CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE

这项提案要求为最先进的共焦激光扫描显微镜蔡司LSM 510提供资金。该仪器将服务于位于沃斯堡的北德克萨斯大学健康科学中心越来越多的研究人员，以及来自当地机构的其他一些研究人员。目前在UNTHSC或Fort Worth没有共焦显微镜。用户必须前往达拉斯的德克萨斯大学西南医学中心才能获得数据。研究生根本无法获得任何共焦数据。所要求的仪器将安置在解剖和细胞生物系健康科学中心的显微镜核心内。蔡司LSM 510是一种最先进的仪器，它将使北得克萨斯大学健康科学中心能够满足其研究人员当前和未来的需求，并使其教学技术现代化。人们希望利用焦平面上方或下方结构的离焦荧光减少的优势，获得远比广域显微镜所能获得的图像更清晰的图像。目前对共焦的研究需要包括：(I)通过测量整个肌肉纤维薄片的荧光偏振来测量完整肌肉中横桥的方向；(Ii)对肾脏和原代巨噬细胞以及(Iii)胰腺β细胞进行光学切片以获得人生长激素和CaM Kinase II的分布；(Iv)研究Na，K-ATPase的ATP连接效应的能力；(V)研究眼组织中内皮素的合成和释放的能力；以及(Vi)对薄光学切片进行快速测量以探索人成纤维细胞方向的实时变化的能力。有来自分子生物学和免疫学、解剖学和细胞生物学和药理学系的六个主要用户组。PI和5个共同PI中的4个持有NIH同行审查的研究拨款。

This proposal requests funding for a state-of-the art confocal laser scanning microscope, the Zeiss LSM 510. This instrument will serve a growing community of researchers at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth as well as a number of other researchers from local institutions. There is currently no confocal microscope in UNTHSC or Fort Worth. Users have to travel to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to obtain data. The graduate students cannot obtain any confocal data at all. The requested instrument will be housed in the Microscopy Core of the Health Science Center within the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. The Zeiss LSM 510 is a state-of-the-art instrument which will enable the University of North Texas Health Science Center to meet the current and future needs of its researchers, as well as modernize its teaching technology. It is hoped to take advantage of the reduction of out-of-focus fluorescence from structures above or below the plane of focus to obtain images that are vastly sharper than those obtainable with wide-field microscopes. Current research needs for a confocal include: (i) measuring orientation of cross-bridges in intact muscle by measuring polarization of fluorescence from thin sections of a whole muscle fiber; (ii) optical sectioning of the kidney and primary macrophages and of (iii) pancreatic beta cells to obtain distribution of human growth hormone and CaM Kinase II; (iv) the ability to study ATP-linked effectors of Na,K-ATPase (v) the ability to study the synthesis and release of endothelins in ocular tissue and (vi) the ability to do rapid measurements on thin optical sections to explore real-time changes in orientation of human fibroblasts. There are six major user groups from the Departments of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Anatomy and Cell Biology and Pharmacology. The PI and 4 out of 5 co-PI's hold NIH peer reviewed research grants.