History of the MR4
The Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) was developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) as an outgrowth of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM), a consortium of agencies involved in malaria research, control, and development assistance. From concepts originating at the International Conference on Malaria in Africa, held in Dakar in January, 1997, NIAID made the commitment to establish a malaria reagent resource center to provide improved access to parasite, vector, and human reagents and standardization of assays using well-characterized and renewable reagents.
In September 1998, a seven-year contract was awarded to ATCC in Manassas, Virginia, to establish the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4). This award included a subcontract to the Centers for Disease Control Foundation to provide anopheline reagents. Funding for the MR4 was again awarded to ATCC in 2005 to grow and maintain the Resource Center, which served nearly 1000 laboratories through 2010. In 2011, MR4 was integrated with NIAID's BEI Resources as one of multiple repository collections.
An international Scientific Advisory Committee has provided oversight of MR4 operations, helped prioritize reagent acquisition and training needs, and acted as a liaison to the malaria community.
Reagents and Services at ATCC
MR4 provides a centralized resource for research reagents to the scientific community that can be used as reference standards or to generate new renewable reagents. Reagents maintained by the Resource Center include:
- Parasites: Plasmodium spp. parasites (cloned, uncloned, genetically manipulated, etc.)
- Proteins: Plasmodium recombinant proteins, synthetic peptides, antigens
- Nucleic acids: libraries, clones, plasmids, oligonucleotides, DNAs, etc.
- Immunologic reagents: polyclonal antisera, monoclonal antibodies, hybridoma cell lines
- Mosquitoes: Anopheles spp. and mosquito-related molecular reagents
MR4 Vector Stock Repository at CDC
Under a subcontract with ATCC, the CDC Foundation supports the MR4 Vector Stock Repository, which supplies living and preserved laboratory cultured malaria vector mosquitoes to registered users. The CDC insectary maintains Anopheline and related mosquito colonies and provides molecular and phenotypic testing of vector stock purity. The CDC also coordinates a vector review committee which reviews and approves shipments of mosquito egg stock to registered vector laboratories with approved facilities.
Benefits to the Malaria Research Community
Depositor Benefits
The benefits the MR4 provides to investigators who deposit their materials in the MR4 collection are numerous. Through this program, MR4:
· Reduces the burden of distribution requests for reagents, including management and coordination of transportation and regulatory permits.
· Provides safe long term archival storage of their important reagent stocks.
· Provides accessioned scientific information regarding the reagent on the web.
· Provides authentication and quality control for reagents amplified and tested at MR4.
· Preserves the intellectual property and ownership of the depositor materials as designated through the deposit process.
· Promotes investigator research and requires citation of depositor reagents upon publication or presentation by other users.
· Helps investigators fulfill NIH and other funding organization requirements for sharing of biological research materials and data.
MR4 User Benefits
The MR4 collection provides an opportunity for internationally based investigators to request malaria research materials through BEI Resources. Through this program, NIAID's MR4 reagents collection:
· Increases access to renewable reagents by the malaria research community world-wide.
· Provides quality controlled, authenticated materials at lowest available passage to ensure viable, pure and validated stock is distributed.
· Provides reference information, citations, links and protocols for reagent use.
· Generates and accessions new reagents or derivatives
· Supports workshops and training activities
· Promotes openness and collaboration among users
· Receives and responds to community input regarding:
o Reagent needs and prioritization
o Characterization requirements and quality control
o Proprietary and ethical issues
o Training and technology transfer needs
Information Dissemination
MR4 promotes reagent collection awareness and scientific support to the malaria research community through this web site, laboratory protocols, manuals and conferences. MR4 also provides a schedule of conferences, workshops and meetings, postings of malaria-related positions available and links to related research resources on this site. If you have malaria-related protocols, images or information, meeting events, positions available or community links you would like us to consider posting to the MR4 web portal, please email malaria@atcc.org. |