Acquisition of Multicolor Spinning-Disk Confocal Microscope for New Applications In 4D Cellular Imaging and Analysis

耶鲁大学获得了一笔资助。Ira Mellman和Derek Toomre获得了最先进的多色旋转圆盘共聚焦显微镜，用于活细胞的成像和分析。现代生物学面临的一个中心问题是理解细胞活动是如何在空间和时间上整合的；这一挑战适用于细胞生物学的每一个分支，从细胞组织和生物发生的基本方面到免疫学、神经生物学、发育生物学和微生物学。越来越多的高分辨率活细胞成像正在成为帮助人们了解分子、囊泡、细胞器和整个细胞如何响应内部和外部信号（重新）组织的关键工具。需要能够对完整细胞进行快速分析的新技术，以提供这些过程的完整图像，并研究作为时间函数占据或动态穿越几个光学平面的物体。因此，这样的成像被称为“四维”，捕捉单个细胞在三个物理维度加上时间的行为。这台仪器将是耶鲁大学同类仪器中的第一台，它使使用较慢的传统共聚焦显微镜无法进行的实验成为可能。总之，这种独特的显微镜将使细胞成像和分析的新应用成为可能，允许对活细胞和组织中的生化反应进行定量分析。该仪器将使来自不同领域的研究人员能够利用酵母、蠕虫、苍蝇和哺乳动物细胞等模型系统来解决一系列基本的细胞生物学问题，所有这些都是为了研究复杂细胞过程的复杂时空动态而联合起来的。不仅数据将被可视化，而且该项目的一个关键因素是专家生物医学成像工程师的参与。在James Duncan博士的领导下，将实施用于分析细胞成像数据集的新软件，并将促进生命科学家与工程和计算领域的科学家之间的新交流。私营公司伙伴关系将进一步加强该文书的能力。除了为不同群体的学生、博士后和访问科学家提供研究机会外，仪器和配套基础设施还将通过研讨会和课程提供相关的培训和教育。未被充分代表的少数族裔将参加耶鲁大学已经建立的“STARS”暑期实习项目，以及一个针对纽黑文贫困学生的新的生物教育指导项目。

A grant has been awarded to Yale University under the direction of Drs. Ira Mellman and Derek Toomre for the acquisition of a state-of-the-art multicolor spinning disk confocal microscope for the imaging and analysis of living cells. A central problem facing modern biology is to understand how cellular activities are integrated in space and time; this challenge applies to every branch of cell biology ranging from fundamental aspects of cellular organization and biogenesis to immunology, neurobiology, developmental biology, and microbiology. Increasingly, high resolution live cell imaging is emerging as a key tool in helping one understand how molecules, vesicles, organelles and whole cells are (re)organized in response to internal and external cues. New technologies that enable the rapid analysis of intact cells is needed to give a complete picture of these processes, and to study objects that occupy or dynamically traverse several optical planes as a function of time. Such imaging is therefore referred to as being "four-dimensional", capturing the behavior of a single cell in three physical dimensions plus time. The instrument will be the first of its kind at Yale University enabling experiments that were impossible using slower conventional confocal microscopes. In summary, this unique microscope will enable new applications in cellular imaging and analysis, permitting quantitative analysis of biochemical reactions in living cells and tissues.This instrumentation will enable researchers from diverse fields to address an array of basic cell biological questions using model systems including yeast, worms, flies, and mammalian cells, all united by a need to investigate the complex spatial-temporal dynamics of complex cellular processes. Not only will data be visualized but a key element of the project, is the involvement of expert biomedical imaging engineers. Under the leadership of Dr. James Duncan, new software for the analysis of cell imaging datasets will be implemented and will foster new exchanges between life scientists and those in the engineering and computational fields. Private corporate partnerships will further enhance the capabilities of the instrument.In addition to enabling research for a diverse group of students, post-docs and visiting scientists, the instrumentation and supporting infrastructure will provide relevant training and education through seminars and courses. Underrepresented minorities will participate under the auspices of Yale's well established "STARS" summer internship program, and a new biology educational mentorship program for underprivileged New Haven students.