Columbia AFM System Equipment Grant

描述（由申请人提供）：针对PAR-09-028：共享仪器资助计划（S10），该申请要求支持最先进的BioScope催化剂原子力显微镜（AFM）系统（Veeco Instruments, Plainview， NY）与配备Fluoview FV1000共聚焦激光扫描系统（LCSM, Olympus, Center Valley， PA）的新型奥林巴斯IX81倒置显微镜，该显微镜将被安置在哥伦比亚大学生物医学工程系的核心设施中。提出这一要求的动机源于这样一个事实，即目前哥伦比亚大学（或据我们所知，在纽约市）没有核心设施为一般生命科学应用提供具有共聚焦能力的AFM系统。AFM已成为生物医学工程研究的主要工具，提供了从单分子到组织的重要成像和材料测试工具。该综合系统将在至少85%的时间内由多个NIH支持的研究人员使用，并将在可用性的基础上向其他研究人员和学术目的开放。所要求的BioScope Catalyst系统具有集成显微镜和分析软件（MIRO）的用户友好型，以及允许同时传输光应用的开放式扫描头设计，易于样品访问，并且可以与FV1000 LSCM系统集成。结合这些成像系统的显微镜配置可用于细胞和组织水平的生物医学研究，其中AFM成像的结构可以与通过LCSM可识别的生物分子交叉相关。同样，使用该系统，AFM力测量可以将样品的机械刚度与LSCM可见的荧光标记基质结构相关联。最后，利用LCSM测量细胞对afm诱导的机械刺激的反应，为研究细胞如何感知和响应其物理环境的机械生物学提供了独特的机会。Fluoview FV1000 SIM（同步）模块进一步增强了这个集成AFM系统的功能，提供光激活或漂白和同步图像收集，实现光漂白（FRAP）和分子脱膜应用后的荧光恢复。因此，一个结合AFM和LSCM功能的研究平台将为生物应用提供一个强大的研究工具。BME系是美国国立卫生研究院（nih）在市中心校区支持的研究人员最多的地方，并且已经准备好领导这项共享仪器的工作，进一步连接两个校区（市中心的晨边高地和住宅区的医学校区），并促进哥伦比亚大学的跨学科研究合作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In response to PAR-09-028: Shared Instrumentation Grant Program (S10), this application requests support for a state-of-the-art BioScope Catalyst Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) system (Veeco Instruments, Plainview, NY) integrated with a new Olympus IX81 inverted microscope equipped with a Fluoview FV1000 confocal laser scanning system (LCSM, Olympus, Center Valley, PA) to be housed in the core facilities of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. Motivation for this request stems from the fact that there are currently no core facilities at Columbia University (or that we are aware of in New York City) that provide an AFM system with confocal capabilities for general life sciences applications. The AFM has become a staple instrument for biomedical engineering research, providing an important imaging and material testing tool spanning applications from single molecules to tissues. The integrated system will be used by multiple NIH- supported investigators for at least 85% of the time and will be made accessible for other researchers and academic purposes on an availability basis. The requested BioScope Catalyst system is user-friendly with integrated microscopy and analyses software (MIRO), as well as an open scan head design that permits simultaneous transmitted light applications, easy sample access and can be integrated with the FV1000 LSCM system. A microscope configuration combining these imaging sytems can be used to great advantage in cellular and tissue-level biomedical research where structures imaged with AFM can be cross-correlated to biomolecules identifiable via the LCSM. Similarly, using this system, AFM force measurements can permit mapping of sample mechanical stiffness to be correlated with underlying fluorescently labeled matrix structures visible by LSCM. Lastly, measurement of cellular responses using LCSM in response to AFM-induced mechanical stimulation provides unique opportunities for studies of mechanobiology, which investigates how cells perceive and respond to their physical environment. Further enhancing the capabilities of this integrated AFM system, the Fluoview FV1000 SIM (SIMultaneous) module provides photoactivation or bleaching and simultaneous image collection, enabling fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and molecular uncaging applications. Therefore, a research platform that delivers combined AFM and LSCM capabilities would offer a powerful research tool for biological applications. The BME department is home to the largest number of NIH-supported investigators at the downtown campus and is well-poised to lead this Shared Instrumentation effort, serving to further bridge the two campuses (downtown Morningside Heights to the uptown Medical Campus) and foster interdisciplinary research collaborations at Columbia.