Laser Spinning Disc Confocal System for live-cell and live-organism microscopy

描述（由申请人提供）：本申请申请资金用于购买新的激光旋转盘显微镜（LSDM），作为罗格斯大学和罗伯特伍德约翰逊医学院（RWJMS）的研究人员的共享资源，这两所学校位于新泽西州皮斯卡塔韦的一个共享校园。目前在罗格斯大学或RWJMS校园内没有激光旋转圆盘显微镜（LSDM）。美国国立卫生研究院资助的研究人员正在研究细胞生物学的基本问题，利用模式生物来研究对健康生长和发育至关重要的保守生物过程，这些过程在疾病条件下受到损害。Driscoll实验室对秀丽隐杆线虫的寿命和神经退化的研究正在确定控制寿命的过程和分子，并在受伤的神经元中发生改变。Wadsworth实验室已经确定了在后生动物物种之间进行适当轴突迁移所需的保守分子。Grant实验室对内吞作用的研究已经确定了受体运输调节的关键机制，在蠕虫和人类中确定了许多新的调节因子。Soto实验室对秀丽隐杆线虫胚胎发育过程中细胞外基质对肌动蛋白细胞骨架的调控进行了研究，确定了轴突引导分子组织的新作用，并确定了肌动蛋白极化机制的新成分。巴尔实验室在开发秀丽隐杆线虫时使用纤毛作为模型系统来研究人类纤毛病或纤毛疾病。McKim实验室对果蝇减数分裂的研究已经确定了通过生殖细胞发育进行适当生育所需的分子，而Singson实验室对秀丽隐杆线虫的研究已经确定了第一个精子受体和受精和卵子到卵母细胞转化所需的其他分子。分析这些细胞过程需要生物事件的实时成像，但所有这些研究人员都缺乏局部激光旋转盘共聚焦显微镜。拥有这台仪器将立即产生影响：在蔡司LSDM系统一个月的演示期间，三份手稿包含了从演示仪器获得的图像，并且该仪器一直在使用中。该仪器将明显加快本提案中列出的7位美国国立卫生研究院资助研究人员的数据获取。获得的数据将极大地增强我们对蛋白质运输、细胞骨架极化和神经元再生等基本细胞现象的理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application requests funds to purchase a new laser spinning disc microscope (LSDM) to be used as a shared resource for researchers at Rutgers University and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), two schools on a shared campus in Piscataway, New Jersey. There is currently no laser spinning disc microscope (LSDM) available anywhere on the Rutgers or RWJMS campuses. The NIH-funded researchers requesting this instrument are studying fundamental problems in cell biology, taking advantage of model organisms to study conserved biological processes that are essential for healthy growth and development and that are compromised in disease conditions. C. elegans studies of longevity and neurodegeneration in the Driscoll lab are identifying the processes and the molecules that control lifespan and that become altered in injured neurons. The Wadsworth lab has identified conserved molecules required for proper axonal migrations across metazoan species. Studies of endocytosis in the Grant lab have identified key mechanisms for the regulation of receptor trafficking, identifying many new regulators in worms and humans. C. elegans studies of the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton by the Extracellular Matrix during embryonic development in the Soto Lab are identifying new roles for axonal guidance molecules organizing tissues, and identifying new components of the actin polarization machinery. The Barr Lab uses cilia in developing C. elegans as a model system to study human ciliopathies, or diseases of cilia. Drosophila studies of meiosis in the McKim lab have identified molecules required for proper fertility through the development of germ cells, while C. elegans studies in the Singson lab have identified the first sperm receptor and other molecules required for fertilization and the egg-to-oocyte transition. Live imaging of biological events is required to analyze these cellular processes, yet all of these researchers lack access to a local laser spinning disc confocal microscope. Having this instrument available would have an immediate impact: during a one-month demonstration of the Zeiss LSDM system three manuscripts incorporated images obtained from the demonstration instrument, and the instrument was in constant use. This instrument will clearly accelerate the acquisition of data by the 7 NIH-funded researchers listed in this proposal. The data obtained will dramatically enhance our understanding of such essential cellular phenomena as protein trafficking, polarization of the cytoskeleton and regeneration in neurons. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The addition of a laser spinning disc confocal microscopy system for the researchers at two adjacent universities on a shared campus, Rutgers University and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, will allow these scientists to pursue research projects that will provide us with the insights necessary to understand how cells behave during normal development and in disease states. These researchers study essential processes of cells including how cells move, how cells like neurons are healed after injury, and how molecules are localized correctly to specific regions of cells.