LUMICKS C-trap for Mechanistic Studies of Biological Systems at the University of Rochester

摘要 我们正在申请资金购买LUMICKS C-Trap光学镊子和共聚焦 荧光显微镜这台仪器将大大扩展执行机械 罗切斯特大学的单分子和细胞测量。这些服务将 提供给整个罗切斯特和西部大学的用户群 纽约。单分子和细胞的机械测量大大推进了我们的研究。 了解基本的生物学过程，如细胞运动，转录和蛋白质 折页.然而，光镊通常是定制设计的，使得非光学系统难以实现。 专家将这些技术应用于他们感兴趣的系统。LUMICKS C-Trap将移除 通过提供通用的微流体递送系统和用户友好的软件， 作为一个单一的集成平台，用于精确地施加各种机械力， 探测纳米尺度的结构转变，并测量多种荧光团的发射 同时。Elio Abbondanzieri博士是光镊领域的先驱，他将协助用户 根据他们的科学问题设计检测方法。广泛的测量范围， 将由我们的多元化的初始用户群使用，覆盖广泛的 一系列科学课题，包括细菌的相分离冷凝物， 翻译，CRISPR工具开发，细胞迁移，染色质结构和细胞器运动性。 这个小组包括来自罗切斯特河校区大学， 罗切斯特医疗中心和罗切斯特理工学院。虽然最初的用户 不同的兴趣，一个共同的主题是，他们有科学问题，不能解决 使用校园里现有的仪器。LUMICKS C-Trap因此非常适合于 作为最先进的资源，使当前和未来的调查人员能够进一步 他们的NIH资助的研究目标。

Abstract We are requesting funding to purchase a LUMICKS C-Trap optical tweezer and confocal fluorescence microscope. This instrument will greatly expand the ability to perform mechanical measurements of single molecules and cells at the University of Rochester. These services will be made available to a user base extending throughout the University of Rochester and Western New York. Mechanical measurements of single molecules and cells greatly advance our understanding of fundamental biological processes such as cell motility, transcription, and protein folding. However, optical tweezers are frequently custom-designed, making it difficult for non- specialists to adapt these techniques to their system of interest. The LUMICKS C-Trap will remove this barrier by providing a versatile microfluidic delivery system and user-friendly software that will serve as a single integrated platform for applying a wide range of mechanical forces, precisely detecting nm-scale structural transitions, and measuring the emission of multiple fluorophores concurrently. Dr. Elio Abbondanzieri, a pioneer in the field of optical tweezers, will assist users in designing assays tailored to their scientific questions. The broad range of measurements that can be performed with this instrument will be utilized by our diverse initial user group covering a wide range of scientific topics including phase-separated condensates from bacteria, regulation of translation, CRISPR tool development, cell migration, chromatin structure, and organelle motility. This group includes researchers from the University of Rochester River Campus, University of Rochester Medical Center, and Rochester Institute of Technology. Although the initial users have varied interests, a common theme is that they have scientific questions that cannot be addressed with instruments currently available on campus. The LUMICKS C-Trap is thus ideally suited to function as a state-of-the-art resource that enables current and future investigators to further the goals of their NIH-funded research.