MRI: Acquisition of confocal microscopy instrumentation for undergraduate research and research training

至少六名教师和他们的学生的研究计划将通过在劳伦斯大学获得共聚焦显微镜显着扩大。 参与劳伦斯的夏季研究计划，荣誉研究和高级经验计划的学生使用显微镜将加强和现代化他们的研究培训。 两个研究小组正在使用C。elegans作为一个模型系统，一个是研究RFX转录因子在衰老过程中维持突触蛋白水平的作用，另一个是鉴定和表征参与神经元纤毛感觉特异性方面的新基因。推定的新的感觉特异性纤毛基因首先确定使用比较基因组学方法和他们的表达模式正在进行表征。这两个研究小组将使用共聚焦显微镜来表征蠕虫特定组织中的基因表达模式。 同样，GFP标记的Vg 1/Gdf 1将用于研究斑马鱼早期发育过程中这种重要信号分子的产生和分泌动力学。 该仪器的延时功能将是该项目成功的关键。 第四个研究小组对蜗牛和血吸虫（血吸虫病的病原体）的宿主-寄生虫关系感兴趣。 这个小组已经确定了一种神经肽，可以调节宿主对感染的生理反应。 他们将首先使用共聚焦显微镜定位这种肽在蜗牛神经系统中的表达，以确定其功能，然后跟踪感染后表达的变化。 这个小组也对绘制蜗牛的神经发生感兴趣，这是一个需要共聚焦显微镜的项目。 另一个研究小组的目标是鉴定和定位原始植物中参与细胞凋亡的特定半胱天冬酶。 将使用免疫荧光和荧光tunel测定来评估细胞死亡的程度及其关键调节因子。 另一个研究小组将使用新的显微镜进行FRET分析，以阐明人类血管生成素（一种与肿瘤发生和血管生长有关的蛋白质）的蛋白质：蛋白质相互作用。 最后，威斯康星大学福克斯谷分校的一个小组将使用该仪器研究新进化的益生菌的细胞骨架结构，这些益生菌用于保存“湿饼”，一种用于喂养牛的乙醇生产的副产品。劳伦斯在全国学士学位机构中排名第37位，其学生继续获得STEM学科的博士学位，从而为STEM研究人员的管道做出了巨大贡献。 至少六名教师和他们的学生的研究计划将由新的共聚焦显微镜仪器支持如下。 一个研究小组正在描述与包括视网膜、肾脏和肺在内的各种器官中的感官知觉结构有关的基因。 另一个小组将确定和描述在衰老过程中维持神经功能的基因。第三，学生和教师将描述特定神经系统蛋白质在导致人类热带疾病血吸虫病的人类寄生虫的蜗牛宿主中的作用。 第四个小组将研究植物细胞死亡的过程，这是一个积极的回收计划，可以提高生物的效率，并使其正常发育。 在从受精卵到后来的胚胎的早期发育阶段，一种特殊的信号分子在创造内部器官的正确排列中所起的作用将由另一个小组研究。 最后，一个研究小组正在努力了解一种特定蛋白质在人类肿瘤生长中的作用，特别是肿瘤获得新血液供应的机制。 邻近的威斯康星大学福克斯山谷分校的一名研究人员将使用共聚焦显微镜研究添加到牛饲料中的益生菌细菌的细胞结构。

Technical Project DescriptionResearch programs of at least six faculty members and their students will be expanded significantly by the acquisition of a confocal microscope at Lawrence University. Use of the microscope by students involved in Lawrence's summer research program, honors research and Senior Experience programs will enhance and modernize their research training. Two research groups are using C. elegans as a model system, one to study the role of an RFX transcription factor in the maintenance of synaptic protein levels during aging and another to identify and characterize new genes involved in sensory-specific aspects of neuronal cilia. Putative new sensory-specific ciliary genes were first identified using a comparative genomic approach and their expression patterns are being characterized. Both research groups will use confocal microscopy to characterize gene expression patterns in particular tissues of the worm. Similarly, GFP-tagged Vg1/Gdf1 will be used to study the kinetics of production and secretion of this important signaling molecular during early development of the zebrafish. The time-lapse capabilities of the instrument will be key to the success of this project. A fourth research group is interested in the host-parasite relationship of snails and Schistosoma mansoni, the causative agent of schistosomiasis. This group has identified a neuropeptide that may regulate host physiology in response to infection. They will use the confocal microscope first to locate the expression of this peptide in the snail nervous system to determine its function and then track changes in expression upon infection. This group is also interested in mapping neurogenesis in the snail, a project that will require confocal microscopy. Identifying and localizing particular caspases involved in apoptosis in primitive plants is the goal of another group. Immunofluorescence and fluorometric tunel assays will be used to assess the magnitude of cell death and its key regulators. FRET analysis using the new microscope will be undertaken by another research group to elucidate the protein:protein interactions of human angiogenin, a protein implicated in tumorigenesis and blood vessel growth. Lastly, a group at UW-Fox Valley will use the instrumentation to study the cytoskeletal structure of newly evolved probiotic bacteria used to preserve "wetcake", a by product of ethanol production that is fed to cattle.Broader Significance and ImportanceConfocal microscopy will greatly enhance undergraduate research training at Lawrence University and UW-Fox Valley. Lawrence is ranked 37th nationally in baccalaureate institutions whose students go on to earn PhDs in STEM disciplines, and thus contributes greatly to the pipeline of STEM researchers. Research programs of at least six faculty members and their students will be supported by new confocal microscopy instrumentation as follows. One research group is characterizing genes involved in building the structures involved in sensory perception in a variety of organs including the retina, kidney, and lungs. Another group will identify and characterize genes involved in maintaining nerve function during the aging process. Thirdly, students and faculty will characterize the role of particular nervous system proteins in the snail host of the human parasite that causes the human tropical disease, schistosomiasis. A fourth group will study the process of cell death in plants, an active recycling program that increases the efficiency, and allows proper development, of living things. The role of a particular signaling molecule needed to create the proper arrangement of internal organs during the early stages of development from fertilized egg through later embryo will be studied by another group. Lastly, one research group is working to understand the role of a particular protein in human tumor growth, specifically the mechanisms by which tumors obtain new blood supplies. A researcher at neighboring UW-Fox Valley will use the confocal microscope to study cellular structures of bacteria used as probiotics added to cattle feed.