Transmission Electron Microscope for Core EM Facility

描述（由申请人提供）：我们申请资金购买FEI Tecnai G2 Spirit BioTwin透射电子显微镜（TEM），带有嵌入式CCD相机。这将满足马萨诸塞州大学医学院（UMMS）和波士顿大学医学院11名NIH资助的研究人员的生物医学研究需求。显微镜将存放在UMMS的核心EM设施中，由设施经理维护和监测，确保研究者有效使用。它将取代23岁的二手飞利浦CM12，后者基于过时的技术，缺乏用户所需的关键功能，并且在不久的将来可能会停产或变得难以维护。新文书将立即解决这些问题。 将使用Tecnai的项目包括自噬和凋亡细胞死亡的基础研究，突触形成的机制，平滑肌和横纹肌收缩的调节，MAP激酶信号通路在神经变性中的作用，正常和患病细胞中中心体的功能，G蛋白偶联受体的调节，剪接体的结构和功能，以及纤毛和鞭毛在正常和疾病状态下的结构和功能。这些项目需要TEM作为一种重要的工具，用于研究细胞和分子结构在高分辨率和作为一种手段，检测和定位特定的细胞分子的免疫金标记。所获得的图像将为细胞发育，功能，感染和疾病的机制提供重要的见解。 除了这个应用程序中的用户之外，UMMS还有许多其他研究人员偶尔使用TEM，他们也将从TEM技术的现代化中受益。建议的仪器代表了国家的最先进的传统TEM，并具有许多功能，将大大提高TEM生产率在UMMS。这些包括一个现代化的，用户友好的计算机界面，具有180度倾斜能力的电动载物台控制，存储和调用网格位置和对齐和成像参数的能力（在需要连续切片的几项研究中特别有用），以及嵌入式CCD相机的完全集成，使其能够快速记录图像并提供完整的文档。 所有使用显微镜的项目都旨在提供对细胞结构和功能的基本见解。大多数都与人类疾病的理解有直接关系。获得这种最先进的仪器将在推进我们在这些生物医学重要领域的知识方面发挥关键作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We request funds for the purchase of an FEI Tecnai G2 Spirit BioTwin transmission electron microscope (TEM) with embedded CCD camera. This will serve the biomedical research needs of eleven NIH-funded investigators at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Boston University School of Medicine. The microscope will be housed in the Core EM Facility of UMMS, and maintained and monitored by the Facility Manager, ensuring efficient use by investigators. It will replace a 23-year old, second-hand Philips CM12, which is based on outdated technology, lacks key capabilities required by users, and for which maintenance is likely to be discontinued or become difficult in the near future. The new instrument would immediately solve these problems. The projects that will use the Tecnai include fundamental studies of autophagic and apoptotic cell death, mechanisms of synapse formation, the regulation of contraction in smooth and striated muscle, the role of MAP kinase signaling pathways in neurodegeneration, the function of centrosomes in normal and diseased cells, the regulation of G-protein-coupled receptors, the structure and function of spliceosomes, and the structure and function of cilia and flagella in normal and diseased states. These projects require TEM as an essential tool for investigating cellular and molecular architecture at high resolution and as a means of detecting and localizing specific cell molecules by immuno-gold labeling. The images obtained will provide essential insights into mechanisms of cell development, function, infection and disease. In addition to the users in this application, there are numerous other investigators at UMMS who use TEM on a more occasional basis and who would also benefit from modernization of our TEM technology. The instrument proposed represents the state-of-the-art for a conventional TEM, and has many features that would greatly enhance TEM productivity at UMMS. These include a modern, user-friendly computer interface, motorized stage controls with 180o tilt capability, the ability to store and recall grid locations and alignment and imaging parameters (especially useful in several studies requiring serial sectioning), and full integration of an embedded CCD camera, making it possible to record images rapidly and with full documentation. All of the projects that will use the microscope aim to provide fundamental insights into cellular structure and function. Most have a direct bearing on the understanding of human disease. Access to this state-of-the-art instrument will play a key role in advancing our knowledge in these biomedically important areas.