MRI: Acquisition of a Bioluminescence/Fluorescence Imaging System for Long-Term Recording of Living Tissues

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。弗吉尼亚大学生物系将获得一个生物发光/生物荧光成像系统，用于研究与日常计时机制相关的分子信号。该仪器将用于实验，旨在更好地了解内部生物钟，使动物能够预测环境的日常变化，并在优化的日常时间表中组织大量的身体功能。新的成像系统最优地显示了荧光素酶报告基因的时钟控制表达与作为特定细胞类型或生物活性标记的其他报告基因产生的荧光信号相结合产生的生物发光信号。有了这项新技术，将有可能在单细胞分辨率下成像细胞类型特定的昼夜节律基因表达。提出的实验将集中于果蝇和啮齿动物模型系统中生物钟功能的细胞和网络特性。这些研究活动将有力地刺激（Co-） pi的研究项目，并有助于弗吉尼亚大学的研究人员和学生的招聘和培训。该仪器和计划的研究活动将在几门本科课程中占据突出地位。此外，现有的附属机构也将用于K-12一级的培训和推广。参与的研究人员和学生不仅将参与时间生物学研究和成像技术的前沿项目，而且还将接受显微镜和数据分析技术方面的宝贵培训，这将成为他们在科学或职业生涯中的宝贵财富。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With this award to the Biology department at the University of Virginia a bioluminescence/biofluorescence imaging system will be acquired to study molecular signals associated with daily time keeping mechanisms. The instrument will be used for experiments aimed at gaining a better understanding of the internal circadian clocks that allow animals to anticipate daily changes in their environment and to organize a multitude of bodily functions in an optimized daily schedule. The new imaging system optimally visualizes bioluminescent signals produced by clock-controlled expression of luciferase reporter genes in combination with fluorescent signals produced by additional reporter genes that act as markers for specific cell types or biological activities. With the new technology it will be possible to image cell-type specific circadian gene expression at single cell resolution. The proposed experiments will focus on the cellular and network properties of circadian clock function in fruit fly and rodent model systems. These research activities will strongly stimulate the research programs of the (Co-)PIs as well as help in the recruitment and training of researchers and students to the University of Virginia. The instrument and planned research activities will be prominently featured in several undergraduate courses. In addition, existing affiliations will be used to also incorporate training and outreach at the K-12 level. Participating researchers and students will not only be involved in projects at the cutting edge of chronobiological research and imaging technology, but also receive invaluable training in microscopy and data analysis techniques that will be an asset to them throughout their scientific or professional careers.