Laser illumination & ablation system for functional studies in biology

这项提议是关于MicroPoint激光照明和消融系统的。MicroPoint在用于生命科学研究的激光中是独一无二的，它可以同时精确地照射和消融多个感兴趣的区域，并通过显微镜目镜实时观察激光切割过程或荧光激发。由于其配置，MicroPoint可以用于非常广泛的跨学科应用。例如，这项建议的申请人将使用Micropoint用于a)靶向消融斑马鱼幼体荧光蛋白标记的神经元以进行功能神经解剖学研究，b)消融海胆幼体的感觉细胞以阐明发育过程中激素信号转导的机制，c)精确照射和释放笼中底物以研究酶反应的动力学和结构基础，以及d)单细胞诱导热休克启动子控制的转基因以研究斑马鱼胚胎身体规划模式中涉及的信号通路。虽然不同，但这些研究都有一个共同的目标，那就是进行功能研究，以加深我们对复杂生物过程的理解。作为一种进行非侵入性亚微米级消融和高度局部化亚细胞照射的精致工具，MicroPoint激光系统将开辟圭尔夫大学目前无法提供的新途径，并为在广泛的生物领域开展尖端功能研究提供机会。

This proposal is for a MicroPoint laser illumination and ablation system. Unique among lasers designed for studies in the life sciences, the MicroPoint makes possible simultaneous and precise illumination and ablation of multiple regions of interest, as well as viewing of the laser cutting process or fluorescence excitation through the microscope eyepiece in real time. Because of its configuration, the MicroPoint can be used for a very broad array of inter-disciplinary applications. For example, the applicants on this proposal will use the Micropoint for a) the targeted ablation of fluorescent protein-labeled neurons in zebrafish larvae to perform studies in functional neuroanatomy, b) the ablation of sensory cells in sea urchins larvae to elucidate the mechanisms of hormone signaling during development, c) the precise illumination and release of caged substrates to study the kinetics and structural basis of enzyme reactions, and d) single cell induction of heat shock promoter-controlled transgenes to study the signaling pathways involved in body plan patterning of zebrafish embryos. While diverse, these studies all share a common objective of carrying out functional studies to further our understanding of complex biological processes. As an exquisite tool to perform non-invasive submicrometer-sized ablations and highly localized sub-cellular illumination, the MicroPoint Laser System will open up new avenues currently unavailable at the University of Guelph and opportunities to carry out cutting edge functional studies in a broad array of biological fields.