Research Project
10176769
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This proposal requests funding for a Leica Stellaris 8 confocal microscope system to be housed and used in the University of Cincinnati (UC) Live Microscopy Core (LMC). The scientists at UC College of Medicine (CoM) have greatly benefited from the LMC providing imaging services that have propelled biomedical research in the CoM. In the past two years, the LMC served 56 laboratories funded by 35 NIH grants, which resulted in more than 25 publications. The productivity and efficiency of the LMC, however, have been gradually diminished over the past three years due to: 1) the aging of our confocal microscopes and 2) lack of technical advancements of imaging capabilities. Currently, the LMC operates two confocal microscopes, Zeiss LSM510 NLO and Zeiss LSM710 (purchased in 2004 and 2010, respectively), both of which have experienced increasing maintenance issues and downtime, resulting in substantial inconveniences and delays in numerous research projects. Additionally, these older instruments have technical limitations in speed, sensitivity, resolution, and versatility. The NIH-funded investigators at UC have a strong need for advanced live imaging capabilities, and require instrumentation to: 1) perform long time lapse fluorescence imaging experiments in live cells, tissues, and 3D organoid cultures, 2) collect 3D fluorescence images with sufficient resolution to localize proteins and structures of interest in stained cells, tissues, and organoids, and 3) simultaneously detect numerous fluorescent markers with efficient spectral separation. To mitigate this critical need, this application requests funds to acquire an advanced confocal microscope system, the Leica Stellaris 8, to supplement the existing microscopes in the LMC. This new instrument will serve two major purposes: add capacity to our currently over-utilized confocal systems, and enable new imaging experiments that cannot be achieved with the existing technology. Specifically, this new microscope will greatly improve the viability of samples for long time lapse imaging, enhance resolution and sensitivity to detect small subcellular details, and improve imaging speed for efficient collection of large 3D data sets and capturing fast dynamic processes in live samples. The Leica Stellaris 8 system will be installed within the current central imaging facility and will be operated by the facility technician with 15 years of experience in all aspects of confocal microscopy experimentation and analysis. This application is supported by substantial interest, need, and financial support at the University, and will serve a large NIH-funded scientific community. We have secured funding guarantees from the CoM and UC Office of Research to ensure the instrument is covered under service contract at all times, and a financial plan with backup departmental funds for ongoing operational and personnel costs to operate the microscope on a day-to-day basis. The requested instrument is ideally suited to address both the technical specifications and capacity issues for the 8 NIH-funded Major Users on this grant.
