The Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC) occupies more than 36,000 net sq. ft. of laboratory and administrative space on the 3rd floor of the Lawrence E. Martin Laboratories of the Massachusetts General Hospital. The Lawrence E. Martin Laboratories perform basic science research in cancer, renal function, diabetes, immunology, molecular genetics, neurology and other fields. In addition, the MGH has an ES Cell/Gene Knockout Facility and a Genomics Core, with scanners for high-density GeneChips, from Affymetrix. The Massachusetts General Hospital has extensive support services such as a laboratory supply store, pharmacy, environmental services and maintenance shops available to all investigators.
The research facilities at the CBRC are extensively equipped with all necessary laboratory infrastructure for the performance of molecular biology, biochemistry, chemistry, tissue culture, tissue processing, and cell quantitation/imaging analyses.
Animal: A 25,000 sq. ft. animal facility at the Lawrence E. Martin Laboratories has three sterile operating rooms, a BL2 containment suite consisting of a dedicated procedure room and our animal housing rooms, a congenic facility, an immunosuppressed suite and 26 animal housing rooms. Extensive space is available for the performance of procedures. Equipment available in the facility also includes Sheppard models 25 & 30 cesium irradiators, pass-through glasswashing and sterilizing units and x-ray/fluorography. The Massachusetts General Hospital is registered with the US Department of Agriculture and has full accreditation from the AAALAC. The Hospital has on file with the Office for Protection from Research Risks of NIH an Assurance of Compliance with the Public Health Service regulations and requirements and provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.
Computer: Macintosh computers linked to a local area network are located in each laboratory. Each laboratory scientist has an identical Mac computer linked to this network, with data storage on a dedicated server with frequent automated backup of disk images. Laser printers, scanners, and numerous other devices (such as cell sorter, gel-imaging, qPCR machines, etc.) are accessible to all users with data storage and backup via the network.
Office: A 200 sq. ft. office within the laboratory area is available for each PI. A desk area with telephone is available for each laboratory member at the end of each research bench.
Other: CBRC has a microscopy core facility equipped with a Leica confocal and Nikon/Zeiss fluorescent microscopes, and an Arcturus Laser Capture Microdissection Apparatus. A flow core facility, which includes a high speed MoFlo, 3 laser sorters and a BD FACScan is also on site. The CBRC also has a Core for Chemical Genetics and Translational Research. The CBRC provides shared secretarial support for the PIs. The space also contains one video and two general conference rooms and 40 private and multi-person offices for science and secretarial staff.
Major Equipment: All equipment (listed below) is located within the Cutaneous Biology Research Center and available for use by all laboratory staff:
Ultra, low and high speed centrifuges
Cryostat, microtomes, tissue processor
Scintillation and gamma counters
Gel analysis / documentation system
Nikon/Zeiss/Olympus bright field & fluorescent microscopes
Nikon confocal microscope
ABI Real time PCR machine
Roche Real Time PCR Machine
Cell Sorter (MoFlo by Cytomation)
Bio-Rad Cell Sorter
FACScan Analyzer
Ultra low temperature freezers
Computers and hard drives for data storage
LC/MS
DeNovix small volume spectrophotometers
NanoDrop small volume spectrophotometer
Bacterial shakers
Bacterial incubator
SpeedVac concentrator
Liquid nitrogen sample storage systems
Qiagen robotic system
Rapid plate loading system
Tissue culture hoods (BSC)
Tissue culture incubators
Fume hoods
Glassware washer
Autoclaves
Leica cryostats
Leica paraffin microtome
Leica plastic cutting microtome
Thermo tissue processor
Sakura tissue processor
Thermo tissue paraffin embedding system
Linear slide staining system