A LEICA TCS SP CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR WHITNEY LAB

过去十年的技术进步使生物系统的综合分析成为可能，这是前所未有的。其中一个更引人注目的进步是显微成像技术的发展，它允许活的和固定的细胞和组织内的结构和分子的时间和空间关系的非常高的分辨率。现在，研究者有责任描述细胞生物学过程，不仅涉及到哪些分子和基因产物，而且还涉及到这些分子和基因产物在细胞形成过程中是如何相互关联的。激光扫描共聚焦显微镜的最新发展使这种分析不仅成为可能，而且是任何细胞生物学过程的最新调查所必需的。 我们申请资金购买三激光共聚焦显微镜（Leica TCS SP）。该显微镜将由惠特尼实验室的教师共享，惠特尼实验室是佛罗里达大学的一个偏远研究所。六个共同PI代表7个资助的NIH研究赠款金将是主要的用户群，惠特尼实验室的其他教师将在可用时使用这些教师。我们有一个共同的要求，高分辨率的空间和时间分析的多样性的基本细胞生物学研究。由巴里W. Ache将研究与嗅觉加工相关的离子事件和结构细节。威廉·哈维、保罗·林瑟和列昂尼德·莫罗兹正在共同研究蚊子幼虫的分子生理学，蚊子幼虫是全球人类健康的头号威胁。罗伯特·格林伯格和他的同事们正在研究另一种健康威胁的离子通道和生理学，这种疾病是第二大流行的热带疾病的原因。Roney Laine的研究小组专注于研究与饥饿相关的特定mRNA分子的超分子分布和再分布。许多拟议的实验需要特定的光学配置，时间限制和辅助设备，这几乎是不可能实现的更广泛使用的设施。事实上，惠特尼实验室教师唯一可用的激光扫描共聚焦显微镜是佛罗里达大学结构生物学中心的一个组成部分。这个设施是唯一的共聚焦显微镜提供给整个佛罗里达大学的生物科学家。由于其非常广泛的用户需求，这种广泛使用的显微镜受到极大的限制，而它距离惠特尼实验室90英里远的事实又大大加剧了这种限制。由于惠特尼实验室正在研究的生物制剂主要是水生和/或海洋生物，我们的许多研究根本无法在佛罗里达大学的结构生物学中心进行，开车2小时。

Technological advances of the last decade have made possible integrated analyses of biological systems never before possible. One of the more striking advances has been the development of microscopic imaging techniques that allow the very high resolution of temporal and spatial relationships of structures and molecules within living and fixed cells and tissues. It is now incumbent on the investigator to describe cell biological processes, not just in reference to what molecules and gene products are involved, but also in terms of how it is that those molecules and gene products relate to one another during cell formation. Recent developments in laser scanning confocal microscopy make such analyses not only possible but required for any state of the art inquisition of cell biological processes. We request funds to purchase a three-laser confocal microscope (Leica TCS SP). The microscope will be shared by the faculty of the Whitney Laboratory, a remote institute of the University of Florida. Six co-PIs representing 7 funded NIH research grants will be the major user group with additional faculty of the Whitney Lab using the faculty when available. We have a common requirement for the high resolution spatial and temporal analyses of a diversity of fundamental cell biological investigations. The research group lead by Barry W. Ache will be investigation ionic events and structural details associated with olfactory processing. William Harvey, Paul Linser and Leonid Moroz together are investigating the molecular physiology of larval mosquitoes, the top- ranked threat to human health worldwide. Robert Greenberg and his associates are investigating the ion channels and physiology of another health threat, schistosomes, the cause of the second most prevalent tropical disease. Roney Laine's research group focuses on investigation of the supramolecular distribution and redistribution of specific mRNA molecules associated with starvation. Many of the proposed experiments require specific optical configurations, time constraints and accessory equipment that are nearly impossible to achieve on a more broadly used facility. Indeed, the only laser scanning confocal microscope available to faculty of the Whitney Lab is a component of the University of Florida's Center for Structural Biology. This facility is the only confocal microscope available to the biological scientists of the entire University of Florida. The extreme limitations that are placed on this widely used microscope by its very broad user requirements are compounded dramatically by the fact that it is 90 miles away from the Whitney Lab. Since the living preparations that are being investigated at the Whitney Lab are main aquatic and/or marine, many of our investigations simply cannot be performed at the University of Florida's Center for Structural Biology, 2 hours away by car.