Spinning Disk Confocal Microscope for the University of California, Berkeley

描述（由申请人提供）：来自加州大学伯克利分校的六名美国国立卫生研究院资助的细胞和发育生物学家，与加州大学伯克利分校分子成像中心（MIC）一起，申请资金购买旋转盘共聚焦显微镜系统，用于动态细胞和发育过程的实时和延时成像。旋转盘共聚焦显微镜已成为成像动态细胞和发育过程的独特而强大的工具，包括细胞骨架动力学、膜运输、核运输、病原体感染和组织形态发生。这些仪器采用平行的多光束扫描方法，与标准激光扫描共聚焦显微镜相比，可以更快地获取图像，从而能够在非常快的时间尺度上对细胞过程进行成像。此外，当与非常灵敏的电子倍增CCD相机结合使用时，这种系统还具有在低照明水平下获取图像的额外优势，这将对样品的光损伤降到最低，并允许对活细胞和组织进行扩展成像。虽然使用旋转盘显微镜对于这一应用程序的六个主要用户来说是至关重要的，以完成他们的NIH资助的研究目标，但目前在加州大学伯克利分校校园内还没有这样的系统可供他们使用。此外，加州大学伯克利分校对快速、灵敏的共聚焦成像系统的普遍需求可能非常高，因为目前可用的传统激光扫描显微镜被大量使用，这减慢了美国国立卫生研究院资助的研究进展。为了确保仪器的成功运行和支持，并在仪器不被主要用户占用时扩大潜在用户群，显微镜将并入分子成像中心（MIC），这是一个由分子和细胞生物系，癌症研究实验室和海伦威尔斯神经科学研究所共同支持的现有显微镜设施。MIC将监督该仪器的培训、操作和维护。该计划将使该仪器能够支持美国国立卫生研究院资助的主要用户的研究，同时最大限度地发挥培训和支持加州大学伯克利分校校园新用户的潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A group of six NIH-funded cell and developmental biologists from the University of California Berkeley, together with the UC Berkeley Molecular Imaging Center (MIC), request funds to purchase a spinning disk confocal microscope system for real-time and time-lapse imaging of dynamic cellular and developmental processes. Spinning disk confocal microscopes have emerged as unique and powerful tools for imaging dynamic cellular and developmental processes including cytoskeleton dynamics, membrane trafficking, nuclear transport, pathogen infection, and tissue morphogenesis. These instruments employ a parallel, multi-beam scanning approach that allows significantly faster image acquisition compared to standard laser scanning confocal microscopes, enabling the imaging of cellular processes that occur on a very rapid time scale. Moreover, when combined with very sensitive, electron multiplying CCD cameras, such systems have the additional advantage of acquiring images at low illumination levels, which minimizes photodamage to samples and permits extended imaging of living cells and tissues. Although access to a spinning disk microscope has become vital for the six major users on this application to accomplish the objectives of their NIH funded research, no such system is currently available for their use on the UC Berkeley campus. In addition, general demand at UC Berkeley for a fast and sensitive confocal imaging system is likely to be very high because currently available conventional laser scanning microscopes are very heavily used, which is slowing the progress of NIH- funded research. To ensure the successful operation and support of the instrument and to broaden the potential user base when the instrument is not occupied by the major users, the microscope will be incorporated into the Molecular Imaging Center (MIC), an existing microscopy facility that is jointly supported by the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, the Cancer Research Laboratory, and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. The MIC will oversee training, operation and maintenance for the instrument. This plan is will enable the instrument to support the NIH-funded research of the major users while at the same time maximizing the potential to train and support new users on the UC Berkeley campus.