Immunology/Pathology Core

The goal of the IMMUNOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY CORE is to provide a centralized facility for performing a range of assays and services that facilitate the functional and anatomical analysis of cells and tissues by CFAR investigators. This facility provides the biosafety containment that is necessary for these analyses. Services provided by this core include RNA and protein analyses for cytokines, chemokines and growth factors, as well as tissue fixation, slide preparation and histopathology using microscopic examination, immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization techniques. We will soon offer additional cutting edge technology by providing use of an inverted fluorescence microscope to analyze HIV infected living cells and unfixed tissues. This core provides a key service, as an understanding of the mechanisms that mediate HIV and opportunistic infection and tissue responses requires an analysis of the factors being elaborated by and the phenotypes of infected cells as well as the response to infection by uninfected resident cells. Therefore, access to these services greatly supports the diverse research efforts of investigators at Einstein and Montefiore aimed at understanding the pathogenesis of infection with HIV-1 and AIDS-associated pathogens. Aim 1. To provide investigators with the research infrastructure that is necessary to analyze the immune responses stimulated by HIV and AIDS-associated pathogens by measuring cytokine, chemokine and other soluble mediator, RNA, and protein levels in the appropriate biosafety containment. Aim 2. To provide investigators with a facility using appropriate biohazard containment that is capable of examining the effects of infection with HIV and AIDS-associated pathogens on tissues by characterizing morphological, molecular and phenotypical changes using histological, immunohistochemical, in situ hybridization analyses and live cell imaging. Aim 3. To train CFAR investigators in the performance of techniques that are extant in the Core and to assist investigators in the development of new immunological assays and pathological techniques that are required for the accomplishment of their research projects.