Transmission Electron Microscope for Core EM Facility

描述(由申请人提供)：我们申请资金购买FEI Tecnai G2 SPIRIT生物双胞胎透射式电子显微镜(TEM)，带有嵌入式CCD摄像头。这将满足美国国立卫生研究院资助的麻省大学医学院(UMMS)和波士顿大学医学院11名研究人员的生物医学研究需求。显微镜将被安置在UMMS的核心EM设施中，并由设施经理进行维护和监测，以确保调查人员的有效使用。它将取代已有23年历史的二手飞利浦CM12，这款机型基于过时的技术，缺乏用户所需的关键功能，而且在不久的将来可能会停产或变得难以维护。新的工具将立即解决这些问题。将使用Tecnai的项目包括自噬和凋亡细胞死亡的基础研究，突触形成的机制，平滑和横纹肌收缩的调节，MAP激酶信号通路在神经退化中的作用，中心体在正常和疾病细胞中的功能，G蛋白偶联受体的调节，剪接体的结构和功能，以及正常和疾病状态下纤毛和鞭毛的结构和功能。这些项目需要电子显微镜作为高分辨率研究细胞和分子结构的基本工具，以及通过免疫金标记法检测和定位特定细胞分子的手段。获得的图像将提供对细胞发育、功能、感染和疾病机制的基本见解。除了这一应用中的用户，密歇根大学医学科学院还有许多其他研究人员在更偶然的基础上使用瞬变电磁，他们也将受益于我们的瞬变电磁技术的现代化。提出的仪器代表了传统瞬变电磁法的最先进水平，并具有许多特性，将极大地提高UMMS的瞬变电磁法生产率。这些包括一个现代化的用户友好的计算机界面，具有180度倾斜能力的电动舞台控制，存储和调用网格位置以及对齐和成像参数的能力(在需要连续切片的几项研究中尤其有用)，以及完全集成的嵌入式CCD相机，使其能够快速和完整地记录图像。所有将使用显微镜的项目都旨在提供对细胞结构和功能的基本见解。其中大多数都与对人类疾病的理解有直接关系。获得这种最先进的仪器将在促进我们在这些生物医学重要领域的知识方面发挥关键作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We request funds for the purchase of an FEI Tecnai G2 Spirit BioTwin transmission electron microscope (TEM) with embedded CCD camera. This will serve the biomedical research needs of eleven NIH-funded investigators at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Boston University School of Medicine. The microscope will be housed in the Core EM Facility of UMMS, and maintained and monitored by the Facility Manager, ensuring efficient use by investigators. It will replace a 23-year old, second-hand Philips CM12, which is based on outdated technology, lacks key capabilities required by users, and for which maintenance is likely to be discontinued or become difficult in the near future. The new instrument would immediately solve these problems. The projects that will use the Tecnai include fundamental studies of autophagic and apoptotic cell death, mechanisms of synapse formation, the regulation of contraction in smooth and striated muscle, the role of MAP kinase signaling pathways in neurodegeneration, the function of centrosomes in normal and diseased cells, the regulation of G-protein-coupled receptors, the structure and function of spliceosomes, and the structure and function of cilia and flagella in normal and diseased states. These projects require TEM as an essential tool for investigating cellular and molecular architecture at high resolution and as a means of detecting and localizing specific cell molecules by immuno-gold labeling. The images obtained will provide essential insights into mechanisms of cell development, function, infection and disease. In addition to the users in this application, there are numerous other investigators at UMMS who use TEM on a more occasional basis and who would also benefit from modernization of our TEM technology. The instrument proposed represents the state-of-the-art for a conventional TEM, and has many features that would greatly enhance TEM productivity at UMMS. These include a modern, user-friendly computer interface, motorized stage controls with 180o tilt capability, the ability to store and recall grid locations and alignment and imaging parameters (especially useful in several studies requiring serial sectioning), and full integration of an embedded CCD camera, making it possible to record images rapidly and with full documentation. All of the projects that will use the microscope aim to provide fundamental insights into cellular structure and function. Most have a direct bearing on the understanding of human disease. Access to this state-of-the-art instrument will play a key role in advancing our knowledge in these biomedically important areas.