IVIS Spectrum for In Vivo Imaging

描述(由申请人提供)：这项共享仪器拨款建议购买IVIS频谱活体成像系统。IVIS光谱是一种强大而通用的研究工具，它允许在小型研究动物的各种发射和激发频率上对生物发光和荧光信号进行光学成像。该仪器配备了10个激发滤光片(30 nm带宽)和18个发射滤光片(20 nm带宽)，用于体内的透射式和反射式荧光成像，并具有执行定量3D断层成像的额外能力。复杂而强大的软件允许对信号进行绝对量化，这一功能对于比较不同实验内部和之间的样本至关重要。结合从过冷CCD相机获得的图像，该软件还提供了关键的光谱分解功能，允许高度敏感的信号与噪声的区分和分辨率。免疫疾病研究所的流式细胞仪核心设施的高技能工作人员将监督该仪器的操作、管理和维护。这项申请是由哈佛医学院领先的免疫学研究所、免疫疾病研究所(IDI)和波士顿儿童医院的细胞和分子医学计划(PCMM)联合提出的。除了本提案中列出的7名核心调查人员外，该仪器还将提供给所有在波士顿朗伍德大道200号的哈佛医学院动物设施饲养动物的调查人员，该仪器将安装在那里。值得注意的是，这个动物设施没有活体成像系统。目前有59名研究人员在这个设施中饲养动物，他们隶属于哈佛医学院、博斯托儿童医院和波士顿布里格姆妇女医院。因此，IVIS光谱活体成像系统将是哈佛医学院社区的主要资源，除了核心用户，他们的拟议研究在这项拨款中有详细说明。所要求的仪器将为这些研究人员提供实验动物全身生物发光和荧光成像的能力，这项技术将使他们能够回答包括免疫学、干细胞生物学和疾病发病机制在内的广泛领域的重要问题。。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This shared instrumentation grant proposes to purchase an IVIS Spectrum In vivo Imaging System. The IVIS spectrum is a powerful and versatile research tool that permits optical imaging of both bioluminescent and fluorescent signals over a wide range of emission and excitation frequencies in small research animals. The instrument is equipped with 10 excitation filters (30 nm bandwidth) and 18 emission filters (20 nm bandwidth) for transmission and reflectance-mode fluorescence imaging in vivo with additional capacity to perform quantitative 3D tomography. Sophisticated and powerful software allows for absolute quantification of signal, a feature critical for comparing samples within and between different experiments. Combined with images obtained from a super cooled CCD camera, the software also provides critical spectral unmixing features that allow for highly sensitive signal to noise discrimination and resolution. Highly skilled staff of the Immune Disease Institute's Flow Cytometry Core facility will oversee operations, management and maintenance of this instrument. This application is a joint proposal from the leading immunology research institute at Harvard Medical School, the Immune Disease Institute (IDI) and Program in Cellular & Molecular Medicine (PCMM) at Children's Hospital Boston. In addition to the 7 core investigators listed on this proposal, the instrument will also be made available to all investigators that maintain animals in Harvard Medical School Animal Facility at 200 Longwood Avenue in Boston where the machine will be located. It is noteworthy that this animal facility does not have an in vivo imaging system. Currently there are 59 investigators maintaining animals in this facility with affiliations to the Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital Bosto, and Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston. Thus the IVIS Spectrum in vivo imaging system will be a major resource for the Harvard Medical School community in addition to the core users whose proposed research is detailed in this grant. The requested instrumentation will provide these researchers with the capacity for whole body bioluminescent and fluorescent imaging of laboratory animals, a technology that will allow them to answer important questions in a broad diversity of fields including immunology, stem cell biology, and disease pathogenesis. .