Columbia AFM System Equipment Grant

描述（申请人提供）：对PAR-09-028的答复：共享仪器资助计划（S10），该申请要求支持最先进的BioScope Catalyst原子力显微镜（AFM）系统（Veeco Instruments，Plainview，NY）与配备有Fluoview FV 1000共聚焦激光扫描系统的新Olympus IX 81倒置显微镜集成（LCSM，Olympus，Center Valley，PA）将被安置在哥伦比亚大学生物医学工程系的核心设施中。这个请求的动机源于这样一个事实，即目前在哥伦比亚大学（或我们知道在纽约市）没有核心设施，提供一个原子力显微镜系统与共聚焦能力的一般生命科学应用。原子力显微镜已成为生物医学工程研究的主要工具，提供了一个重要的成像和材料测试工具，从单分子到组织的应用。该集成系统将由多个NIH支持的研究人员使用至少85%的时间，并将在可用性基础上为其他研究人员和学术目的提供访问权限。所要求的BioScope催化剂系统是用户友好的集成显微镜和分析软件（MIRO），以及开放式扫描头设计，允许同时传输光应用，方便样品访问，并可以与FV 1000 LSCM系统集成。结合这些成像系统的显微镜配置可以用于细胞和组织水平的生物医学研究中的巨大优势，其中与AFM成像的结构可以通过LCSM与可识别的生物分子交叉相关。类似地，使用该系统，AFM力测量可以允许映射样品的机械刚度与通过LSCM可见的底层荧光标记的基质结构相关。最后，使用LCSM测量响应AFM诱导的机械刺激的细胞反应为机械生物学研究提供了独特的机会，该研究调查细胞如何感知和响应其物理环境。Fluoview FV 1000 SIM（SIMultaneous）模块进一步增强了该集成AFM系统的功能，提供了光活化或漂白以及同步图像采集，从而实现了光漂白后荧光恢复（FRAP）和分子释放应用。因此，一个研究平台，提供相结合的AFM和LSCM的能力将提供一个强大的研究工具，生物应用。BME部门是家庭对NIH支持的研究人员在市中心的校园数量最多，并准备好领导这一共享仪器的努力，服务于进一步桥接两个校区（市中心晨边高地上城医学校区），并促进跨学科的研究合作在哥伦比亚。

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.