AN HITACHI H7500 TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

新墨西哥大学医学院的电子显微镜共享设施成立于1966年，并在医学院、新墨西哥州和NIH/NCRR （SIG于1987年授予扫描电子显微镜和图像处理）的资助下定期升级。该设施在20世纪80年代末和90年代初获得了广泛的认可，当时主要用户发表了新方法，将大分子复合物从非变性凝胶电泳转移到TEM网格上，以便在复杂反应中成像相互作用的物种（“快照印迹”），并通过免疫金标记和扫描电镜成像在背散射电子成像模式下绘制细胞表面的受体分布。在20世纪90年代中期，随着主要研究人员退休或专注于其他研究技术，密集的EM用户池减少了。这份申请是为了回应最近（自1998年以来）新墨西哥大学研究人员对TEM作为研究工具的强烈兴趣而准备的。这里描述的10个主要用户和4个次要用户来自四个不同的学术部门，参与三个不同的SOM研究项目：信号转导、粘附与运输、分子遗传学和分子病毒学以及神经科学。10位主要研究人员中有9位负责nih资助的实验室。这些用户特别需要具有新一代仪器才有的特性的TEM，包括计算机辅助校准，提高对比度以改善小金标成像和数字图像采集系统，以促进图像分析和提高样品吞吐量。这也需要一种新的带电子枪的高真空蒸发器，用于高分辨率的大分子、病毒和细胞器结构的阴影。这些功能在日立H7500 TEM和爱德华兹高真空蒸发器上都有。新墨西哥大学医学院和癌症研究与治疗中心提供了一份匹配的承诺，包括为新TEM的服务合同提供两年的支持，并为一名经验丰富的技术人员提供两年的工资支持，以协助nih资助的研究人员进行新的TEM研究。该应用程序的资金将显著加强将高质量电子显微镜整合到美国国立卫生研究院资助的新墨西哥大学细胞和分子生物学以及神经科学研究项目中的研究。

The Electron Microscopy Shared Facility in the University of New Mexico School of Medicine was established in 1966 and has been periodically upgraded by funds from the School of Medicine, the State of New Mexico and NIH/NCRR (SIG grants awarded in 1987 for scanning electron microscopy and image processing). The facility achieved substantial recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s when key users published new methods to electrophoretically transfer macromolecular complexes from non-denaturing gels onto TEM grids in order to image interacting species within complex reactions ("snapshot blotting") and to map receptor distributions on cell surfaces by immunogold labeling and SEM imaging in the backscattered electron imaging mode. In the mid- 1990s, the pool of intensive EM users diminished as key investigators either retired or focused on other research technologies. This application was prepared in response to a recent (since 1998) strong resurgence of interest in TEM as a research tool among UNM investigators. The ten major and four minor users described here come from four different academic departments and participate in three different SOM research programs, Signal Transduction, Adhesion and Trafficking, Molecular Genetics and Molecular Virology, and Neurosciences. Nine of the 10 major investigators direct NIH-funded laboratories. These users have particularly established need for a TEM with features found only on the new generation of instruments, including computer-assisted alignment, increased contrast for improved imaging of small gold labels and a digital image acquisition system to facilitate image analysis and to increase sample throughput. These is also need for a new high vacuum evaporator with an electron gun for high resolution shadowing of macromolecular, viral and organelle structure. These features are available on the Hitachi H7500 TEM and Edwards high-vacuum evaporator requested here. The UNM School of Medicine and Cancer Research and Treatment Center have provided a matching commitment consisting of two years support for the service contract of the new TEM and two years of salary support for an experienced technician to serve as facilitator for new TEM studies by NIH-funded investigators. Funding for this application will significantly enhance research that integrates high quality electron microscopy into productive NIH-funded research programs in cellular and molecular biology and neurosciences at the University of New Mexico.