Real-time cell metabolic analyser

线粒体是真核细胞中必不可少的细胞器，并且最广为人知的是为细胞反应提供大部分ATP的发电站。由于它们在能量代谢和其他几种生物合成途径中的核心作用，线粒体的研究对于了解细胞功能至关重要。最近的数据表明，线粒体不是孤立的实体，而是通过信号通路与细胞的其余部分进行通信，并且它们通过广泛的接触位点与其他细胞器物理互连。这些发现强调了在全球细胞背景下研究线粒体的必要性。因此，经典的生物化学在体外和使用分离的线粒体在organello测定需要通过体内分析进行扩展，以允许线粒体的生理作用的全面调查。对线粒体功能的更全面的方法的需求导致了对活细胞的高级代谢分析的高需求。此外，线粒体与其他细胞器的连接以及它们的高度动态性质，使它们能够使其形状适应细胞的要求，使细胞成像成为理解线粒体生理学和病理生理学的重要读数。在分子生物学中心，海德堡大学的解剖学和细胞生物学研究所和生物化学中心，几个研究小组研究线粒体和代谢的作用，从线粒体和细胞蛋白质稳定到干细胞分化过程中的代谢重编程到神经细胞工程。在所有这些项目中，非常需要结合成像分析的细胞代谢的调查和操纵。在这里，我们申请了一个实时代谢分析仪，它耦合到一个辅助多模式成像设备将允许连续的代谢和成像分析在真实的时间。代谢分析仪以及成像系统是完全兼容的，并允许分析96孔板的快速体内筛选各种条件。这些仪器共享相同的软件，这将使研究生和博士后易于使用，从而有效地培训。代谢和成像分析将满足ZMBH和该大学邻近研究所研究小组研究细胞代谢和线粒体功能的主要需求。

Mitochondria are essential organelles in eukaryotic cells and most widely known as powerhouses that supply the majority of ATP for cellular reactions. Due to their central role in energy metabolism and several other biosynthetic pathways, investigation of mitochondria is crucial to understand cellular function. Recent data have shown that mitochondria are not isolated entities, but communicate with the rest of the cell via signalling pathways and that they are physically interconnected to other organelles via extensive contact sites. These findings underline the necessity to investigate mitochondria in the global cellular context. Therefore, classical biochemical in vitro and in organello assays using isolated mitochondria need to be extended by in vivo analysis to allow comprehensive investigation of the physiological role of mitochondria. The requirement for a more global approach to mitochondrial functions has resulted in a high demand for advanced metabolic analysis of live cells. In addition, the connection of mitochondria with other organelles as well as their highly dynamic nature, which allows them to adapt their shape to cellular requirements, have made imaging of cells an essential read-out for understanding mitochondrial physiology, and also pathophysiology. At the Centre of Molecular Biology, the Anatomy and Cell Biology Institute and the Biochemistry Center of Heidelberg University several research groups study the role of mitochondria and metabolism ranging from mitochondrial and cellular proteostasis, to metabolic reprogramming during stem cell differentiation to neural cell engineering. In all of these projects, the investigation and manipulation of cellular metabolism coupled to imaging analysis is highly needed. Here we apply for a real-time metabolic analyser, which coupled to an accessory multi-mode imaging device will allow consecutive metabolic and imaging analyses in real time. The metabolic analyser as well as the imaging system are fully compatible and allow analysis of 96-well plates for rapid in vivo screening of various conditions. The instruments share the same software, which will allow easy usage and consequently efficient training of graduate students and post-docs. The metabolic and imaging analyses will fulfil a major demand to investigate cell metabolism and function focusing on mitochondria for research groups at the ZMBH and the neighbouring institutes at the university.