Real-time cell metabolic analyser

线粒体是真核细胞中必不可少的细胞器，最广为人知的是为细胞反应提供大部分ATP的动力源。由于线粒体在能量代谢和其他几种生物合成途径中的核心作用，对线粒体的研究对于了解细胞功能至关重要。最近的数据表明，线粒体不是孤立的实体，而是通过信号通路与细胞的其余部分进行通信，并且它们通过广泛的接触部位与其他细胞器物理上相互连接。这些发现强调了在全球细胞背景下研究线粒体的必要性。因此，使用分离的线粒体的经典的体外和细胞器内生化分析需要扩展到体内分析，以便能够全面地研究线粒体的生理作用。对线粒体功能的更全面的方法的要求导致了对活细胞的高级代谢分析的高需求。此外，线粒体与其他细胞器的连接以及其高度动态的性质，使其能够根据细胞要求调整其形状，使细胞成像成为了解线粒体生理学和病理生理学的基本读数。在分子生物学中心、解剖和细胞生物学研究所和海德堡大学生物化学中心，几个研究小组研究了线粒体和代谢的作用，从线粒体和细胞蛋白平衡，到干细胞分化过程中的代谢重新编程，再到神经细胞工程。在所有这些项目中，细胞代谢的研究和操作与成像分析是非常必要的。在这里，我们申请了一种实时代谢分析仪，它与一个附属的多模式成像设备相结合，将允许实时进行连续的代谢和成像分析。代谢分析仪和成像系统是完全兼容的，可以对96孔板进行分析，以便对各种情况进行快速体内筛选。这些仪器共享相同的软件，这将使研究生和博士后的使用变得容易，从而有效地进行培训。代谢和成像分析将满足ZMBH和大学邻近研究所的研究小组研究细胞新陈代谢和功能的主要需求，重点是线粒体。

Mitochondria are essential organelles in eukaryotic cells and most widely known as powerhouses that supply the majority of ATP for cellular reactions. Due to their central role in energy metabolism and several other biosynthetic pathways, investigation of mitochondria is crucial to understand cellular function. Recent data have shown that mitochondria are not isolated entities, but communicate with the rest of the cell via signalling pathways and that they are physically interconnected to other organelles via extensive contact sites. These findings underline the necessity to investigate mitochondria in the global cellular context. Therefore, classical biochemical in vitro and in organello assays using isolated mitochondria need to be extended by in vivo analysis to allow comprehensive investigation of the physiological role of mitochondria. The requirement for a more global approach to mitochondrial functions has resulted in a high demand for advanced metabolic analysis of live cells. In addition, the connection of mitochondria with other organelles as well as their highly dynamic nature, which allows them to adapt their shape to cellular requirements, have made imaging of cells an essential read-out for understanding mitochondrial physiology, and also pathophysiology. At the Centre of Molecular Biology, the Anatomy and Cell Biology Institute and the Biochemistry Center of Heidelberg University several research groups study the role of mitochondria and metabolism ranging from mitochondrial and cellular proteostasis, to metabolic reprogramming during stem cell differentiation to neural cell engineering. In all of these projects, the investigation and manipulation of cellular metabolism coupled to imaging analysis is highly needed. Here we apply for a real-time metabolic analyser, which coupled to an accessory multi-mode imaging device will allow consecutive metabolic and imaging analyses in real time. The metabolic analyser as well as the imaging system are fully compatible and allow analysis of 96-well plates for rapid in vivo screening of various conditions. The instruments share the same software, which will allow easy usage and consequently efficient training of graduate students and post-docs. The metabolic and imaging analyses will fulfil a major demand to investigate cell metabolism and function focusing on mitochondria for research groups at the ZMBH and the neighbouring institutes at the university.