Acquisition of a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope for Natural Science Research and Teaching

阿肯色州中央大学(UCA)的Steven W.Runge博士和他的同事获得了ASTACTA奖，以获得激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(LSCM)。这种仪器具有捕捉细胞和细胞结构的图像的能力，这些细胞和细胞结构被标记了荧光标记，分辨率是其他类型的光学显微镜无法比拟的。激光扫描共聚焦显微镜从各种活组织和准备好的组织中获取光学切片和构建3D图像，以及对活细胞和组织进行时间过程分析的能力，将影响UCA的广泛研究计划。应用激光共聚焦显微镜的研究范围从复杂组织的三维重建，如活跃生长的植物枝条和大鼠和海洋蜗牛的大脑，到跟踪培养细胞和本地组织内部结构的运动。总的来说，这台仪器的收购将把UCA的教职员工和学生的研究提升到新的复杂水平。这将使研究人员能够解决以前无法解决的问题。在UCA而不是在遥远的机构进行这项工作的一个重大好处是，我们的本科生将有更多的机会参与研究。我们的研究生(硕士水平)还将获得重要的经验和技能，这将促进未来的研究和专业学习。LSCM将用于解决自然科学中的各种研究问题。这些包括：参与紫外光反应的植物色素的快速分析和定位；哺乳动物大脑白质神经元的形态特征；追踪钾通道在海洋腹足类肠道膜外插入渗透调节的情况；海洋腹足类整个大脑中参与行为决定的突触连接的可视化；了解大鼠小脑成熟期间浦肯野细胞选择性死亡的机制；跟踪指导开花植物花序结构的发育信号的运动；植物分泌道的检查以及挖沟昆虫对乳胶/油分布的影响；比率成像用于监测细胞内的pH和Na+/H+交换器在细胞凋亡过程中的囊泡转运的时程成像。将采用的方法包括显示植物组织中的自发荧光分子和结构，用荧光抗体标记结构，用荧光分子填充单个脑细胞以识别与其他细胞的联系，以及用荧光标记标记细胞表面蛋白，以跟踪这些蛋白在不同条件下进出细胞表面的运动。除了研究之外，LSCM将是UCA科学教学的有价值的补充。共焦显微镜将帮助学生可视化生物学中复杂的三维过程，并对活细胞进行测量，这将是教学的无价资产。例如，青蛙胚胎发育的各个阶段将被记录为一组追踪这一动态过程的3-D、时间进程图像。然后，这些图像将被提供给教室进行分析。LSCM制作的令人惊叹的图像还将通过各种外展计划和以UCA校园为中心的阿肯色州教育媒体，在高中生和教师中激发对科学的兴趣。该大学招收了约8500名学生，其中62%是女性，19%是少数民族，后者的比例在过去十年里稳步上升。收购LSCM将加强教师的研究能力，支持强大的本科生研究项目，吸引更多女性和少数族裔学生投身科学事业，增加公众对科学的欣赏，并支持历史上支持不足的地理区域的项目。

AbstractA grant has been awarded to Dr. Steven W. Runge and colleagues at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) to obtain a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LSCM). This instrument has the ability to capture images of cells and cellular structures that are tagged with fluorescent markers with a resolution unmatched by other types of light microscopy. The ability of the LSCM to acquire optical sections and construct 3-D images from a variety of live and prepared tissues and to perform time-course analyses on living cells and tissues will impact a wide range of research programs at UCA. Investigations that will employ the LSCM range from 3-D reconstruction of complex tissues such as actively growing plant shoots and brains of rats and marine snails to tracking the movement of structures inside of cultured cells and native tissues. Collectively, acquisition of this instrument will elevate faculty and student research at UCA to new levels of sophistication. This will allow researchers to address questions that previously were inaccessible. A significant benefit of having this work conducted at UCA, rather than at distant institutions, will be the heightened opportunities for our undergraduates to become involved in research. Our graduate students (master's level) will also acquire important experience and skills that will promote future research and professional study.The LSCM will be used to address a wide variety of research questions in the natural sciences. These include: the rapid assay and localization of plant pigments involved in responses to UV-light; morphological characterization of neurons in the white matter of mammalian brains; tracking the exocytic insertion of potassium channels into intestinal membranes for osmoregulation in marine gastropods; visualization of synaptic connections involved in behavioral decisions in whole brains of marine gastropods; understanding mechanisms that underlie the selective death of Purkinje cells during maturation of the rat cerebellum; tracking the movement of developmental signals that direct inflorescence architecture in flowering plants; examination of secretory canals in plants and the effects of trenching insects on latex/oil distribution; and ratio imaging to monitor intracellular pH and time-course imaging of vesicular trafficking of Na+/H+ exchangers in cultured cells undergoing apoptosis. Methodologies to be employed include visualization of autofluorescent molecules and structures in plant tissues, tagging stuctures with fluorescent antibodies, filling individual brain cells with fluorescent molecules to identify connections to other cells, and labeling cell-surface proteins with fluorescent markers to follow the movement of these proteins to and from the cell surface under different conditions.In addition to research, the LSCM will be a valuable addition to science instruction at UCA. Confocal microscopy will help students visualize complex 3-D processes in biology and make measurements on living cells that will be invaluable assets to teaching. For instance, stages of frog embryo development will be recorded as a set of 3-D, time-course images that trace this dynamic process. These images will then be made available for analysis in the classroom. The stunning images produced by LSCM will also be used to generate interest in the sciences among high school students and teachers through various outreach programs and the Arkansas education media centered here on the UCA campus. The University's enrollment of about 8,500 students is 62% female and 19% minority, with the later group steadily increasing in proportion over the last decade. Acquisition of the LSCM will strengthen faculty research capabilities, support strong undergraduate research programs, attract more women and minority students to careers in the sciences, increase public appreciation of science, and support programs in a historically under-supported geographic area.