Fluorescence microscope with deconvolution and extended depth-of-focus imaging capabilities

多细胞动物的所有细胞都是由基因决定的，通过一种叫做凋亡的过程死亡。细胞凋亡是一种正常功能，受到高度调控：过多的细胞凋亡与某些神经退行性疾病有关，而过少的细胞凋亡可能是某些类型癌症的促成因素。我们研究果蝇的细胞凋亡，利用遗传分析找到控制这一过程的基因。我们的大部分时间都花在用显微镜检查这些突变体的表型上。利用现代实时成像技术，我们能够观察到野生型果蝇胚胎的正常凋亡模式，并比较突变型果蝇胚胎的正常凋亡模式。到目前为止，我们所了解到的是，果蝇胚胎中细胞凋亡的激活方式与阿尔茨海默病或肌萎缩性侧索硬化症（ALS）患者神经元中的细胞凋亡非常相似。这是非常令人兴奋的，因为它表明果蝇可能是寻找防止这种细胞凋亡发生的方法的一个很好的地方，并且可能为如何治疗这些疾病提供新的思路。我们在这个应用程序中要求的设备是一个现代的高分辨率光学显微镜，能够数字增强图像和消除失焦光。这种强大的技术被称为反褶积显微镜，它正在成为显微镜学家的标准工具之一，并将大大提高我们观察垂死细胞的分辨率。它将对我们系的许多成员非常有用，并将成为滑铁卢大学的第一个这样的仪器。

All cells in multicellular animals are genetically programmed to die by a process called apoptosis.  Apoptosis is a normal function and is highly regulated: too much apoptosis is associated with certain neurodegenerative disorders, while too little apoptosis can be a contributing factor in certain types of cancer.We study apoptosis in the fruitfly using genetic analysis to find genes that control this process.  Much of our time is spent examining the phenotypes of these mutants using microscopy.  Using modern live-imaging techniques, we are able to observe normal patterns of apoptosis in living wild type fruitfly embryos and compare what happens in living mutant embryos. What we have learned so far is that the way in which apoptosis is activated in the fruitfly embryo is very similar to the apoptosis that occurs in the neurons of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).  This is very exciting as it suggests that the fruitfly could be a very good place to look for ways to prevent this type of apoptosis from occurring - and could potentially provide new ideas on how to treat these diseases .The equipment we are requesting in this application is a modern high-resolution light microscope that is able to digitally enhance images and remove out-of-focus light.   This powerful technique, called deconvolution microscopy, is becoming one of the microscopist's standard tools and will greatly increase the resolution with which we can observe dying cells.  It will be very useful to many members of our department and would be the first such instrument for the University of Waterloo.