MRI: Acquisition of a Fast-scanning Confocal Microscope to Advance Biophysics, Neuroscience and Bioengineering Research and Training

加州大学圣巴巴拉分校(UCSB)被授予获得高分辨率、快速、激光扫描共聚焦显微镜的奖项。这一奖项将使生物物理学、神经科学和生物工程方面的关键问题得到解决，同时大幅提高校园的研究和培训能力。特别是，这一新仪器将为UCSB的科学家提供前所未有的能力，以测量生物和生物启发材料中微尺度结构的动态运动。本科生和研究生将在尖端技术、传授新的科学知识、开发新材料和了解人类健康方面获得专业知识。与沃尔夫探索与创新博物馆(MOXI)的合作将把这一奖项带来的发现公之于众。具有光谱检测能力的快速扫描、高分辨率共聚焦显微镜(徕卡TCS SP8x)将使神经科学研究所(NRI)/分子细胞和发育生物学显微镜设施大幅现代化。新仪器将改变机构收集定量、高空间和时间分辨率图像的能力，以便开展由NSF资助的研究，解决发育生物学、定量生物物理学、生物启发材料研究和神经科学中的各种关键研究问题。这些研究包括：(1)细胞内和细胞间的相互作用以及形态发生和组织重塑的动力学；(2)利用干细胞衍生的脑有机体的人脑发育；(3)可以通过响应的分子架构动态控制机械性能的“智能”材料；(4)表面扩散、对流和粘连的动力学；以及(5)驱动可调虹彩的分子和生物物理机制。除了在速度和灵敏度方面的立竿见影的好处外，该项目还将对新显微镜进行微小的修改，以定制新的显微镜，并使其与各种定制的生物物理工具兼容，包括微型表面力仪器(SFA)、高力磁钳设备，以及结合成像和多电极阵列技术以绘制和操作培养中的神经组织的扫描探针显微镜系统。此外，拟议的工具将用于各种课堂、培训和外联活动，这些活动将显著加强研究生和本科生的教育和指导，并将把不同的学生和专家队列带到UCSB进行研究。UCSB NRI和沃尔夫探索与创新博物馆(MOXI)之间的新合作伙伴关系将使公众积极学习光学、光和成像，同时分享该奖项带来的重要发现和研究应用。这些活动将极大地扩大该项目在我们校园之外的影响，并将进一步巩固加州大学伯克利分校作为数量生物学、神经科学、生物材料和生物工程研究和教育领域领先机构的地位。

An award is made to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) to acquire a high-resolution, fast, laser-scanning confocal microscope. This award will allow critical problems in biophysics, neuroscience, and bioengineering to be addressed, while substantially increasing the research and training capacity of the campus. In particular, this new instrumentation will provide scientists at UCSB with unprecedented abilities to measure the dynamic motions of microscale structures in biological and bioinspired materials. Undergraduate and graduate students will gain expertise in cutting edge technologies, imparting new scientific knowledge, developing new materials, and understanding human health. A partnership with the Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation (MOXI) will bring the discoveries enabled by this award to the public.The fast-scanning, high-resolution confocal microscope with spectral detection capabilities (Leica TCS SP8x) will substantially modernize the Neuroscience Research Institute (NRI)/Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology Microscopy Facility. The new instrument will transform the institutional research capabilities for collecting quantitative, high spatial and temporal resolution images in order to carry out NSF-funded research addressing diverse and critical research questions in developmental biology, quantitative biophysics, bio-inspired materials research, and neuroscience. These include investigations of: (1) intra- and inter-cellular interactions and the dynamics of morphogenesis and tissue remodeling; (2) human brain development using stem cell-derived cerebral organoids; (3)"smart" materials in which the mechanical properties can be dynamically controlled through responsive molecular architecture; (4) the dynamics of surface diffusion, convection and adhesion; and, (5) the molecular and biophysical mechanisms driving tunable iridescence. In addition to the immediate gains in speed and sensitivity, this project will provide for minor modifications to customize the new microscope and make it compatible with a wide range of customized biophysical tools, including a miniaturized surface forces apparatus (SFA), high-force magnetic tweezers devices, and a scanning probe microscopy system that combines imaging and multielectrode array technologies to map and manipulate neural tissues in culture. Additionally, the proposed instrumentation will be used in a variety of classroom, training, and outreach activities that will significantly enhance the education and mentorship of graduate and undergraduate students, and will bring diverse cohorts of students and experts to UCSB to perform research. A new partnership between the UCSB NRI and the Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation (MOXI) will engage the public in active learning about optics, light and imaging, while sharing the important discoveries and applications of the research enabled by this award. These activities will substantially expand the impact of this project beyond our campus, and will further strengthen UCSB's position as a leading institute in quantitative biology, neuroscience, biomaterials and bioengineering research and education.