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Leica TCS SP 8 AOBS 405紫外光谱共聚焦显微镜，用于斯托尔斯康涅狄格大学生理学和神经生物学系的PNB共聚焦设施。该部门目前拥有一台Leica 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（1 S10 RR 015684 -01）。该仪器是作为一个部门的设施，是开放给整个斯托尔斯校园社区。在过去的11年里，它被大量使用，平均每天7小时，导致73篇同行评审的出版物，由4到8个NIH资助的主要用户。2006年，徕卡停止生产该型号，部分零件不再可用。斯托尔斯园区现有的共焦显微镜没有足够的能力来满足SP2系统当前用户在关键部件无法更换的情况下的需求。即使现有的仪器保持功能，许多用户也迫切需要405 nm激光线来成像核染料DAPI沿着其他荧光团，但405 nm激光不能添加到我们现有的SP2单元中。该园区内另一台具有此功能的现有显微镜位于单独的建筑物中，使用量过大，无法满足用户的需求。用户组已经从2000年最初申请时的四名NIH资助的研究人员发展到八名主要用户和两名次要用户，我们有两名新的教员将于今年秋天加入我们的部门，他们的研究在很大程度上依赖于共聚焦显微镜。共聚焦显微镜现已成为我们部门用户研究计划不可或缺的工具，也是细胞，分子和发育神经科学的标准工具。因此，迫切需要获得新的共聚焦系统，以确保现有SP2系统的当前用户能够不间断地访问功能性共聚焦显微镜，并避免数据收集和发布的延迟。新的共聚焦显微镜将被安置在药学生物学大楼一楼的中心。它将由用户费和部门，文理学院院长和研究副总裁办公室的额外支持来维持。

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.