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光学镊子和共焦 荧光显微镜。这台仪器将极大地扩展执行机械操作的能力 罗切斯特大学的单分子和单细胞测量。这些服务将 可供罗切斯特大学和西部大学的用户群使用 纽约。单分子和细胞的机械测量极大地推动了我们的 了解基本的生物过程，如细胞运动、转录和蛋白质 折叠。然而，光学镊子通常是定制设计的，这使得非 专家使这些技术适应他们感兴趣的系统。LUMICKS C-Trap将移除 通过提供多功能微流控输送系统和用户友好的软件 作为一个单一的集成平台，精确地应用各种机械力 检测纳米尺度的结构转变，并测量多个荧光团的发射 同时。光学镊子领域的先驱Elio Abbondanzieri博士将帮助用户 为他们的科学问题量身定做化验方法。广泛的测量范围，可以 将被我们覆盖广泛的不同初始用户群所利用 一系列科学课题，包括来自细菌的相分离冷凝物，调节 翻译、CRISPR工具开发、细胞迁移、染色质结构和细胞器运动。 该小组包括来自罗切斯特河大学校区、华盛顿大学 罗切斯特医学中心和罗切斯特理工学院。尽管最初的用户拥有 不同的兴趣，一个共同的主题是，他们有无法解决的科学问题 目前在校园里有可用的仪器。因此，LUMICKS C-Trap非常适合于 作为一种最先进的资源，使当前和未来的调查人员能够进一步 他们由NIH资助的研究的目标。

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.