MRI: Acquisition of an Integrated Fluorescence and Atomic Force microscope (IF-AFM) for biophysics, biomaterials and nanomedicine studies

该奖项授予韦恩州立大学，以表彰他们获得了一种集成荧光和原子力显微镜，为细胞-粒子相互作用的纳米级测量创造了一个新的平台。AFM是一种力测量和表面成像技术，可以提供非常高的空间分辨率，而荧光显微镜提供快速，大规模和特定的细胞成像。通过两者的结合，(1)单分子力测量将与生物微环境或事件相关联，(2)荧光和AFM同时成像，以更全面地了解生物系统及其动力学，(3)复杂的荧光技术，如Förster共振能量转移（FRET），可以与AFM相关联，以测量施加于结构变化的力。该组合仪器平台将用于跨学科项目，包括活细胞上的单分子相互作用，工程聚合物系统中DNA释放的优化，细胞运动研究，病原体与细胞表面的相互作用，食源性细菌的检测，以及活细胞中磁性纳米颗粒的动力学和运输。新的仪器平台将是一个用户设施，可供物理学、材料科学、生物医学工程、生物学、化学、基础医学科学等领域的研究人员使用。这一工具的协作使用有望促进不同学科之间的互动，从而创造新的机会和想法。拟议的研究显然有可能产生新技术并有益于人类健康。这个新平台将被整合到一个高级生物物理实验室课程中，作为韦恩州立大学本科生物医学物理项目的一部分，这将影响到大量来自代表性不足群体的人。作为一个用户设施，这个新仪器将有助于培训和激励未来的科学家和工程师。

This award to Wayne State University is for the acquisition of an integrated fluorescence and atomic force microscope to create a new platform to perform nanoscale measurements of cell-particle interactions. AFM is a force-measuring and surface imaging technique that can provide very high spatial resolution, while fluorescence microscopy provides fast, large scale and specific imaging of cells. By combining the two, (1) single molecule force measurements will be correlated with biological microenvironments or events, (2) simultaneous fluorescence and AFM imaging for a fuller picture of biological systems and their dynamics will be perform, and (3) sophisticated fluorescence techniques, such as Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), can be correlated with AFM to measure applied forces to changes in structure. The combined instrumental platform will be used for interdisciplinary projects including single molecule interactions on live cells, optimization of DNA release from engineered polymer systems, cell motility studies, interactions of pathogens with cell surfaces, detection of food-borne bacteria, and dynamics and transport of magnetic nanoparticles in live cells.The new instrumental platform will be a user facility, available to researchers in physics, materials science, biomedical engineering, biology, chemistry, the basic medical sciences, and beyond. The collaborative use of this instrument is expected to foster interactions between different disciplines, and thus create new opportunities and ideas. The proposed research has clear potential to lead to new technologies and benefit human health. The new platform will be integrated into an advanced biophysics lab course, part of the Wayne State University undergraduate Biomedical Physics Program, which impacts a significant number of people from underrepresented groups. As a user facility, this new instrument will help to train and inspire future scientists and engineers.