MRI: Acquisition of a laser scanning confocal microscope within a core facility for research and training at Illinois State University

授予伊利诺斯州州立大学（ISU）获得多通道激光扫描共聚焦显微镜。该仪器将提供先进的成像能力，国际空间大学的学生和教师在物理，化学和生物科学，以及整个中西部地区的机构。作为ISU生物科学显微镜核心设施的核心，该显微镜将大大增强ISU的研究基础设施，实现细胞和组织的高分辨率三维重建，活样本中动态细胞过程的延时成像以及先进的荧光技术。ISU的多样化的本科生群体将能够使用该设施作为指导独立研究项目的一部分;预计每年有50多名本科生研究人员通过这种培训学习广泛有用的STEM技能。K-12学生将接触到细胞，组织，光学显微镜，生物技术和神经科学的概念，通过几个正在进行的外展计划，如伊利诺伊州夏季研究学院。来自科学领域代表性不足的群体的学生将通过ISU的路易斯·斯托克斯少数民族参与联盟招募进行培训。未来和当前的K-12科学教师将在仪器上进行培训，以获得实际的研究经验，例如在NSF资助的项目“代表性不足的STEM教师Noyce奖学金”中。20-30研究生/年将使用该设施，以追求研究的新途径，最终贡献新的技能，伊利诺伊州干劳动力。该项目的积极社会影响还包括农业和环境进步。它将促进美国农业部资助的一种新的冬季覆盖作物的发展，减少土壤侵蚀和贫瘠田地的氮流失，同时生产用于生产生物燃料的油料种子。显微镜将支持七个主要研究实验室的项目，推进遗传学，细胞生物学，发育，神经科学和植物科学的知识。项目包括：调节蛋白质质量控制响应老化和氧化应激;蛋白质之间的相互作用，控制植物细胞的定向生长;基因沉默和减数分裂驱动机制的真菌;新合成的化学物质对寄生利什曼原虫的影响;蠕虫如何检测和响应磁场;在体内的作用，细胞的皮质细胞骨架在有机体发育和组织维护;以及通过感觉输入和神经调质调节神经活动。该奖项提供的新功能将使用户能够扩大其研究范围;该系统将具有广泛的激发波长;快速扫描;高灵敏度，低噪声光子探测器;低于200 nm的空间分辨率;和荧光寿命数据。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to Illinois State University (ISU) to acquire a multichannel laser scanning confocal microscope. The instrument will provide advanced imaging capabilities to ISU students and faculty in Physics, Chemistry, and Biological Sciences, as well as institutions across the Midwest region. As the centerpiece of the ISU Biological Sciences Microscopy Core Facility, the microscope will greatly enhance ISU's research infrastructure, enabling high-resolution three dimensional reconstructions of cells and tissues, time-lapse imaging of dynamic cellular processes in live samples, and advanced fluorescence techniques. ISU's diverse population of undergraduates will be able to use the facility as part of mentored independent research projects; over 50 undergraduate researchers per year are projected to learn widely useful STEM skills through this training. K-12 students will be exposed to concepts in cells, tissues, light microscopy, biotechnology, and neuroscience, through several ongoing outreach programs such as the Illinois Summer Research Academy. Students from groups underrepresented in science will be recruited for training via ISU's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. Future and current K-12 science teachers will train on the instrument to gain practical research experience, for example in the NSF-funded project "Noyce Scholarships for STEM Teachers of Under-Represented Groups". 20-30 graduate students/year will use the facility to pursue new avenues of research, ultimately contributing new skills to the Illinois STEM workforce. Positive societal impacts of the project also include agricultural and environmental advances. It will promote the USDA-funded development of pennycress as a new winter cover crop, reducing soil erosion and nitrogen runoff from barren fields while profitably producing oilseed for generating biofuels.The microscope will support the projects of seven main research labs, advancing knowledge in genetics, cell biology, development, neuroscience, and plant science. Projects include: regulation of protein quality control in response to aging and oxidative stress; interactions among proteins that control directional growth of plant cells; mechanisms of gene silencing and meiotic drive in fungi; effects of newly synthesized chemicals on parasitic Leishmania; how nematode worms detect and respond to magnetic fields; in vivo roles of the cell's cortical cytoskeleton in organismal development and tissue maintenance; and regulation of neural activity by sensory inputs and neuromodulators. New capabilities provided by the award will allow users to expand the scope of their research; the system will feature a broad range of excitation wavelengths; rapid scanning; high-sensitivity, low noise photon detectors; sub-200 nm spatial resolution; and fluorescence lifetime data. The users engage in nation-wide and international research collaborations, which will be expanded and strengthened by the added capabilities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.