BSLII Stationed Zeiss 880 Confocal Microscope with Airyscan

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This proposal requests funds to purchase a laser scanning confocal microscope for a group of NIH-funded investigators from several departments at the University of California at Santa Cruz. The proposed Zeiss 880 system with Airyscan will replace our current Zeiss PASCAL confocal microscope, which was purchased through NIH's SIG mechanism and installed in 2004. The Zeiss LSM 880 is a flexible and modular confocal laser scanning microscope for high end fluorescence imaging. The LSM 880 is an outstanding choice for a core facility as it is well suited for the research objectives of our users, it is easy to use and provides a cost- effective solution to our research challenges. The proposed instrument is essential for NIH-funded biomedical research taking place at UC Santa Cruz. The major user group is funded by multiple NIH programs. These are the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Eye Institute (NEI). They seek to bring the power of confocal microscopy to studies of bacterial pathogenesis and mechanism of biofilm formation, bacterial movement within animal organs, and immune cell interactions during immunological tolerance, investigation of cell cycle, degenerative eye diseases and retinal plasticity. This microscope system will become an integral part of UCSC's Life Sciences Microscopy Center, and will located in a BSLII designated space within our Biomedical Sciences building. This placement is required for work on Risk Group 2 samples. The facility is open to all NIH-funded investigators; thus, this equipment will enhance and sustain biomedical research on this campus, while providing advanced training to our graduate students and postdoctoral research fellows, thereby helping to create the next generation of biomedical investigators.