Acquisition of a Leica TCS LSI Zoom Confocal Microscope

描述(申请人提供)：所需仪器为徕卡TCS LSI变焦共聚焦显微镜系统。我们要求目前的配置，因为它在能力上具有最大的灵活性，可以从活组织和细胞中捕获图像，以及非常大的视野图像。目前在校园中可用的其他共焦系统不足以满足所描述的项目，因为它们1)速度太慢，2)不能在没有拼接的情况下对大视场成像，3)已经有很高的计划，4)不是我们用户需要的正确配置，主要是具有小工作距离的倒置显微镜，以及5)没有用于成像大活体标本的环境室。就能力而言，目前在这个校园里没有任何真正可与之媲美的共焦显微镜。因此，这台显微镜将使以前不可能实现的研究成为可能，或者只能以一种不符合标准的方式实现，需要投入大量的资金和时间。徕卡TCS LSI与其他共焦相机的显著不同之处在于，它能够拍摄大视场图像，并能从低倍放大到高倍放大。该软件易于使用，图像捕获分辨率高，速度非常快；对于需要高吞吐量的多用户设备来说，这是一个主要优势。加州大学戴维斯分校14名研究人员的研究项目需要新设备来推进。这些用户代表了广泛的科学兴趣，涵盖了校园内的四所学校/学院(医学、兽医、农业、环境科学和工程)。这项研究高度关注基础科学和人类健康，包括空气污染物的吸入毒理学研究、哮喘的动物模型、循环系统(包括心脏/血管疾病、大脑和神经系统功能障碍)的研究、呼吸道干细胞的再繁殖以及青冈鱼的整体动物研究。所有的提议都有一个共同的要素，那就是需要一台大视场、高分辨率的显微镜来快速分析培养或组织中复杂的细胞组合。将这些设备放置在加州大学戴维斯分校的核心设施中，也将促进研究生、博士后研究员、住院医生和专业学校(DVM或MD)研究人员的项目。通过在核心设施中维护设备，在核心和中心网站上列出这些设备，并将其纳入Van Winkle博士关于成像的校园课程教学，将有助于向其他校园用户推广。加州大学戴维斯分校的整体优势是多方面的。该设备非常适合加州大学戴维斯分校社区的研究需求，其中包括最近对儿童健康障碍、自闭症和哮喘的重视，这些疾病分别需要神经元和呼吸道的大视野成像能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The instrument requested is a Leica TCS LSI zoom confocal microscope system. We are requesting the current configuration because it has the greatest flexibility in capability and can capture images from live tissues and cells as well as image very large fields of view. The other confocal systems currently available on campus are not sufficient for the projects described because they 1) are too slow, 2) cannot image large fields of view without stitching, 3) are highly scheduled already, 4) are not the correct configuration for our user needs being primarily inverted micrscopes with small working distances and 5) do not have an environmental chamber for imaging large live specimens. There is not currently available on this campus any truly comparable confocal microscope in terms of capability. Hence this microscope will enable studies that were not previously possible or were only achievable in a substandard way with a tremendous investment of both money and time. The Leica TCS LSI differs significantly from other confocals primarily in the ability to image large fields of view and to zoom from low to high magnification. The software is easy to use and the image capture is high resolution and very fast; a major advantage for a multi-user piece of equipment requiring high throughput. The new equipment is needed to advance the research programs of 14 investigators on the UC Davis campus. The users represent a broad range of scientific interest and span four schools/colleges on campus (Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and Engineering). The research is highly focused on both basic sciences and human health and includes studies of inhalation toxicology of air pollutants, animal models of asthma, studies of the circulatory system including heart/vascular disease, brain and nervous system dysfunction, stem cell repopulation of airways and whole animal studies of medaka fish. All the proposals have one common element, the need for a microscope with a large field of view and high resolution to analyze complex composites of cells either in culture or in tissues, quickly. Placement of this equipment in core facilities at UC Davis will also facilitate the projects of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, residents and professional school (DVM or MD) researchers. Outreach to other campus users will be facilitated by maintaining the equipment in a core facility, listing the equipment on the core and center websites and by inclusion in Dr. Van Winkle's teaching in campus courses on imaging. The overall benefits to the UC Davis campus are many. This equipment fits well with the research needs of the UC Davis community, which has included a recent emphasis on the childhood health disorders autism and asthma that require large field imaging capability for neurons and airways respectively.