Imaging Core

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The purpose of the Imaging Core is to provide facilities, resources, training and support to participants of the PPG for brightfield and fluorescence imaging as experimental tools to visualize and localize reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory components in cardiovascular and renal tissues in humans and animal models of disease. The facilities of the Imaging Core provide for tissue processing and histological preparations, immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical imaging, and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) imaging. The Imaging Core staff will offer supervision, maintenance, training and support for the microscopes, tissue processing equipment, computers and image analysis software. Finally, experienced and skilled imaging experts on the staff will provide consultative services for planning and evaluating experiments. Thus the addition of the Imaging Core facility will significantly enhance the ability of project leaders to visualize the locations of ROS production or inflammatory cell invasion within tissues under a variety of experimental or pathological conditions. Importantly, these morphological data will be correlated with other more quantitative methods, such as electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy to measure ROS (in Core A) and immunoblotting to measure expression of proteins within cells or tissues.