A LEICA TCS SP CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR WHITNEY LAB

过去十年的技术进步使对生物系统的综合分析成为可能，这是前所未有的。最引人注目的进展之一是显微成像技术的发展，这种技术使活的和固定的细胞和组织中的结构和分子的时间和空间关系具有非常高的分辨率。现在，研究人员有责任描述细胞的生物学过程，不仅涉及什么分子和基因产物，而且还涉及这些分子和基因产物在细胞形成过程中彼此之间的关系。激光扫描共聚焦显微镜的最新发展不仅使这种分析成为可能，而且对于任何最先进的细胞生物学过程的调查都是必要的。我们申请资金购买三激光共聚焦显微镜(徕卡TCS SP)。这台显微镜将由佛罗里达大学的偏远研究所惠特尼实验室的教职员工共享。代表7个资助的NIH研究拨款的6个联合PI将成为主要的用户群体，如果有的话，惠特尼实验室的额外教员将使用这些教员。我们对各种基础细胞生物学研究的高分辨率空间和时间分析有着共同的需求。巴里·W·阿奇领导的研究小组将调查与嗅觉处理相关的离子事件和结构细节。威廉·哈维、保罗·林瑟和莱昂尼德·莫罗兹正在共同研究蚊子幼虫的分子生理学，蚊子幼虫是全球对人类健康的最大威胁。罗伯特·格林伯格和他的同事们正在研究另一个健康威胁--血吸虫的离子通道和生理学，血吸虫是第二大最流行的热带疾病的原因。罗尼·莱恩的研究小组专注于研究与饥饿相关的特定信使核糖核酸分子的超分子分布和再分布。许多拟议的实验需要特定的光学配置、时间限制和辅助设备，这些在更广泛使用的设施上几乎是不可能实现的。事实上，惠特尼实验室教职员工可以使用的唯一激光扫描共聚焦显微镜是佛罗里达大学结构生物学中心的一个部件。这个设备是整个佛罗里达大学生物科学家可用的唯一共焦显微镜。这种广泛使用的显微镜由于其非常广泛的用户要求而受到极端的限制，而它距离惠特尼实验室90英里的事实又极大地加剧了这一事实。由于惠特尼实验室正在研究的生物制剂主要是水生和/或海洋的，我们的许多研究根本无法在2小时车程的佛罗里达大学结构生物学中心进行。

Technological advances of the last decade have made possible integrated analyses of biological systems never before possible. One of the more striking advances has been the development of microscopic imaging techniques that allow the very high resolution of temporal and spatial relationships of structures and molecules within living and fixed cells and tissues. It is now incumbent on the investigator to describe cell biological processes, not just in reference to what molecules and gene products are involved, but also in terms of how it is that those molecules and gene products relate to one another during cell formation. Recent developments in laser scanning confocal microscopy make such analyses not only possible but required for any state of the art inquisition of cell biological processes. We request funds to purchase a three-laser confocal microscope (Leica TCS SP). The microscope will be shared by the faculty of the Whitney Laboratory, a remote institute of the University of Florida. Six co-PIs representing 7 funded NIH research grants will be the major user group with additional faculty of the Whitney Lab using the faculty when available. We have a common requirement for the high resolution spatial and temporal analyses of a diversity of fundamental cell biological investigations. The research group lead by Barry W. Ache will be investigation ionic events and structural details associated with olfactory processing. William Harvey, Paul Linser and Leonid Moroz together are investigating the molecular physiology of larval mosquitoes, the top- ranked threat to human health worldwide. Robert Greenberg and his associates are investigating the ion channels and physiology of another health threat, schistosomes, the cause of the second most prevalent tropical disease. Roney Laine's research group focuses on investigation of the supramolecular distribution and redistribution of specific mRNA molecules associated with starvation. Many of the proposed experiments require specific optical configurations, time constraints and accessory equipment that are nearly impossible to achieve on a more broadly used facility. Indeed, the only laser scanning confocal microscope available to faculty of the Whitney Lab is a component of the University of Florida's Center for Structural Biology. This facility is the only confocal microscope available to the biological scientists of the entire University of Florida. The extreme limitations that are placed on this widely used microscope by its very broad user requirements are compounded dramatically by the fact that it is 90 miles away from the Whitney Lab. Since the living preparations that are being investigated at the Whitney Lab are main aquatic and/or marine, many of our investigations simply cannot be performed at the University of Florida's Center for Structural Biology, 2 hours away by car.