Toxicology Laboratory

The Toxicology Laboratory is a multi-user facility located in Cary Hall on UB's south campus, with state-of-the-art instrumentation for conducting cellular, biochemical and molecular studies. New instrumentation in this shared facility includes the following:

  • Beckman L-70 ultracentrifuge
  • Beckman Avanti high speed centrifuge
  • PTI spectrofluorometer
  • Wallac Tri/Lux Microbeta Scintillation Chemiluminescence Counter
  • Dynatech MRX-HD microplate reader
  • CyloFluor II fluorescent plate reader
  • Bio-Rad gel doc 1000 fluorescent gel documentation system
  • Bio-Rad model GS-525 molecular imager system
  • Bio-Rad GS-700 densitometer

The Center has protocols for the preclinical testing of drugs in support of New Drug Applications. The primary focus has been on new radiodiagnostic drugs, particularly brain imaging agents. The Toxicology Lab has the following capabilities and equipment:

In vitro Models

  • Precision-cut tissue slices in Dynamic Organ Culture. Suitable for comparative studies utilizing: liver, lung, and/or kidney slices from humans and laboratory animals.
  • Primary tissue explant culture models utilizing human endometrium.
  • Primary culture of isolated hepatocytes and lymphocytes.
  • Cell culture utilizing various cell lines.

Biochemical/Molecular Techniques

  • Morphological and biochemical assays for cellular viability
  • Xenobiotic uptake and metabolism
  • Assay of chemical-DNA adducts by 32 P post-labeling
  • Cell and tissue specific expression of cytochrome P-450s (CYPs):
    • Immunohistochemical location
    • Quantitative Competitive RT-PCR analysis of specific mRNA
    • Western immunoblotting
    • CYP enzymatic activity

Toxicogenomics

  • Single Stranded Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) analysis
  • Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis
  • Site-directed mutagenesis

Bioassays

  • Reporter Gene Bioassay for dioxin-like compounds (96 well plate format)

Equipment

  • Krumdieck precision-cut tissue slicer
  • 2 Custom designed incubators for dynamic organ culture, sonicator, electrophoresis and blotting apparatus
  • Perkin Elmer 9600 GeneAmp PCR system
  • Avanti J-251 centrifuge
  • Beckman L-70 Ultracentrifuge
  • PTI Spectrofluorometer
  • Wallac 1409 liquid scintillation counter
  • Dynatech MRX-HD micro plate reader
  • CytoFluor II fluorescent plate reader
  • Bio-Rad gel doc 1000 fluorescent gel documentation system
  • Bio-Rad model Gs-525 molecular imager system
  • Bio-Rad GS-700 densitometer
  • PT1 Delta scan dual scanning fluorometer
  • Class II type B-2 biological safety cabinets