Purchase of Leica TCS SP2 Confocal Microscope

描述(申请人提供)：该大学的一组研究人员 马萨诸塞州阿默斯特分校计划购买一台徕卡TCS SP-2共焦 显微镜系统。新的共焦显微镜将取代过时的14年显微镜 旧的BioRad 600/1000仪器无法支持 多波长激发、时间分辨活细胞成像小组，以及 光漂白后荧光恢复(FRAP)。仪器将会是 位于中央显微镜设施内，这是一个收费的共享设施，用于 生命科学研究界获得了来自 大学行政部门支持两名全职专业人员 显微镜操作员和仪器维护。其中一名工作人员已经被 自1994年起负责目前的共焦显微镜，并具有广泛的 具备光学、数字成像和计算机接口方面的技能和经验。他 将负责新的徕卡Conocus，在用户培训方面 和维护。作为对该机制的进一步承诺，负责 研究将资助一个新的技术职位，其主要职责将包括 日常仪器护理，并帮助Conocus用户在他们的初始 训练。 新仪器的部件已被选择以满足特定的 由8个主要用户和7个次要用户组成的核心用户的需求，其中11个用户目前拥有NIH 支持。选择了徕卡DM Irbe倒置显微镜作为最佳选择 微注射能力，以及HeNe和Ar激光的组合将提供 所需的激发波长范围。需要高级版本的项目 支持NIH奖项具体目标的共聚焦成像包括： 黑色素瘤有丝分裂过程中细胞骨架的动态变化 细胞，神经肌肉连接的发展，程序化的机制 T淋巴细胞的细胞死亡以及肌动蛋白细胞骨架在花粉中的作用 管子生长。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A group of researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst proposes to purchase a Leica TCS SP-2 confocal microscope system. The new confocal microscope will replace an outmoded 14-year old BioRad 600/1000 instrument which cannot support the critical needs of the group for multi-wavelength excitation, time-resolved live cell imaging, and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). The instrument will be housed in the Central Microscopy Facility, a fee-based shared facility for the life sciences research community which receives a generous subsidy from the university administration in support of two full-time professional microscopists and instrument maintenance. One of the staff members has been responsible for the present confocal microscope since 1994, and has extensive skills and experience in optics, digital imaging, and computer interfaces. He will be responsible for the new Leica confocal, both in terms of user training and maintenance. As further commitment to the Facility, the Vice Chancellor for Research will fund a new technical position, whose major duties will include day-to-day instrument care and assisting confocal users following their initial training. The components of the new instrument have been selected to meet the specific needs of a core of 8 major and 7 minor users, 11 of whom have current NIH support. A Leica DM IRBE inverted microscope has been chosen for optimal microinjection capability, and the HeNe and Ar laser combination will provide the needed range of excitation wavelengths. Projects requiring advanced confocal imaging in support of the specific aims of NIH awards include: cytoskeletal dynamics during mitosis, the sorting of proteins in melanoma cells, the development of neuromuscular junctions, the mechanism of programmed cell death in Tlymphocytes, and the role of the actin cytoskeleton in pollen tube growth.