A LEICA TCS SP CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE FOR WHITNEY LAB

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Technological advances of the last decade have made possible integrated analyses of biological systems never before possible. One of the more striking advances has been the development of microscopic imaging techniques that allow the very high resolution of temporal and spatial relationships of structures and molecules within living and fixed cells and tissues. It is now incumbent on the investigator to describe cell biological processes, not just in reference to what molecules and gene products are involved, but also in terms of how it is that those molecules and gene products relate to one another during cell formation. Recent developments in laser scanning confocal microscopy make such analyses not only possible but required for any state of the art inquisition of cell biological processes. We request funds to purchase a three-laser confocal microscope (Leica TCS SP). The microscope will be shared by the faculty of the Whitney Laboratory, a remote institute of the University of Florida. Six co-PIs representing 7 funded NIH research grants will be the major user group with additional faculty of the Whitney Lab using the faculty when available. We have a common requirement for the high resolution spatial and temporal analyses of a diversity of fundamental cell biological investigations. The research group lead by Barry W. Ache will be investigation ionic events and structural details associated with olfactory processing. William Harvey, Paul Linser and Leonid Moroz together are investigating the molecular physiology of larval mosquitoes, the top- ranked threat to human health worldwide. Robert Greenberg and his associates are investigating the ion channels and physiology of another health threat, schistosomes, the cause of the second most prevalent tropical disease. Roney Laine's research group focuses on investigation of the supramolecular distribution and redistribution of specific mRNA molecules associated with starvation. Many of the proposed experiments require specific optical configurations, time constraints and accessory equipment that are nearly impossible to achieve on a more broadly used facility. Indeed, the only laser scanning confocal microscope available to faculty of the Whitney Lab is a component of the University of Florida's Center for Structural Biology. This facility is the only confocal microscope available to the biological scientists of the entire University of Florida. The extreme limitations that are placed on this widely used microscope by its very broad user requirements are compounded dramatically by the fact that it is 90 miles away from the Whitney Lab. Since the living preparations that are being investigated at the Whitney Lab are main aquatic and/or marine, many of our investigations simply cannot be performed at the University of Florida's Center for Structural Biology, 2 hours away by car.