High Content Screening Microscope

申请者分析了不同的细胞和亚细胞结构，以及短期和长期实验中的囊泡释放和分子信号转导过程。他们的研究通常需要同时对许多样本进行显微分析。对于现有的设备来说，这是不可能的。因此，申请者迫切需要扩大他们在这一领域的研究能力。为此，需要一种低维护成本的自动化共聚焦高通量显微镜，它允许有针对性的药物发现，以及快速优化测试系列。该装置将用于广泛的实验应用。它需要强大的自动化数据采集和分析算法，每天可以进行数百个单独的实验。虽然将主要使用96孔板，但也可以使用许多其他的板格式，例如24孔板和384孔板，以及显微镜载玻片。此外，该仪器应允许对差异很大的细胞结构进行灵活、定量、高通量的分析，对单个细胞中的亚细胞结构进行精确分析，以及对球体和大组织切片进行自动三维重建。生理条件是对信号转导过程的活细胞成像和长期细胞运动实验所必需的。为了检查对多种不同测试化合物的急性反应，有必要使用移液机器人。不同组织中多种染料的共聚焦分析需要高强度的发光二极管。此外，该设备还应配备广谱光源，允许对LED激发光谱中未涵盖的染料进行激发。

The applicants analyze different cellular and subcellular structures as well as vesicle release and molecular signal transduction processes in short and long-term experiments. Their research usually requires a simultaneous microscopic analysis of many samples. This is not sufficiently possible with the existing equipment. Thus the applicants urgently need to expand their research capacity in this area. For this purpose, an automated confocal high-throughput microscope with low-maintenance costs is needed, that permits targeted drug discovery, as well as the rapid optimization of test series. The device will be used in for a broad range of experimental applications. It needs powerful automated data acquisition and analysis algorithms that enable several hundred individual experiments per day. Although primarily 96-well plates will be used, it should be possible to use many other plate formats, such as 24 well and 384 well plates, as well as microscope slides. In addition, the instrument should permit flexible, quantitative, high-throughput analysis of widely differing cellular structures, precise analysis of subcellular structures in individual cells, as well as for the automatic 3-D reconstruction of spheroids and large tissue sections. Physiological conditions are necessary for live-cell imaging of signal transduction processes and long term cell motility experiments. A pipetting robot is necessary to examine acute reactions to multiple different test compounds. High-intensity LEDs are needed for confocal analysis of multiple dyes in different tissues. In addition to the device should be equipped with a broad spectrum light source that permits the excitation of dyes that are not covered by the LED excitation spectrum.