FEI Quanta 200 FEG

描述(由申请人提供)：我们申请资金购买共享FEI广达200FEG扫描电子显微镜(SEM)。该工具将用于支持NIH资助的研究人员的5个主要项目，以及为NIH资助的其他一些项目提供支持。目前，范德比尔特唯一可用的扫描电子显微镜是由工程学院维护的，主要用于材料科学应用。该仪器的使用对于向范德比尔特生物医学研究人员介绍扫描电子显微镜的使用至关重要。然而，最成熟的项目现在需要一种为他们特定的生物需求而设计和专门的仪器。对所要求的仪器有直接、必要和适当需求的五个主要用户将利用仪器活动总量的80%。这些项目包括分析突变蛋白质导致的细胞形态变化以探索这些蛋白质的功能，研究微生物入侵哺乳动物组织的机制，帮助开发可视化细胞三维超微结构的新方法，以及调查脂质的摄取和分泌。另有3个项目需要立即访问扫描电子显微镜(见其他用户列表)。这将额外利用初始仪器使用量的10%。此外，我们从历史先例中了解到，将致力于生物医学研究的FEI Quanta FEG扫描电子显微镜放置在已建立并广泛使用的细胞成像共享资源(CISR)中，也将刺激更多由NIH赞助的Vanderbilt研究人员使用这项技术。我们其他仪器的仪器时间被NIH资助的项目占用了90%。我们预计，新的扫描电子显微镜将符合这一特点。国际科学研究中心是一个核心实验室，提供接触精密显微镜的途径。该应用程序的所有主要用户都可以通过已建立的《公约》基础设施使用该仪器和进行培训。在过去的八年里，使用费支持了现有显微镜的服务合同，我们预计广达200 FEG扫描电子显微镜继续执行这一安排不会有任何困难。此外，《销售公约》工作人员将从现有的《销售公约》用户中确定其项目将受益于《销售公约》的研究人员。该资源在范德比尔特大学拥有超过250个实验室小组，在教育、培训和生产力方面有着广泛的记录。在过去的16年里，我们引进了共用共焦显微镜、活细胞成像、双光子激发、全内反射(TIRF)显微镜、荧光相关光谱、去卷积显微镜以及透射和扫描电子显微镜。能够访问专门为生物医学研究配置并位于Vanderbilt大学医学中心的细胞成像共享资源(CISR)中的扫描电子显微镜，将为Vanderbilt的生物研究提供显著优势，并将极大地促进NIH资助的生物医学研究人员使用扫描电子显微镜。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We request funds to purchase a shared FEI Quanta 200 FEG Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The instrument will be used to support 5 major projects from NIH-funded investigators as well as provide support to a number of other NIH-funded programs. At present, the only SEM available at Vanderbilt is one maintained by the College of Engineering and used primarily for materials science applications. Use of this instrument has been critical for introducing the use of SEM to Vanderbilt biomedical researchers. However, the most mature projects now require an instrument that is designed and dedicated for their specific biological needs. Five Major Users with immediate, essential and appropriate need for the requested instrument will utilize 80% of total instrument activity. The projects range from analyzing changes in cell morphology resulting from mutated proteins in order to probe the function of those proteins, investigating the mechanism of microbial invasion of mammalian tissue, aiding the development of new methods of visualizing the 3D ultrastructure of cells, and investigating uptake and secretion of lipids. Another 3 projects have an immediate need for some access to SEM (see Other User List). This will utilize an additional 10% of the initial instrument usage. In addition, we know from historical precedent that placing a FEI Quanta FEG SEM dedicated to biomedical research in the established and widely used Cell Imaging Shared Resource (CISR) will also spur the use of this technology by many more NIH-sponsored Vanderbilt researchers. Instrument time for our other instrumentation is used >90% by NIH-funded projects. We expect that the new SEM will match this profile. The CISR is a core laboratory that supplies access to sophisticated microscopy. All Major Users on this application will have access to the instrument and training through the established CISR infrastructure. Usage charges have supported the service contract for the existing microscopes over the last eight years, and we foresee no difficulty in continuing that arrangement for the Quanta 200 FEG SEM. In addition, the CISR staff will identify from existing CISR users those researchers whose projects would benefit from SEM. The Resource has an extensive track record of education, training, and productivity with over 250 lab groups at Vanderbilt University. Over the last 16 years, we have introduced shared access to confocal microscopy, live cell imaging, two-photon excitation, total internal reflection (TIRF) microscopy, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, deconvolution microscopy and transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Having access to an SEM that is specifically configured for biomedical research and housed within the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Cell Imaging Shared Resource (CISR) will offer significant advantages for biological research at Vanderbilt and will greatly facilitate the use of SEM by NIH-funded biomedical researchers.