Transmission Electron Microscope

描述（由申请人提供）：宾夕法尼亚大学生物系的一组研究人员正在申请资金，从JEOL美国公司购买一台配备AMT- XR60高分辨率数码相机的JEM-1011透射电子显微镜（TEM）。该设备需要由该系至少10名教师组成的实验室进行高分辨率结构研究，其研究得到了8项NIH和3项NSF的资助。结构研究是生物医学研究的一个重要组成部分，它允许对组织、细胞、细胞器和大分子复合物的空间组织进行直接可视化。通常，结构信息的可用性会从根本上推动问题的解决。电子显微镜在提供高分辨率结构信息的能力上是独一无二的，因为电子显微镜（0.2-0.4 nm）的分辨率远远超过光学显微镜（几百nm），这解释了在广泛的研究项目中需要电子显微镜。目前，由于缺乏可靠的现代电子显微镜，电子显微镜在该系的广泛使用受到了很大的阻碍。所要求的TEM代表了在高达100 kV加速电压下工作的基本模型，适用于分析由各种标准电子显微镜技术制备的生物样品。该显微镜将取代已有40年历史的Philips 200 TEM，这是文理学院唯一的一台TEM。医学院还有其他五个专业术语，因为它们被所属院系充分使用和/或因为它们的可及性有限而无法使用。生物系新显微镜的可用性将有助于建立一个多用户EM设施，这将极大地有利于NIH资助的多用户研究，并将在不久的将来吸引其他人使用电子显微镜。相关性：电子显微镜是一种独特的工具，可以深入了解组织、细胞和分子的精细结构。这样的结构信息为理解复杂的生物过程铺平了道路，没有这些信息就不可能与疾病作斗争。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A group of investigators at the Department of Biology of the University of Pennsylvania is requesting funds to purchase a JEM-1011 transmission electron microscope (TEM) equipped with an AMT- XR60 high resolution digital camera from JEOL USA Co. This equipment is needed to perform high resolution structural studies by laboratories of at least 10 faculty members in the Department, whose research is supported by 8 NIH and 3 NSF grants. Structural studies represent a critical component of biomedical research by allowing the direct visualization of the spatial organization of tissues, cells, organelles, and macromolecular complexes. Normally, availability of structural information radically drives a problem toward its solution. Electron microscopy is unique in its capability to provide structural information at high resolution level, because the resolution power of electron microscopy (0.2-0.4 nm) far exceeds that of light microscopy (a few hundreds of nm) explaining the need for electron microscopy in a broad range of research programs. Currently, a broad use of electron microscopy in the Department is significantly hampered by the lack of a reliable modern TEM. The requested TEM represents a basic model operating at the accelerating voltage of up to 100 kV, which is suitable for analysis of biological samples prepared by a variety of standard electron microscopic techniques. The requested microscope will replace the existing (currently non-functioning) ~ 40 years old Philips 200 TEM, which is the only TEM in the School of Arts and Sciences. There are five other TEMs in the Medical School, which are not available because they are fully used by the Departments to which they belong and/or because they have limited accessibility. Availability of a new microscope in the Department of Biology will help to establish a multi-user EM facility, which will greatly benefit research of multiple users supported by NIH grants and will attract others to use electron microscopy in the near future. Relevance: Electron microscopy is a unique tool to get insight into fine structural organization of tissues, cells, and molecules. Such structural information paves a road toward understanding of complex biological processes, without which it is not possible to fight a disease.