Request for administrative supplement to purchase a confocal microscope for project GM139971

我们目前的项目（R01 GM139971）的重点是阐明机制 非中心体微管组织中心（ncMTOCs）的功能。 这一点很重要，因为生物体中的许多（如果不是大多数）非分裂细胞 依赖于ncMTOCs而不是中心体，这是人们更好理解的动物 医疗技术选择中心。ncMTOC被认为是细胞骨架研究的新前沿， 在结构、亚细胞位置和微管机制方面存在差异 组装件.我的实验室在过去的几年里发现了三种不同的ncMTOC， 在这个项目中，我们专注于识别一个 果蝇脂肪细胞核周MTOC的组装， 控制微管组装。为了实现这项赠款的目标和未来 项目，共聚焦显微镜需要执行和评估实验 也是我研究项目中最关键的核心设备。的 普遍和持续需要密集的共聚焦显微镜的使用反映在所有 过去13年来，我们出版的出版物中， Nikon A1共聚焦显微镜位于我们实验室附近。本仪器是 我的实验室成员每天都在使用它，现在它已经老化，速度缓慢，年久失修。一 为确保进展，有必要补充新共聚焦显微镜的资金 并允许我们淘汰现有的仪器。

Our current project (R01 GM139971) is focused on elucidating the mechanisms by which non-centrosomal microtubule-organizing centers (ncMTOCs) function. This is important because many, if not most, non-dividing cells in the organism rely on ncMTOCs rather than the centrosome, the better understood animal MTOC. Considered a new frontier in cytoskeleton research, ncMTOCs are diverse in their structures, subcellular locations, and mechanisms of microtubule assembly. My lab has discovered three distinct ncMTOCs in the past few years, and in this project we focus on discerning the mechanisms by which a perinuclear MTOC in Drosophila adipocytes is assembled and by which it controls microtubule assembly. To achieve the aims of this grant and future projects, confocal microscopy is needed to execute and evaluate experiments and is the most critical core piece of equipment for my research program. The general and ongoing need for intensive confocal microscopy use is reflected in all of our publications in the past 13 years, where we have had ready access to a Nikon A1 confocal microscope housed adjacent to our lab. This instrument is used daily by members of my lab and is now aged, slow and in disrepair. A supplement to fund a new confocal microscope is necessary to assure progress with this project and allow us to retire the current instrument.