The University of Tennessee Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) is one of the NIAID-supported Biocontainment Laboratories. The RBL provides a secure lab for conducting research on Category A and B infectious pathogens using state-of-the-art molecular pathogenesis and immunologic approaches. The RBL continues to enhance University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s ability to compete for additional research projects in virology, bacterial pathogenesis and immunology.
More information about this resource is available at University of Tennessee Regional Biocontainment Laboratory
Main Areas of Focus
- To test and evaluate small molecules, vaccines, and diagnostics to protect the general population from infectious diseases and bioterrorism.
How To Get Started
- Please contact the RBL Director (Colleen Jonsson - email cjonsson@uthsc.edu) for further information.
Who Can Use This Resource
- Investigators in academia, not-for-profit organizations, industry, and government studying biodefense and emerging infectious diseases may request the use of biocontainment laboratories.
Support Services
Laboratory and Analytical Support:
- Antiviral Discovery & Development
- High Throughput Screening
- Titer Reductions
- Time of Addition
- Evaluation of Small Molecules for Safety and Efficacy in Small Animals
- Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics (LC-MS available in BSL-3 containment suite)
- Vaccine & Biologics Discovery
- Neutralizing Antibody Titers
- Immunoglobulin Quantitation and Subtyping
- B and T Cell Responses
- Immunophenotyping
- Evaluation in Small Animals
- Pathogenesis Discovery
- Biomarkers
- Sequencing
- High Throughput Biology
- Evaluation in Small Animal Models
- Virus Isolation
- Identification of pathogens in animal, human, and environmental samples
- Immunology & Biomarker Discovery
- Hematology
- Clinical Chemistry
- Multiplex Assays
- ELISpot
- Spectral Cytometer
- Cell Sorter
- Evaluation in Small Animal Model
Ability To Accommodate GLP or GMP Studies?
Please inquire to discuss your GLP request.
Tools
Animal Capabilities, Including Species and Containment Level(s)
Containment available at ABSL2 and ABSL3
- Mice
- Rats
- Cotton rat
- Guinea pigs
- Hamsters
- Ferrets
- Other small animals- on request
Animal Models, Including Species, Disease, and Delivery Method
Models with mice:
- Influenza BSL-2 strains, H5N1 (new), HPAIV (intranasal)
- Orthohantaviruses
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 1 (SARS CoV-1)
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2)
- Middle-East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV)
- Respiratory Syncytial virus (intranasal)
- Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses (subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and intranasal)
- Western equine encephalitis viruses (subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and intranasal)
- Eastern equine encephalitis viruses (subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and intranasal)
- Leptospira interrogans; Intraperitoneal, conjunctival, transdermal
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis (intranasal)
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal aureus
- Staphylococcus aureus (laboratory and clinical strains)
- Streptococcus pneumoniae (laboratory and clinical strains)
- Co-infection model with influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae or Staphylococcus aureus
- Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula
- Other- available on request
Models with ferret:
- Influenza BSL-2 strains (intranasal)
- Influenza HPAI BSL-3 strains (intranasal)
- SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 BSL-3 strains (intranasal)
- Other- available on request
Pathogens
Currently approved for work with:
Viruses:
- Influenza A and B virus, HPAIV
- Andes, Sin Nombre, Black Creek Canal, Bayou, Cana Delgadito, Leguna Negra, Rio Mamare Virus
- Hantaan, Seoul, Prospect Hill, Puumala Virus
- Oropouche Virus
- Pichinde Virus
- Respiratory Syncytial Virus
- Western, Eastern, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, Vaccine (TC83 and 3526)
- Mayaro, Sindbis, Chikungunya 181/25 Viruses
- MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1, Mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, Mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-2-GFP
- Zika virus, St. Louis Encephalitis virus, West Nile virus
- Picornavirus
- Adenovirus
Bacteria:
- Streptococcus pneumonia
- Mycobacterium bovis BCG
- Mycobacterium smegmatis
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcal aureus
- Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula
In-Life Animal Assays
- Xenogen IVIS Spectrum In Vivo Imaging
- MicroCT In Vivo Imaging
- ECHO In Vivo Imaging
- Clinical Signs, Weight, Temperature Measurements
Downstream Analysis
- Clinical Chemistry
- Hematology
- RNA Isolation/RNA Seq
- RNA Isolation/qPCR
- Plaque Assay
- Downstream Analysis
- PRNT
- Plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT)
- Cytospin assessments
- Magpix
- LC-MS/MS
- Assessment of proteins in tissues (Magpix or Luminex)
- Pathology and immunohistochemistry of tissues
- Assessments of proteins using Western Blot
- BLAZE
- Assessments of whole organs for specific targets using light sheet microscopy (BLAZE)
- Cell Sorting and Flow Cytometry
- Immunoglobulin Measurements
- Assessments using Fluorescent or Confocal Microscopy
- ELISpot
- Protein Target Multiplexing using MafPix
- High Throughput Antiviral Screening- cell based or biochemical (AlphaScreen)
- High content screening using CQ1
- Serological screening for blood cell types and metabolites
- Organ on a chip studies using Emulate
- In vitro models using trans-well culture systems
- Biodistribution and Pharmacokinetic studies using LC-MS/MS
Major Equipment Available
- Respons®910VET Chemistry Analyzer
- X•pedite™ HEM³ VET Hematology Analyzer
- Agilent Bioanalyzer
- Agilent Fragment Analyzer
- QuantStudio 6 real-time PCR (96- and 384-well blocks)
- Biotek MultiFlo FX
- Eppendorf PCR
- Synergy
- Biotek Plate Washer
- EnVision Readers
- Luminex® 200
- Magpix® System with Milliplex® Analyst software
- QBIT
- Mindray ultrasound system with an Ultrasonic Transducer
- Vevo 3100 Ultrasound
- Illumina MiSeq
- IVIS
- Molecubes CT
- Cytek Aurora Spectral Cytometer
- C.T.L. EliSpot Analyzer
- Miltenyi Biotec BLAZE
- 10 X Genomics Chromium X
- Olympus APEX
- Emulate, Inc. - Zoe & Orb
- Miltenyi Biotech - MACSQuant Tyto Cell Sorter
- Yokogawa CQ1 system
- KingFisher
- EVOS fluorescent microscope
- Refrigerated Centrifuges with biocontainment rotors in most rooms
- -80C80°C Freezers
- Beadmills
- Beadmill Homogenizer
- Phase microscopes
- CO2 incubators
- SCIEX QTRAP 5500+ LC-MS/MS system
- Leica Microtome
- Leica Paraffin Embedding Work Station
- Epredia Tissue Processor
- GentleMACS Dissociator
- EtOxide Sterilizer
- SCIEX Triple Quad 6500+LC System
Shared Resources
- Proteomic MS facility
- Deep sequencing systems
- Affymetrix-based global transcriptomic facility
- Confocal microscopy
- Transmission and scanning EM facility
- BXD Mice platform
- Gnotobiotic mouse facility
Contact Information
Director: Colleen Jonsson, Ph.D.