Leica TCS SP8 FSU AOBS 405 UV Spectral Confocal Microscope

描述(由申请人提供)：申请资金用于购买徕卡TCS SP8 AOBS 405紫外光谱共焦显微镜，用于康涅狄格大学斯托尔斯分校生理和神经生物学系的PNB共焦设施。该部门目前拥有一台徕卡TCS SP2光谱共聚焦显微镜，该显微镜是2001年用NIH的资金购买的(1S10RR015684-01)。该仪器作为一个部门设施进行维护，对整个斯托尔斯校园社区开放。在过去的11年里，它被大量使用，平均每天7小时，导致由4到8个NIH资助的主要用户发表了73篇同行评议的出版物。2006年，徕卡停止生产这款车型，一些零部件也不再供应。在无法更换关键部件的情况下，STORRS园区现有的共焦显微镜容量不足以满足SP2系统当前用户的需要。即使现有仪器继续运行，许多用户也迫切需要405 nm激光线路来成像核染料DAPI以及其他荧光团，但405 nm激光不能添加到我们现有的SP2设备中。这个校园中另一台具有这种功能的现有显微镜被安置在另一栋建筑中，使用过于频繁，无法满足我们用户的需求。用户群已经从2000年最初申请时由NIH资助的四名研究人员发展到八名主要用户和两名次要用户，我们有两名新教职员工将于今年秋天加入我们系，他们的研究在很大程度上依赖于共焦显微镜。共焦显微镜现在已经成为我们系用户研究计划中不可或缺的工具，也是细胞、分子和发育神经科学中的标准工具。因此，迫切需要获得一种新的共焦系统，以确保现有SP2系统的现有用户能够不间断地使用功能共焦显微镜，并避免数据收集和出版方面的延误。新的共焦显微镜将安装在药房生物大楼一楼的中心，也就是该部门的所在地。它将由使用费和系、文理学院院长和负责研究的副校长办公室提供的额外支持来维持。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested for the purchase of a Leica TCS SP8 AOBS 405 UV Spectral Confocal Microscope to be used in the PNB Confocal Facility in the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. The Department currently has a Leica TCS SP2 Spectral Confocal Microscope, which was purchased in 2001 with funds from NIH (1S10RR015684-01). The instrument is maintained as a departmental facility that is open to the entire Storrs campus community. During the past eleven years, it has been heavily used, averaging 7 hours a day, resulting in 73 peer-reviewed publications by four to eight NIH-funded major users. In 2006 Leica stopped manufacturing this model, and some parts are no longer available. There is not enough capacity on the existing confocal microscopes on the Storrs campus to accommodate the needs of the current users of the SP2 system in the event that a critical part cannot be replaced. Even if the existing instrument were to remain functional, many of the users critically need a 405 nm laser line to image the nuclear dye DAPI, along with the other fluorophores, but a 405 nm laser cannot be added to our existing SP2 unit. The other existing microscope on this campus with this capability is housed in a separate building and is too heavily used to accommodate our users' needs. The user group has grown from four NIH-funded investigators at the time of the original application in 2000 to eight major users and two minor users, and we have two new faculty members who will join our department this fall, whose research heavily depends on confocal microscopy. Confocal microscopy has now become an indispensable tool for the research program of the users in our department and a standard tool in cellular, molecular, and developmental neuroscience. Thus, there is a pressing need to acquire a new confocal system to ensure that the current users of the existing SP2 system have uninterrupted access to a functional confocal microscope and avoid delays in data collection and publication. The new confocal microscope will be housed in the center of the first floor of the Pharmacy Biology Building where the department is housed. It will be maintained by user fees and additional support from the Department, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Office of Vice President for Research.