategies and assays to solve complex biological problems.

Molecular Biology

The Molecular Biology section of the Transgenic and Molecular Core provides services and support for the construction of various vector platforms, including plasmids and lentiviruses. Diagnostic services, including DNA sequencing are provided to evaluate vector construction. The core produces replication-defective viral vectors, concentrates these viruses and provides titer information. PCR and Southern blot genotyping services are also available.

Figure 1: Transgenic rats expressing GFP reporter gene.

Plasmid and Lentiviral vectors

The MWRI Transgenic and Molecular core maintains an inventory of plasmid and lentiviral vectors that are available for a nominal fee. All lentiviral vectors are certified replication-defective by serial transfer and/or p24 Elisa assay.

Animal Resources

The Animal Resource Section provides colony maintenance and breeding services to meet the experimental needs of client investigators. The full service animal colony has state of the art microsurgical and macrosurgical suites and technicians who provide a variety of services, including superovulation, egg collection, tissue biopsy, castration, vasectomy, embryo transfer, and stem cell transplantation for tissue regeneration and teratoma analysis.
Figure 2: Teratoma growth in vivo demonstrates the developmental potentials of embryonic stem cells

Biosafety and Training

Biosafety and Training ensures the safe production and use of replication defective viral vectors. PDC investigators receive training and experimental advice for the use of viral vectors in the laboratory and in animals. Lentivirus-conditioned medium and animal blood samples are routinely evaluated for replication competent virus (RCV) by serial transfer and P24 ELISA.

Core Services and Stock Resources

The Transgenic and Molecular Core manager (Yi Sheng) is available to assist with experimental design and implementation. A variety of transgenic and molecular services and resources are available to our local, national and international collaborators through a fee for service mechanism.

• To see a full list of services and fees, click here
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