The Cell Engineering Shared Resource (CESR; formerly called the Cell and Viral Vector laboratory), established in 1976, was the first Shared Resource established by the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center (AHWFBCCC). The mission of the CESR is to serve the scientific needs of AHWFBCCC researchers at Winston-Salem and Charlotte campuses by offering specialized cell culture services with an emphasis on genetic engineering of cancer cell lines for individual projects with stringent quality control. The CESR offers user-customizable production of a variety of vectors to enable AHWFBCCC members to maximize research productivity. The CESR houses advanced instrumentation for monitoring cancer cells in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, it is a central facility for purchasing and distributing specific culture media and reagents, molecular biology kits, and standard laboratory supplies, while providing cost-effective distribution to researchers.
Focus Areas
- Provision of specialized cell culture services, including lenti/retroviral vector production and cell line engineering, that support AHWFBCCC members’ research needs in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
- Maintenance of an extensive repository of contaminant free, commonly used cell lines, both cancer and non- cancer, and produce custom media for each cell line for AHWFBCCC member use.
- Access and training for specialized equipment (IVIS and IncuCyte Zoom) for in vivo and in vitro monitoring of cell growth and function that is not readily available or not cost-effective for individual AHWFBCCC members.
- Service as a procurement and distribution center for critical cell culture and molecular biology reagents.
- Education of researchers in use of instrumentation, cell culture, and cell engineering techniques needed for modern cancer biomedical research.
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