Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope for Genetic Research

描述（由申请人提供）：申请资金用于购买蔡司LSM 510激光扫描共聚焦显微镜，用于遗传学培训计划（GTP）成像设施。威斯康星大学GTP包括10个系和3个学院的75多名教师培训师。它被公认为全球遗传学研究和培训的首要项目之一。为了保持和提高我们在这一领域的领导地位，并继续培养最有前途的科学家，有必要获得我们研究所依赖的最先进的仪器和设施。无论是研究特定的实验生物还是研究特定的问题，共聚焦显微镜都已成为现代生物学中最重要的研究工具之一。然而，我们目前缺乏一致的，负担得起的共聚焦显微镜。为了满足这一需求，我们在此申请资金购买共聚焦显微镜。将管理和补贴显微镜维护的8个主要用户代表整个GTP提交此申请。有了可靠的共聚焦显微镜，GTP科学家将能够(i)同时观察三种不同分子的细胞和亚细胞定位（ii）跟踪多种蛋白质的体内表达和定位动态；（iii）可视化厚生物标本的薄光学切片；（iv）获得其标本的高分辨率三维重建。共聚焦显微镜的增加到我们的成像设施将对每个主要用户的研究计划产生重大影响。这些项目涵盖了从酵母到小鼠的研究，并解决了从基因表达调控到细胞分裂的分子机制，从胚胎和器官发育到神经信号和记忆形成的生物学基本问题。相关性：对主要使用者正在进行的研究正在对人类疾病的生物学过程产生重要见解，这些疾病包括癌症、出生缺陷、智力迟钝、耳聋、失明和神经退行性变等。我们还将吸引来自GTP内部的新用户，因此可获得的共聚焦将扩大和加强实验室的研究计划，超出最初主要用户的研究计划。GTP的所有教员都从事与人类健康有重大关联的研究；大多数目前都得到了NIH的资助。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to purchase a Zeiss LSM 510 laser-scanning confocal microscope for integration into the Genetics Training Program (GTP) Imaging Facility. The University of Wisconsin GTP encompasses more than 75 faculty trainers in 10 departments and 3 colleges. It is recognized as one of the premier programs worldwide for research and training in Genetics. To maintain and advance our leadership in this field and to continue to train the most promising scientists, it is essential to have access to the state-of-the-art instruments and facilities on which our research depends. A confocal microscope has become one of the most essential research tools in modern biology, regardless of the particular experimental organism or particular problem under investigation. However, we currently lack consistent, affordable access to a confocal microscope. To fill this need, we are applying here for funds to purchase a confocal microscope. Eight primary users who will manage and subsidize maintenance of the microscope are submitting this application on behalf of the entire GTP. With reliable access to a confocal microscope, GTP scientists will be able to (i) simultaneously observe the cellular and sub-cellular localization of three different molecules (ii) follow the in vivo expression and localization dynamics of multiple proteins; (iii) visualize thin optical sections of thick biological specimens; and (iv) obtain high-resolution 3-D reconstructions of their specimens. The addition of a confocal microscope to our imaging facility will have a major impact on the research programs of each of the primary users. These programs range from studies of yeast to mice, and address fundamental questions in biology from the regulation of gene expression to the molecular mechanisms of cell division, from embryonic and organ development to neural signaling and memory formation. Relevance: The ongoing studies of the primary users are yielding important insights into the biological processes underlying human disorders including cancer, birth defects, mental retardation, deafness, blindness, and neurodegeneration, among others. We also will attract new users from within the GTP, so an accessible confocal will broaden and strengthen the research programs of laboratories beyond those of the initial primary users. All of the GTP faculty are engaged in research of significant relevance to human health; most have current funding through NIH.