Stem Cell and Xenograft Core
Medical Director: Martin Carroll, MD
The Stem Cell and Xenograft Core (SCXC) is a comprehensive resource laboratory that integrates a viable tissue bank of normal human hematopoietic cells and hematopoietic malignancies with a full range of xenograft services.
The SCXC is committed to facilitating and promoting translational research involving viable primary human hematopoietic tissues. Our Core offers adult whole bone marrow from healthy donors and umbilical cord blood. Mononuclear and CD34+ cells from normal bone marrow and cord blood are available, and other cell fractions can be provided by arrangement. It maintains a large tissue bank of cells from hematopoietic malignancies including AML, ALL, CML, MDS and MPDs. All samples are fully annotated and frozen as viable cells. The Core also offers access to an immunomagnetic cell sorter (Miltenyi AutoMacs). Expertise in primary human hematopoietic stem/progenitor and leukemic cell culture and manipulation is available.
The SCXC offers a wide variety of xenograft services from training to full-service experiments. The Core maintains a large breeding colony of immune-deficient (NSG) mice for users' xenograft studies. It offers human immune system (CD34-transplanted) NSG mice for a wide variety of studies ranging from gene therapy to HIV. Experimental animals are housed in dedicated BSL-2 animal barrier space equipped for whole body irradiation and all necessary procedures and survival surgeries. Currently established xenograft models include normal human CD34 and leukemia engraftment, human iPS and ES-derived teratomas, human skin grafting, orthotopic human ovarian, hepatic and pancreatic tumor cell injections, and renal capsule implantation. The Core also offers access to a dedicated optical/fluorescence (IVIS Spectrum) imaging system located within BSL-2 space.
Contact
For more information about these services, please visit the Core's website: https://www.med.upenn.edu/scxc/