Automated multi-channel fluorescence imaging system for extended time lapse and image stitching analyses.

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Since the refinement and assembly of the first microscope by Galileo Galilei, the microscope has been at the center of critical discoveries in Science, particularly in the Biological and Life Sciences. Imaging capabilities of microscopes have advanced over the years and imaging systems routinely permit the examination of biological specimens from the molecular to whole organism level. Most studies have examined biological phenomena in fixed cells and tissues; however, recent advances in fluorescent tagging or conjugation of proteins have enabled researchers to monitor dynamic events as they occur in real time. The requested funds will be used for a live-cell imaging system with an on stage environmental chamber to enable time-lapse fluorescence imaging. A critical element to this unique imaging equipment is the extended time frame for monitoring cells and tissues under sterile and specimen-specific optimal growth conditions that is made possible with the on stage incubation chamber. This imaging system will allow us to (i) monitor interactions and coupling between extracellular signalling molecules such as hormones and their cell membrane-bound receptors; (ii) examine and characterize water-transporting channels known as aquaporins, critical for hydromineral balance; (iii) visualize abnormalities in energy metabolism through time-course studies on energy storage and dissipation; (iv) study gastrointestinal tract metamorphosis in fish and examine the influence of environmental change; and (v) elucidate temporal alterations in the physiology of the vertebrate tight junctions (TJ) complex in response to endocrine factors controlling the incorporation (or removal) of TJ proteins. This equipment will allow us to monitor biological interactions and events in living cells and organisms using fluorescent probes (e.g. green fluorescent protein, GFP). This state-of-the-art imaging system will significantly expand the research capacity of each of the co-applicants (across two separate Faculties, Science and Health). Most importantly, this system will be critical for HQP trainees to understand the dynamic nature of biological processes and the linkage between biological structure and function.