Upgrade of Spinning Disk Confocal Microscope

Perkin-Elmer (P-E) Ultraview VoX旋转圆盘共聚焦显微镜是检测活细胞中绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）等荧光蛋白的主要仪器。我们使用P-E旋转盘共聚焦显微镜来研究纤维素如何在植物细胞中产生，检查植物细胞在生长和发育过程中，以及研究植物和动物对压力的反应。目前的显微镜已经使用了7年，由于相机过时、工作台（样品夹）破损、激光器老化等原因，已经开始落后于国际标准。因为目前的显微镜是过时的，它不能用于活细胞成像非常快速的事件。随着这台大型显微镜的老化，我们面临的问题越来越多。为了为他的博士论文和随后的科学论文收集数据，UBC植物学学生Yoshi Watanabe被迫去斯坦福大学使用他们的旋转圆盘共聚焦。我们的旋转圆盘需要升级激光，舞台，光学和摄像机。显微镜被安置在UBC生物成像设施中，并由UBC生物成像设施管理，这是一个全校范围的生物成像设施。UBC生物成像设施为来自UBC 25个部门的100多个研究小组提供了顶级的光学和电子显微镜基础设施。旋转盘共聚焦的升级将使校园内的许多HQP受益。2014-2015年共有30个HQP使用了该显微镜，分别来自植物学（Samuels, Haughn, Douglas, Kunst， Wasteneys实验室）、林业（Mansfield， Bohlmann实验室）、儿科（Maxwell实验室）、微生物学和免疫学（Hancock实验室）、化学（Perrin实验室）和动物学（Brauner, Milsom， Auld实验室）。依靠这种设备的许多正在进行的项目产生了这一要求的紧迫性。

The Perkin-Elmer (P-E) Ultraview VoX spinning disk confocal microscope is a workhorse instrument for detecting fluorescent proteins, such as green fluorescent protein (GFP), in living cells. We use the P-E Spinning Disk confocal microscope in studies of how cellulose is made in plant cells, for examining plant cells during growth and development, and for investigating plants' and animals' responses to stress. The current microscope is seven years old, and it is beginning to fall behind international standards due to its outdated camera, broken stage (sample holder), and aging lasers. Because the current microscope is outdated, it cannot be used for live cell imaging for very rapid events. As this workhorse microscope ages, we are increasingly facing problems. In order to collect the data for his Ph.D., and his subsequent Science paper, UBC Botany student Yoshi Watanabe was forced to go to Stanford University to use their spinning disk confocal. Our spinning disk requires upgrades to the laser, the stage, the optics, and the camera. The microscope is housed in, and managed by, the UBC Bioimaging Facility, a campus-wide biological imaging facility. UBC Bioimaging Facility provides top-end light and electron microscopy infrastructure to more than 100 research groups from 25 UBC departments. Upgrades to the spinning disk confocal will benefit many HQP from across campus. There were 30 HQP using the microscope in 2014-2015, from Botany (Samuels, Haughn, Douglas, Kunst, Wasteneys labs), Forestry (Mansfield, Bohlmann labs), Pediatrics (Maxwell lab), Microbiology and Immunology (Hancock lab), Chemistry (Perrin lab), and Zoology (Brauner, Milsom, Auld labs). The many on-going projects that rely on this equipment generate the urgency of this request.