Request for a Leica 3X STED Microscope

 描述（由申请人提供）：本申请旨在获得资金，用于购买带有3条消耗线的Leica受激发射消耗（STED）3X显微镜。该仪器将存放在匹兹堡大学医学院的生物成像中心（CBI）内。该核心设施的任务是为匹兹堡大学医学院的所有研究小组提供全方位的光和电子光学，图像分析和形态测量方法。 超分辨率显微镜是该中心提供的一项重要服务。直到去年，使用STED的分辨率的改进，虽然在商业系统中显着限于XY轴的改进，但Z分辨率没有改进。然而，随着STED解决方案的发布，它在所有3个轴上都有效，这种方法变得更加有用。此外，当配备有3条耗尽线时，该方法与许多常规荧光团一起工作，允许容易的3色超分辨率成像，使得它可以容易地部署在核心环境（例如CBI）中。 在本申请中，通过NIH支持的多个不同领域的项目证明了对该仪器的需求，这些领域包括：神经生物学、细胞生物学、发育生物学、传染病、细胞骨架生物学和基本线粒体功能。 自24年前开始运作以来，CBI已成为医学研究界不可或缺的一部分，目前参与医疗领域内300多个PHS资助团体的研究项目，以及PHS支持的其他部门和邻近机构的研究人员项目。CBI的指导委员会认为，购买一个3X STED系统是对中心PHS资助用户可用仪器的一个重要补充。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This request is for funds to purchase a Leica Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) 3X microscope with 3 depletion lines. This instrument will be housed within the Center for Biologic Imaging (CBI) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The mandate of this core facility is to provide access to a full range of light and electron optical, image analysis, and morphometric methods to all research groups within the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Super-resolution microscopy is an essential service provided by the center. Until last year the improvement in resolution using STED, while significant was limited in commercial systems to improvements in the XY axis with no improvements in Z resolution. However, with the release of a STED solution that is effective in all 3 axis the approach has become much more useful. Furthermore when equipped with 3 depletion lines the method works with many conventional fluorophores allowing facile 3 color super-resolution imaging such that it can be easily deployed in a core environment such as the CBI. The need for this instrument is demonstrated in this application with several diverse NIH supported projects in fields including; Neurobiology, Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Infectious Disease, cytoskeletal biology, and basic Mitochondrial function. Since the CBI commenced operations 24 years ago, it has become an integral part of the medical research community currently participating in research projects with more than 300 PHS funded groups within the medical area, as well as in PHS supported projects with investigators in other departments and at neighboring institutions. The steering committee of the CBI feel that acquisition of a 3X STED system as an essential addition to the repertoire of instrumentation available to PHS funded users of the Center.