MRI: Acquisition of a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope for the Core, Multi-User Microscopy Facility at Appalachian State University

通过NSF重大研究仪器计划，阿巴拉契亚州立大学（ASU）获得了一项奖励，以获得一台新的激光扫描共聚焦显微镜（LSM）。LSM是研究动物、植物和微生物中细胞和基因功能的重要工具。LSM还提高了许多科学学科（包括生物学和化学）的研究，培训和教育活动的质量并扩大了其范围。新的LSM将被安置在德韦尔显微镜设施（DMF）（http：//casmifa.appstate.edu/）内的艺术和科学学院。DMF是ASU所有部门以及周边阿巴拉契亚社区的核心多用户显微镜设施，包括北卡罗来纳州西部的高中生。使用该设施培训本科生和硕士的主要调查员？的水平研究生利用这种成像技术在课程和研究环境。在更广泛的层面上，亚利桑那州立大学和DMF支持几个项目，培训大学和高中学生从代表性不足的群体追求学位。这些项目包括为阿巴拉契亚地区高中生提供学术支持的“向上拓展”项目、化学系的法医项目以及为有天赋的初中和高中生提供的“杜克TIP”项目。该仪器还将用于亚利桑那州立大学的其他外展计划，如STEM教育计划和年度NC科学节。该项目将大大提高亚利桑那州立大学的研究生产力和教育机会。它还将加强对社区的持续服务以及与该区域其他大学的合作。因此，新的LSM将成为当前和未来的科学家以及工程师在所有西北卡罗来纳州的一个重要工具。 新的仪器主要服务于亚利桑那州立大学生物学和化学系的用户，用于个人研究，研究培训计划和教学。利用LSM的五个主要研究项目是多学科的，包括微管在根发育中的作用的研究;以斑马鱼为模型系统的基因调控机制的进化研究;果蝇感觉神经元的形态和功能的研究;探索负电荷分子通过主要促进剂超家族蛋白质在细胞中过度表达的生物物理过程。哺乳动物细胞系;以及脊椎动物氨排泄机制的进化转变研究。该项目奖增强了这些研究领域，因为LSM配置了脉冲405 nm激光器，用于检查核染料，用于光漂白实验和激光消融研究。此外，另外的激光器包括用于许多黄色或绿色染料的具有458/488/514 nm线的25 mW氩、用于红色染料的561 nm的二极管泵浦固态激光器和用于近红外染料的HeNe 633 nm。研究项目受益于更高的分辨率，增强的扫描速度和进行荧光共振能量转移实验的能力。新的LSM满足了亚利桑那州立大学和北卡罗来纳州西部多学科研究和教育的当前和未来需求。

An award is made to Appalachian State University (ASU) through the NSF-Major Research Instrumentation program to acquire a new laser scanning confocal microscope (LSM). A LSM is an essential tool for studying cell and gene function in animals, plants, and microorganisms. The LSM also improves the quality and expands the scope of the research, training and educational activities in many scientific disciplines, including biology and chemistry. The new LSM will be housed in the Dewel Microscopy Facility (DMF) (http://casmifa.appstate.edu/) within the College of Arts and Sciences. The DMF serves as the core, multi-user microscopy facility for all departments at ASU as well as surrounding Appalachian communities, including high school students in western North Carolina. Principle investigators that use the facility train undergraduate and master?s level graduate students to utilize this imaging technique in coursework as well as research environments. On a broader level, ASU and the DMF support several programs that train college and high school students from underrepresented groups pursuing degrees. These programs include Upward Bound that provides academic support to high school students in the Appalachian region, the Forensic Program in the Department of Chemistry, and the Duke TIP for gifted middle and high school students. This instrument will also be used for other outreach programs at ASU, such as the STEM education program and annual NC Science Festival. This project will significantly enhance research productivity and educational opportunities at ASU. It will also strengthen ongoing services to communities and collaborations with other universities in the region. Thus, the new LSM will become an essential tool for current and future scientists as well as engineers in all of western North Carolina. The new instrumentation primarily serves users from the Departments of Biology and Chemistry at ASU for individual research, research training programs, and teaching. The five major research projects that use the LSM are multidisciplinary including investigation of the roles of microtubules in root development; study of the evolution of gene regulatory mechanisms using zebrafish as a model system; research on the morphology and function of sensory neurons in Drosophila melanogaster; exploration of the biophysical processes behind the transport of negatively charged molecules through major facilitator superfamily proteins overexpressed in mammalian cell lines; and examination of the evolutionary transitions in the mechanisms of ammonia excretion in vertebrates. The project award enhances these research areas as the LSM is configured with a pulsed 405nm laser for examining nuclear dyes, for photobleaching experiments and for laser ablation studies. Furthermore, additional lasers include a 25mW Argon with lines 458/488/514nm for many yellow or green dyes, a Diode Pumped Solid State Laser at 561nm for red dyes, and a HeNe 633nm for near infrared dyes. Research projects benefit from increased resolution, enhanced scanning speeds and the ability to conduct fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments. The new LSM meets both the current and future needs for research and education across multiple disciplines at ASU and western North Carolina.