Confocal spinning disk high throughput screening microscope

我们正在申请资金购买共聚焦成像细胞仪，这是几个正在进行和计划的跨学科研究项目迫切需要的。在过去的几年中，高端免疫荧光显微镜的可能性和技术要求稳步扩大，我们目前在这一领域的需求无法再满足慈善学院校园米特（柏林三个慈善学院之一）现有的显微镜基础设施。最近，这导致了我们在许多项目中显微镜实验的显著延迟，也影响了我们能够生成的数据的质量。此外，由于现有显微镜的技术限制，我们无法建立一些要求更高的实验装置，这些实验装置将极大地有利于现有项目，并需要建立新的研究方向。最近，显微镜的设计取得了巨大的进步，在生物学中出现了许多新的先进应用：更灵敏的相机，更大的视野和越来越全自动的图像采集工作流程，以及新的光学设计，使得从数百个样品中获得高质量的共聚焦图像成为可能在很长一段时间内。因此，随着时间的推移，在自然环境中系统地以3D方式跟踪单个细胞成为可能，这对于更好地理解许多与医学直接相关的生物过程至关重要：例子包括癌症的发展，组织内免疫反应的跟踪，但也包括细胞生物学中的许多问题，例如需要在类器官中进行实验。成像细胞仪的另一个重要应用将是获得来自患者的组织学标本的高分辨率共聚焦图像，用新的多路复用方案进行荧光染色，使同一载玻片连续染色数十种蛋白质。用目前在校园里可用的设备获取这样的图像是非常耗时的，因此实际上是不可行的。所包含的图像分析包还将允许我们以高吞吐量的自动化方式在采集过程中实时分析数据。总之，共聚焦成像细胞仪将确保高通量3D活细胞成像的尖端显微镜设备的可用性，再加上适合定量如此大量数据的专用软件，并帮助我们建立新的基于显微镜的检测方法。这也将使参与小组的成员更容易获得足够的显微镜时间来完成现有的项目，而依靠校园现有的设备，这已经变得越来越困难。在所附的申请表格中，我们包含了一份详细的计划，说明该细胞仪将如何用于七个不同实验室的许多现有和计划中的研究项目，这些实验室作为共同申请者。

We are applying for funding to acquire a confocal imaging cytometer that is urgently needed in several ongoing and planned interdisciplinary research projects.The possibilities, but also the technical requirements in high-end immunofluorescence microscopy have steadily expanded during the last few years and our current needs in this area cannot be met anymore with the available microscopy infrastructure on Charité Campus Mitte (one out of 3 Charité sites in Berlin). Recently, this has led to significant delays in our microscopy experiments in many projects and also affected the quality of the data we were able to generate. Furthermore, because of technical limitations of the available microscopes, we were not able to establish some more demanding experimental setups that would have greatly benefitted existing projects and are required to establish new research directions.Recently, enormous progress has been made in the design of microscopes and lots of new advanced applications in biology have emerged: more sensitive cameras, larger field of view and increasingly fully automated image acquisition workflows, as well as new optical designs make it possible to acquire high quality confocal images from hundreds of samples in 3D over long periods of time. Thus, it becomes possible to systematically track single cells in 3D over time in their natural environment, which is essential for a better understanding of many biological processes that are of immediate relevance in medicine: examples include the development of cancer, tracking of the immune response within tissues, but also many questions in cell biology that require for example experiments in organoids.Another important application for the imaging cytometer will be to obtain high-resolution confocal images of histological specimens from patients, fluorescently stained with new multiplexed protocols that enable sequential staining of the same slide for dozens of proteins. Acquisition of such images with the equipment currently available on campus is extremely time-consuming and therefore practically not feasible. The included image analysis package will also allow us to analyze the data on the fly during acquisition in an automated manner in high throughput.In summary, the confocal imaging cytometer will ensure the availability of cutting edge microscopy equipment for high-throughput 3D live-cell imaging coupled with dedicated software appropriate for quantification of such large amounts of data and help help us to establish new microscopy-based assays. It will also make it easier for members of the involved groups to get enough microscopy time for existing projects, which has become increasingly difficult relying on the existing equipment on campus. In the included application forms, we include a detailed plan how the cytometer will be used as benefit many existing and planned research projects of seven different labs that act as coapplicants.