A Consortium for the Acquisition of a 4Pi-Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

收购 4Pi 共焦激光扫描显微镜的联盟

• 批准号: 0421007
• 负责人: Barbara Knowles
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Jackson Laboratory
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2007-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0421007&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Consortium; Acquisition; 4Pi; Confocal; Laser

This award supports the acquisition of the first commercially available 4Pi-Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (4Pi-CLSM). The 4Pi-CLSM offers immediate three-dimensional optical resolution in the 100 nm range. This instrument will be housed at the Institute for Molecular Biophysics (IMB), a research unit of the University of Maine (UM), established through a consortium between UM, The Jackson Laboratory (TJL) and Maine Medical Center Research Institute (MMCRI). The 4Pi-CLSM will enable axial optical resolving power that is five to seven fold higher than that offered by conventional confocal microscopy. This unprecedented progress in the potential to acquire quantitative structural information from fluorescence-labelled small regions in individual cells will enable new understanding of dynamic processes within cellular structures. The projects have been selected to test the capacity of the 4Pi-CLSM to resolve a diverse set of cellular structures at sufficient power to address longstanding questions of gene expression and gene product structure and function. Several major users propose studies that will examine the relationship of genome architecture and control of gene expression during embryonic development in mouse and zebrafish. The 4Pi-CLSM will enable entirely new kinds of investigation into the relationship between chromatin structure and transcription at the level of individual genes, permitting investigators to see how small differences in structure and epigenetic modification control the timing and sequence of gene activation. The relationship between the structures of individual chromosome regions, their positioning within the nuclei of different cell types and coordinated gene expression can be examined. Other users will apply the instrument for the analysis of cytoplasmic and membrane structures. These studies will examine the processes that guide protein migration and multi-protein complex assembly, the mechanisms by which nuclear trafficking of proteins is associated with cell cycle control and cell fate determination. A third group of users tests the capabilities of 4Pi-CLSM to optically resolve membrane structures and transmembrane molecules, a longstanding challenge for optical microscopy. In consequence, the 4Pi-CLSM will allow a wealth of biological and biophysical research applications that could not previously be addressed with light microscopy. The participating investigators collaborate with faculty at the three participating institutes and train students at several educational levels.

该奖项支持收购第一个市售的4pi-Confocal激光扫描显微镜（4PI-CLSM）。 4PI-CLSM在100 nm范围内立即提供三维光学分辨率。 该仪器将安置在缅因大学（UM）研究单元（UM）的分子生物物理学研究所（IMB），该工具通过UM，杰克逊实验室（TJL）和缅因州医学中心研究所（MMCRI）之间建立。 4PI-CLSM将使轴向光学分辨能力比常规共聚焦显微镜高出五到七倍。从单个细胞中荧光标记的小区域获取定量结构信息的潜力的这种前所未有的进步将使对细胞结构内动态过程的新理解。已经选择了这些项目来测试4PI-CLSM的能力，以解决具有足够能力的各种细胞结构，以解决基因表达和基因产物结构和功能的长期问题。一些主要用户提出的研究将研究小鼠和斑马鱼中胚胎发育过程中基因组结构与基因表达的控制的关系。 4PI-CLSM将对单个基因水平上的染色质结构与转录之间的关系进行全新的研究，从而使研究人员了解结构和表观遗传修饰的差异如何控制基因激活的时间和顺序。 可以检查单个染色体区域的结构之间的关系，它们在不同细胞类型的核中的位置和协调的基因表达。其他用户将应用该仪器进行细胞质和膜结构的分析。这些研究将研究指导蛋白质迁移和多蛋白复合物组装的过程，蛋白质核运输蛋白质与细胞周期控制和细胞命运测定有关的机制。第三组用户测试了4PI-CLSM光学解决膜结构和跨膜分子的功能，这是光学显微镜的长期挑战。因此，4PI-CLSM将允许大量的生物学和生物物理研究应用，这些应用以前无法用光学显微镜解决。 参与的调查人员与三个参与机构的教师合作，并在几个教育水平上培训学生。