SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Crysectioning, Mounting and Immunohistochemisty (Fos-B) for 75 rat brains. - Draft Statement of Work
- Notice Date
- 4/8/2016
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 621511
— Medical Laboratories
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E128, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20852
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NCI-SS-TBS-7012-C16
- Point of Contact
- Mary Muir, Phone: 301-624-8764, C. Timothy Crilley, Phone: 301-624-8743
- E-Mail Address
-
mary.muir@nih.gov, tcrilley@mail.nih.gov
(mary.muir@nih.gov, tcrilley@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Draft Statement of Work - Cryosectioning, Mounting, and Immunohistochemistry (Fos B) for 75 Rat Brains Title: Cryosectioning, Mounting, and Immunohistochemistry (Fos B) for 75 Rat Brains This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential services requirement. Background: The Treatment and Branch Support, of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) proposed to procure crysectioning, mounting and immunohistochemisty (Fos-B) of 75 rat brains for The National Center for Complementary and Integrative (NCCIH), in accordance with the objectives below. Regular physical exercise has many beneficial effects, including analgesia (pain relief). However, very little is known about specific molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. This research project follows upon previous work from our laboratory indicating that physical exercise not only reduces pain but also stress. To better understand how exercise produces these effects, we will study how different forms of physical exercise affect FosB levels in brain regions involved in emotional regulation and reward processing. FosB is found in neuronal cells and is upregulated when neurons are persistently active. As such, increased FosB levels indicate neuronal cells that have been activated. Purposes and Objectives: This study aims to determine how physical activity alters neurochemical targets in brain areas involved in reward and emotional processing. The contractors will process (i.e. section and immunostain) previously harvested tissue. This aspect of the experiments is very time consuming and requires consistent technical handling that can only be obtained by specialized laboratories. When complete, the tissue will be returned to our laboratory for quantification. The contractors will process (i.e. section and immunostain) previously harvested tissue. Our goals for this work are straightforward: the contractors are to section the tissue according to our requirements, followed by immunolabeling the tissue again according to our requirements. The immunolabeled sections will then be returned to our laboratory where we will quantify immunolabeling (i.e. count FosB-labeled neurons in tissue sections). Project Requirements: Major tasks of the Contractor include the following: 1. Tissue preparation (rat brains) including cryoprotection, freezing, sectioning with a cryostat (30um), collection and storage of 4 sets of free floating sections in FD section storage solution at -20 degrees Celsius. Serial cut sections will be cut coronally through the cerebrum containing the anterior cingulate cortex and the nucleus accumbens.   2. Testing and titration of the primary antibody for colorimetric immunostaining on free floating sections of the rat brain. 3. Colorimetric immunostaining with 1 primary antibody (FosB) on free-floating sections (30 um) of the rat brain. The immunoreaction product will be visualized after incubation in avidin, biotin and buffer solutions. 4. After thorough washing, all sections will be mounted on slides, dehydrated in alcohol, cleared in xylene and coverslipped. Immunostained slides will be placed in a slide box and stored securely at the contractor's facility until pick up by Investigator. Other Important Considerations: • Include taxes, shipping and handling/customs fees and special handling instructions. • Include descriptive literature, warranties, and /or other information that demonstrates the ability to meet the above specifications. Capability Statement/Information Sought: We encourage all responsible sources, particularly small businesses, to submit a capability statement which will be considered by the agency. Organizations that submit capability statements in response to this notice will be evaluated against the following criteria: Documented capacity to process tissue for Fos B immunoreactivity, inactivating the endogenous peroxidase activity, and incubate sections with avidin and biotin solutions while also utilizing the same antibodies used in the lab, which is imperative to this requirement. Documented infrastructure, necessary equipment and human resource capacity to replicate this exact design within the required time frame, and allow the use of our own antibodies. Using identical antibodies provides great consistency in tissue staining and thus less variation in our research. Documented the expertise and experience necessary to process the tissue specifically for the project needs. The capabilities statement must provide the requirements as listed herein and documented evidence that the Offeror is capable of providing the services required. Anticipated Period of Performance: Delivery shall be made within 60 days after award. Information Submission Instructions: 1. Page Limitations: Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement not to exceed ten (10) single sided pages including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc. (single spaced, 12 point font minimum) that clearly details the firm's ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above and in the draft SOW. Statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status; this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement, as well as the eligible small business concern's name, point of contact, address and DUNS number. 2. Number of Copies: One (1) electronic copy of the capability statement submitted electronically (via e-mail) to Mary Muir, Contract Specialist. 3. Delivery Point: All capability statements sent in response to this SOURCES SOUGHT notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Mary Muir, Contract Specialist, at mary.muir@nih.gov in MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), by April 18, 2016 at 2:00PM, EST. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. No collect calls or facsimile transmissions will be accepted. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE AND TIME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. DISCLAIMER AND IMPORANT NOTES: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. CONFIDENTIALITY: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/RCB/HHS-NIH-NCI-SS-TBS-7012-C16/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, Maryland, 20852, United States
- Zip Code: 20852
- Zip Code: 20852
- Record
- SN04078343-W 20160410/160408234404-863bd88838ad6fb8b05a5d7c895a4923 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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