MRI: Acquisition of a Nikon SIM & STORM capable super-resolution fluorescent microscope as a shared instrument for the Penn State research community

宾夕法尼亚州立大学大学公园校区获奖购买一台超分辨率显微镜，该显微镜将能够捕获单分子规模的动植物细胞图像以及复杂的化学样品。这台显微镜将揭示生命和化学系统是如何组织和工作的新见解。该项目还将为科学界产生新的图像分析工具。显微镜将使跨学科研究培训成为可能，并通过课程作业和与宾夕法尼亚州立大学其他校园和其他机构的接触来加强教育。将这种显微镜集成到核心显微镜设施中，将使本科生、研究生和博士后实习生可以使用它，宾夕法尼亚州立大学将定期提供成像研讨会。将为K-12和本科教育工作者开发新的教学模块，展示尺寸科学和超分辨率显微镜的潜力。将通过包括埃伯利理学院暑期体验、麦克奈尔学者、科学和工程研究中的女性以及少数民族本科生研究体验在内的项目，确保未被充分代表的学生获得机会和培训。包括富兰克林研究所(科学博物馆)和宾夕法尼亚州立大学的农业进步日在内的多项外联活动和场所将促进公众对超分辨率显微镜及其优势的了解，这些活动和场所将使成千上万的人了解这一尖端成像技术。这种显微镜的发现将推动动植物发展、可持续农业和能源生产以及定义我们物理环境的化学相互作用的研究。超分辨率显微镜正在生命科学领域带来巨大的新研究机会，并在化学和材料研究方面具有新兴能力。宾夕法尼亚州立大学将通过购买同时具有结构照明显微镜(SIM)和随机光学重建显微镜(STORM)功能的超分辨率显微镜来推进我们基于光学成像的研究。这两个成像模块组合在一个显微镜平台上，并使用高倍率全内反射荧光(TIRF)物镜、自动焦点保持系统和集成的多通道固态激光发射。这种商用超分辨率显微镜的易用性对于宾夕法尼亚州立大学哈克生命科学显微镜和细胞学研究所内的设备特别有吸引力，这是一个多用户的核心设施。该显微镜的研究和培训将集中在四个主要领域：(A)植物细胞生物学；(B)动物细胞生物学；(C)化学；(D)高级图像处理和模式识别。(A)-(C)组的研究人员将利用这一系统提供的更高的分辨率，推动他们的研究进入迄今无法企及的精细生物过程和分子相互作用领域。同时，(D)组将与那些产生超分辨率成像数据的人合作，以提高我们从分子定位数据识别结构和模式的能力。SIM/STORM组合显微镜将为样品标记和成像提供高度的灵活性，从而最大限度地使宾夕法尼亚州立大学生命和化学科学领域的最大数量的研究人员受益。作为该项目的组成部分，对高级图像分析和模式识别感兴趣的教师将生成分析SIM和风暴成像数据的新算法，这些算法将广泛适用于超分辨率显微镜，并将免费传播给全球科学界。

An award is made to The Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus to purchase a super-resolution microscope that will enable the capture of images of plant and animal cells, as well as complex chemical samples, at the scale of single molecules. This microscope will reveal new insights into how living and chemical systems are organized and work. The project will also generate new image analysis tools for the scientific community. The microscope will enable interdisciplinary research training and enhance education through coursework and outreach to other Penn State campuses and other institutions. Integration of this microscope into a core microscopy facility will make it available to undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral trainees, and regular imaging workshops will be offered by Penn State. New teaching modules for K-12 and undergraduate educators demonstrating the science of size and the potential of super-resolution microscopy will be developed. Access and training will be assured for underrepresented students through programs including the Summer Experience in the Eberly College of Science, McNair Scholars, Women in Science and Engineering Research, and Minority Undergraduate Research Experience. Public understanding of super-resolution microscopy and its advantages will be catalyzed by multiple outreach activities and venues, including The Franklin Institute (science museum) and Penn State's Ag Progress Days, which together will expose this cutting-edge imaging technology to tens of thousands of people. The discoveries enabled by this microscope will advance the study of plant and animal development, sustainable agriculture and energy production, and the chemical interactions that define our physical environment.Super-resolution microscopy is leading to dramatic new research opportunities in the life sciences, and has emerging capabilities in chemistry and materials research. Penn State will advance our optical imaging-based research through the purchase of a super-resolution microscope with both Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) and Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) capabilities. Both imaging modules are combined on a single microscope platform, and use high-magnification total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) objectives, an automated focus retention system, and an integrated multi-channel solid state laser launch. The ease of use of this commercial super-resolution microscope is a particularly appealing feature for equipment residing within Penn State's Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences Microscopy & Cytometry Facility, a multi-user core facility. Research and training with this microscope will focus on four main areas: (a) plant cell biology; (b) animal cell biology; (c) chemistry; and (d) advanced image processing and pattern recognition. Researchers in groups (a)-(c) will leverage the increased resolution offered by this system to push their research into hitherto unreachable areas of fine-scale biological processes and molecular interactions. In parallel, group (d) will collaborate with those generating super-resolution imaging data to advance our ability to recognize structures and patterns from molecular localization data. The combined SIM/STORM microscope will maximally benefit the largest number of researchers in the life and chemical sciences at Penn State by offering a high degree of flexibility for sample labeling and imaging. As an integral component of this project, faculty with research interests in advanced image analysis and pattern recognition will generate new algorithms for analyzing SIM and STORM imaging data that will be widely applicable to super-resolution microscopy and will be freely disseminated to the global scientific community.