ABSTRACT The overall goal of the Northern Ohio Alcohol Center (NOAC) is to identify specific molecular targets of ethanol- induced damage, as well as understand the complex adaptive and maladaptive responses of cells and systems to that injury. This information will enable us to 1) target therapeutic interventions that will either slow and/or reverse the progression of alcohol-induced tissue injury and 2) develop specific assays that can assess the efficacy of novel therapeutic strategies in relevant clinical populations. NOAC brings together an outstanding team of interdisciplinary investigators. Progress by these investigators into the mechanisms of ethanol-induced tissue injury is supported by the Animal Models and Cell Isolation Core (Animal/Cell Core). The use of standardized protocols for in vivo models of acute and chronic ethanol exposure to rodents, as well as the use of in vitro primary cell cultures isolated from ethanol-exposed animals, is critical to understanding the molecular mechanisms for the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced tissue injury. The purpose of the Animal/Cell Core is to provide expertise in the design and implementation of experiments investigating alcohol-induced tissue injury, as well as standardized protocols and centralized facilities for the exposure of rodents to ethanol, as well as isolation of hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells from the liver. The Core provides support for Research Components and Pilot Projects supported by NOAC, as well as additional projects funded by NIAAA and other sources to local investigators, as well as investigators nationally and internationally. Personnel experienced in working with rat and murine models of acute and chronic ethanol exposure, as well as isolating parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells from rodents, staff the Animal/Cell Core. The proposed Research Components and Pilot Projects will make use of the Animal/Cell Core. The major goal of the Animal/Cell Core will be to make tissue and cellular samples from control and ethanol-exposed animals available to members of NOAC. The procedures involved are complex and expensive; the availability of centralized facilities will allow rapid access of investigators in NOAC, as well as investigators new to alcohol research, to the tissues and cells needed to test novel and innovative hypotheses without the delay of each PI developing these techniques in each of their own laboratories. The Animal/Cell Core also maintains an extensive biorepository of tissues and cells from ethanol-exposed mice and rats. This biorepository allows for considerable cost savings that result from the shared use of samples between the different members of NOAC. Importantly, the shared use of samples is also leveraged to integrate data from multiple investigators to better understand interactions between cells, tissues and systems in response to ethanol. The combination of our outstanding investigative team and excellent Core resources will lead to key disco...