Inverted confocal microscope for life science

要求更换倒置共焦显微镜。它计划采购一种多功能仪器，为细胞和膜生物物理、教学以及一般细胞培养任务领域的许多不同的第三方资助项目服务。这些包括细胞和仿生系统(细胞骨架、膜蛋白)的免疫染色、活细胞成像(伤口愈合、上皮向间充质转变)、扩散测量、有机物的3D成像、细胞骨架网络的高分辨率成像(人工和细胞内)、与现有原子力显微镜、纳米操纵器或微注射装置的组合。参与的研究小组致力于仿生系统，如囊泡、微隔室、微凝胶和固体支持的类脂膜，以及生物系统，如细胞膜、贴壁细胞和有机类化合物。共聚焦荧光显微镜研究对被研究的样品是微创的，并且该技术相对容易扩展到新的实验和覆盖大参数空间的样品。近年来，生物物理研究中对荧光显微镜的需求大大增加，因此几乎没有任何项目不发挥荧光显微镜的核心作用。化学学院现有的倒置共焦显微镜已到了使用寿命的尽头，因此必须紧急更换新的设备，以确保未来大量研究项目的继续进行。此外，测量和探测器技术的新发展允许设计新的实验，这是现有设备无法完成的。新型的GaAsP探测器将信噪比提高了2倍，这增加了长期测量的可能性，增加了数据的灵敏度和可量化。可以使用的技术可以提高空间分辨率，同时提高灵敏度。这对细胞骨架细丝和活细胞等精致样品尤其重要。此外，荧光相关光谱(FCS)和寿命测量(FLIM)等方法是研究脂质和蛋白质扩散以及利用报告细胞张力的现代荧光团探索细胞膜机械性能的宝贵工具。

The replacement of an inverted confocal microscope is requested. It is planned to procure a versatile instrument that will serve the many diverse third-party funded projects in the field of cell- and membrane biophysics, teaching as well as general cell culture tasks. These include immunostaining of cells and biomimetic systems (cytoskeleton, membrane proteins), live cell imaging (wound healing, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition), measurements of diffusion, 3D imaging of organoids, high-resolution imaging of cytoskeletal networks (artificial and within cells), combination with an existing atomic force microscope, a nanomanipulator or microinjection setup. The participating research groups work on biomimetic systems such as vesicles, microcompartments, microgels, and solid-supported lipid membranes, as well as biological systems such as cell membranes, adherent cells, and organoids. Confocal fluorescence microscopy studies are minimal invasive to the samples being studied and the technique is relatively easy to extend to new experiments and samples covering a large parameter space. The demand for fluorescence microscopy in biophysical research studies has increased tremendously in recent years, so that there are hardly any projects in which fluorescence microscopy does not play a central role. The existing inverted confocal microscope of the Faculty of Chemistry has reached the end of its service life and must therefore be urgently replaced by a new device in order to ensure the continuation of a large number of research projects in the future. Furthermore, new developments in measurement and detector technology allow the design of new experiments, which cannot be performed with the existing equipment. Novel GaAsP detectors improve the signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of 2, which increases the possibilities for long-term measurements, the sensitivity and the quantifiability of the data. Techniques are available that offer increasing spatial resolution, while simultaneously improving sensitivity. This is especially important for delicate samples such as cytoskeletal filaments and living cells. In addition, methods like Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and lifetime measurements (FLIM) are invaluable tools for the investigation of lipid and protein diffusion as well as to explore the mechanical properties of cell membranes with modern fluorophores that report on the tension of cells.