Vanderbilt Hormone Assay and Analytical Services Core

Overview

The Hormone Assay and Analytical Services Core (ASC), which includes Lipid and Oxidative Stress subcores, provides VDRC investigators with essential assays and analytical approaches that allow them to perform important and innovative research related to diabetes, obesity, and metabolism. These include measurement of hormones, cytokines, amino acids, lipids/lipoproteins, nucleotides, and markers of oxidant stress in biologic fluids and tissue samples. More recently, we have added the capability to qualify metabolic flux of glucose, glyceride and lipid by measuring the isotopic enrichment and isotopomer distribution and mass in cells, plasma and tissue samples.

Finally, an important function of the ASC is method development, which not only enhances the spectrum of services offered, but ultimately also increases the impact by providing researchers with the opportunity to expand their research programs. The ASC works closely with the Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center (MMPC) and the Islet and Pancreas Analysis (IPA) Core to coordinate animal experiments.

For more detailed information visit: ASC website ASC iLab

Goals

• Provide researchers with a wide range of accurate, standardized, and reproducible analytical measurements, to expand the scope and productivity of their research
• Provide education and training to investigators, postdoctoral fellows, students, and research assistants in the methods available and how these analyses benefit their research projects
• Respond to the needs of VDRC investigators by developing new assays and adapting services that will improve and/or broaden the capabilities of investigators

Services

• Radioimmunoassays
• Luminex applications
• Nucleotides
• Plasma creatinine
• Catecholamines
• Acetaminophen
• HPLC applications
  • Full amino acid profiles (20+ amino acids) and select amino acid profiles (e.g., branch chain, gluconeogenic)
  • Alanine specific activity with accompanying separation of glucose and lactate
  • Leucine and phenylalanine specific activity
  • Uridine diphosphate glucose specific activity
  • Phosphoenolpyruvate specific activity
• Enrichment of glucose, glyceride, water and palmitate, and metabolic flux analysis
• Plasma lipids
• Cell, tissue, and plasma lipid analyses
• Cell/tissue cholesterol analysis
• Fecal and urine lipids
• Eicosanoids