Microscopy and Imaging Core (Core 2)

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Abtract The Microscopy and Imaging Core will be housed in the existing Instrumentation Resource Facility (IRF) at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine which is a core facility providing a wide range of biotechnology and technical expertise to the biomedical research community in the state of South Carolina. The core will provide the required technical expertise and equipment to the Target Investigators for completion of their proposed projects related to how dietary supplements affect the process of inflammation. Monitoring of structural changes in cells, tissues and organs that occur in response to inflammation, and how various dietary supplements alter these changes, is essential in understanding how inflammation can be regulated. The core will provide access to a complete range of imaging technology for monitoring these changes from the whole animal to ultrastructural level. At the whole animal level, ultrasound and fluorescence techniques will be available to determine how inflammation and applied diets affect the experimental animals. At the histology/light microscopy and immunohistochemistry levels, a full range of equipment is available for preparation and imaging of tissues. Isolated cell behavior will be monitored in culture by a spinning disk confocal microscope and localization and co-localization of molecules expressed during the process of inflammation will be monitored by multi-labeling confocal imaging. Finally, ultrastructural changes in cells will be imaged by electron microscopy to determine changes at the submicron level of resolution. A full range of image analysis hardware and software is also available to quantify the structural changes which occur during inflammation in the cells, tissues and organs and how these changes are affected by the various dietary supplements. All equipment and technical expertise is available in the IRF for completion of the experiments proposed by the Target Investigators. There will be three faculty members and four technicians affiliated with the IRF available for assistance with experimental design, operation of equipment, and training on imaging instrumentation. In addition to individual interactions, didactic courses, seminars and workshops are often sponsored through the IRF. These will be made available to members of the Target Investigator laboratories.