MRI: Acquisition of a CytoViva system for highly interdisciplinary research and education in nanoscience and nanotechnology

该项目涉及购买一台Cytoviva光学显微镜仪器，将使三所中西部高等教育机构--莱特州立大学(WSU)、俄亥俄州奥特宾大学(Oterbein University)和印第安纳州鲍尔州立大学(BSU)--的10多名教职员工和100名本科生和研究生(包括代表性不足的群体)受益。这些尖端设备将有助于对活生物系统或复合材料中的各种纳米材料进行光学成像和光谱确认。因此，它的收购将加强这些科学家的研究，并将导致新的跨学科合作，这将为关键的纳米生物医学和环境问题提供基本的见解。利用Cytoviva系统作为一种教学工具，将有助于发展现代学术课程和培养下一代乐器演奏家。此外，每年将有100多名高中生参加与纳米相关的实践活动(探索西斯安那州立大学的STEMM计划)。科学成果和教学材料将通过各种场所与广大科学界和公众分享。拟议的Cytoviva系统将包括一个高信噪比增强型暗场光学显微镜和一个集成的高光谱成像系统。它将配备专有的双荧光模块，这将有助于实时、同时成像高光谱的荧光标记纳米材料和非标记纳米材料。Cytoviva技术具有以下独特的能力：a)无需样品制备和目标环境的改变，b)改进的时间和成本效益，c)像素特定的光谱数据，d)基于聚集状态、取向和功能化的有限差异来区分相似的纳米结构的能力。受Cytoviva系统影响的跨学科研究项目的广度将包括：a)确定纳米银颗粒对抗致命病毒的广谱抗病毒机制；b)开发用于生物医学应用的研究贵金属纳米材料的细胞运输和转化的方法；c)了解使用带有适配子功能的纳米金颗粒来调节致病菌的抗生素耐药性所涉及的基因表达调控的分子基础；d)通过靶向纳米药物制剂治疗和检测多西紫杉醇耐药前列腺癌；以及e)将洋地黄Na/K-ATPase复合体内化作为一种潜在的新的细胞信号机制进行细胞内映射。

This project involves acquisition of a CytoViva optical microscope instrument that will benefit over 10 faculty and 100 undergraduate and graduate students (including underrepresented groups) at three Midwestern institutions of higher education, namely Wright State University (WSU), Otterbein University, Ohio, and Ball State University (BSU), Indiana. The cutting-edge equipment will facilitate the optical imaging and spectral confirmation of a wide range of nanomaterials in live biological systems or composite materials. Thereby, its acquisition will strengthen the research of these scientists and will lead to new interdisciplinary collaborations that will offer fundamental insight into critical nano-biomedical and environmental problems. The exploitation of the CytoViva system as a teaching tool will contribute to the development of modern academic curricula and the next generation of instrumentalists. Furthermore, over 100 high school students will be annually engaged in hands-on nano-related activities (Exploring STEMM Program at WSU). The scientific results and pedagogic materials will be shared with the scientific community at large and general public through various venues. The proposed CytoViva system will consist of a high signal-to-noise-enhanced dark-field optical microscope and an integrated hyperspectral imaging system. It will be equipped with a proprietary Dual Fluorescence Module, which will facilitate the real time, simultaneous imaging of both fluorescently-labeled and non-labeled nanomaterials with high spectral. The CytoViva technique has the following unique capabilities: a) no sample preparation and no alteration in the targeted environment, b) improved time- and cost-efficiency, c) pixel-specific spectral data, and d) the capability of differentiating between similar nanostructures based on finite differences in their aggregation state, orientation, and functionalization. The breadth of interdisciplinary research projects impacted by the CytoViva system will include a) identifying the broad-spectrum antiviral mechanism of silver nanoparticles against deadly viruses, b) developing methodologies for studying the cellular trafficking and transformations of noble metal nanomaterials for biomedical applications, c) understanding the molecular basis of gene expression regulation involved in the antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria using gold nanoparticles functionalized with aptamers, d) treating and detecting docetaxel resistant prostate cancer by targeted nanomedical formulation, and e) cytosolic mapping of digitalis Na/K-ATPase complex internalization as a potentially new cellular signaling mechanism.