Long-term live fluorescent imaging system for monitoring site-specific functions in epithelia

我们研究上皮细胞的生物学。这些细胞构成了内部器官的组织。它们执行许多重要功能，例如，它们介导器官与其环境之间的流体和溶质的受控交换。它们还为器官提供必要的保护层。上皮组织由于其暴露的位置而易于损伤，但损伤诱导了恢复组织完整性的强大机制。我们不了解使这种修复成为可能的分子事件。重要的是，这种修复过程的调节可能是错误的，导致最终致命的器官瘢痕和器官功能严重下降的疾病。我们希望了解上皮细胞如何对损伤作出反应，以及哪些分子事件将决定是否正常或改变修复将随之发生。 在过去的几年里，我们发现损伤部位（上皮“伤口”）附近的细胞对各种化学信号的反应与周围完整的组织部分不同。我们将这种效应称为位点特异性易感性。为了了解这一关键现象的机制，我们现在需要一个专门的显微镜系统。这对于监测损伤和修复过程中的关键细胞和分子事件至关重要。这将使我们能够进行延时成像（即在较长的时间段内定期获取细胞的图像），以密切关注它们的行为。 我们的研究将提高我们对正常和受损上皮细胞功能的理解，这些功能对许多器官的正常功能至关重要，包括肾脏，肝脏，肺和肠道。

We study the biology of epithelial cells. These cells make up tissues that line internal organs. They perform many vital functions, e.g. they mediate controlled exchange of fluid and solutes between the organs and their environment. They also provide an essential protective layer to the organs. Epithelial tissues are prone to injury due to their exposed location, but injury induces powerful mechanisms to restore tissue integrity. We do not understand the molecular events that make this repair possible. Importantly, the regulation of this repair process can be faulty, resulting in disease with eventually fatal organ scarring and serious decrease in organ function. We wish to understand how epithelial cells respond to injury, and what molecular events will determine whether normal or altered repair will ensue. Over the past years we found that cells adjacent to the site of injury (an epithelial "wound") respond differently to various chemical signals than the surrounding, intact part of the tissue. We termed this effect locus-specific susceptibility. To understand the mechanism of this crucial phenomenon, we are now requesting a specialized microscope system. This is essential to monitor the critical cellular and molecular events during injury and repair. This would allow us to perform time-lapse imaging (i.e. to acquire images in regular intervals of cells over an extended period of time) to closely follow their behavior. Our research will improve our understanding of normal and impaired epithelial cell functions, which are crucial for normal function of many organs including the kidney, the liver, the lung and the gut.