MRI: Acquisition of Confocal Microscope for Multispectral and Multiphoton Biomolecular Imaging

使用荧光探针标记活细胞内单个分子的能力彻底改变了我们对基本细胞生物学的理解，并为生物工程活细胞开辟了新的机会。激光扫描共聚焦显微镜已被证明是研究细胞荧光分子的一种强大而通用的技术。莱斯大学认识到这项技术的重要性，并于1993年购买了一台蔡司LSM 410共聚焦显微镜。这台显微镜支持了许多细胞生物学和生物工程方面的研究项目。然而，目前的技术存在严重的局限性，包括解析具有重叠发射光谱的分子的能力有限，以及激光激发对细胞的损伤。这些问题的重要性和幅度导致卡尔蔡司公司花费大量的时间和资源来开发一个用户友好的系统，可以克服这些问题。蔡司最近整合了强大的新技术，包括解决重叠发射光谱的新算法和使用多光子激光激发的能力，到他们的新型共聚焦显微镜。新系统被称为510 LSM META/NLO。

0321275RaphaelThe ability to label individual molecules inside of living cells with fluorescent probes has revolutionized our understanding of basic cell biology and opened new opportunities to bioengineer living cells. Laser scanning confocal microscopy has proved to be a powerful and versatile technique for studying fluorescent molecules in cells. Rice University recognized the importance of this technique, and purchased a Zeiss LSM 410 confocal microscope in 1993. This microscope has supported numerous research projects in cell biology and bioengineering. However, there are serious limitations in the current technology, including limited ability to resolve molecules with overlapping emission spectra and the damage to cells that occurs with laser excitation. The importance and magnitude of these issues led Carl Zeiss, Inc. to expend a significant amount of time and resources to develop a user-friendly system that can overcome these problems. Zeiss recently integrated powerful new technologies, including novel algorithms for resolving overlapping emission spectra and the ability to use multi-photon laser excitation, into their new confocal microscope. The new system is called the 510 LSM META/NLO.