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The Dept of Biological Sciences was recently awarded a grant from NSF for nearly $300,000 to establish a new Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope Facility. We anticipate that the Facility will be open to users from
throughout Central Illinois by Fall of 2004. If you have any questions or would like to use the facility, contact Kevin Edwards (kaedwar@ilstu.edu).
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The abstract of the NSF award is summarized below:
Title: A confocal microscope for 4-dimensional biological imaging
Project Summary
A confocal laser scanning microscope is requested for the Microscopy Core Facility in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Illinois State University. Confocal microscopy removes out-of-focus light, allowing acquisition of
an "optical section" of a fluorescently labeled biological sample. Consecutive optical sections can be combined into stacks that provide superb resolution of cells and subcellular structures in three dimensions.
Further, the inverted design of the microscope and the automation capabilities of the software will facilitate creation of time-lapse movies to analyze organismal development, stress responses in tissues, and other phenomena
in living samples. The microscope is capable of time-lapse collection of image stacks, yielding 4-dimensional data that cannot be obtained by any other method. The microscope will be available to scientists from throughout
Central Illinois, including 16 investigators at ISU as well as investigators from neighboring institutions.
Seven major users are described who will employ the microscope in a total of three NSF-funded programs, and in four additional areas of NSF interest. Using genetic and cell biological approaches in Drosophila, K.
Edwards (PI) will study the roles of conserved tyrosine phosphatases in cell signaling and development. Likewise, A. Otsuka will study the effects of an ankyrin mutation on C. elegans neural development. J. Sedbrook
will genetically dissect the molecular processes that control directional growth of plant cells. Each of these phenotypic studies relies on the confocal's ability to optically section immunostained organisms as well as
live organisms that express fluorescent marker proteins. P. Garris and J. Baur (Chemistry Dept.) will pursue development of novel microprobe-based cell imaging techniques, for which the live-cell capabilities of the confocal
system will be an important addition. Garris will also employ the confocal to document the distribution of dopamine neurons in brain tissue in a rat Parkinson Disease model. M. Cook (Microscopy Facility Director), will manage
the confocal system and use it to investigate the evolution of cell division in plants. R. Preston will study the role of ion transport proteins in the adaptation of fish to osmotic changes. Finally, D. Borst will investigate
the endocrine regulation of follicle cell shape changes during insect reproduction. Most of these studies will rely on the confocal's ability to generate accurate 3-D reconstructions of complex epithelia and assay their
changes over time. Overall, the confocal facility will greatly enhance the research capabilities and academic environment at ISU.
This multi-user confocal facility will strengthen the infrastructure required to promote several of ISU's key missions: increased retention of undergraduates in research, enhancement of diversity in science, and
strengthening K-12 science teaching. At ISU, over 100 undergraduates perform hands-on biological research outside their coursework each year and 98 graduate students currently study diverse areas of biology. Thus the addition
of a confocal facility will offer a large number of trainees the chance to learn cutting edge biological microscopy. |
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