FEI Transmission Electron Microscope with Tomography Capability

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is an urgent need on the Emory University campus for a state-of-the-art TEM to serve a multi-user group of investigators. The University has recently re-organized its core laboratories housing electron microscopes into a single shared facility, the Integrated Electron Microscopy Core. An FEI Tecnai G2 TEM is requested as a major foundation of this new core facility. The major objective of this application is to enhance EM instrumentation on the Emory campus in order to facilitate a broad array of NIH- funded research projects. This instrument will be used extensively by a group of six investigators whose projects require advanced TEM techniques. The instrument will be the only one on campus with a high resolution CCD, remote image viewing capability, and the capacity for tomography. The projects of the major users include studies of basic retrovirus assembly (Spearman and Hunter), development of novel virus-like particles with altered membrane proteins as vaccines for HIV, and Ebola virus (Compans), examination of the mechanisms of amyloid aggregate formation (Lynn), development and analysis of novel nanoparticles as biosensors and drug delivery vehicles (Nie), and synthesis of novel protein-based biomaterials (Conticello). Each major user will utilize the TEM capabilities of the FEI microscope, and will explore new applications that require tomography. A large number of core instrumentation users across campus will have access to the FEI instrument under the guidance of the core technical director for the minority of usage time not taken by the major users. The impact of this instrument on research productivity is likely to be quite large, and a strong infrastructure is already in place to ensure maintenance and technical support for the instrument. This instrument is essential to an ongoing upgrade to the EM services available at Emory University, and will support a wide base of investigators on campus. Public Health Relevance: A number of projects on the Emory University campus rely on electron microscopy for their success. This application requests a new instrument that will greatly facilitate research in the areas of virology, vaccine development, nanotechnology, amyloid protein folding, and generation of new biomaterials. The new microscope will benefit these projects and a wide range of other projects on campus that will yield benefits to public health.