A group of ten faculty sharing a common interest in the structure of functional ion channels and transporters and with an extensive record of past and current collaborations request funds to replace an over twenty years old Zeiss 12C electron microscope with a new Tecnai 12 Bio TWIN Transmission Electron Microscopy System. The selection of this system is based on several features critical to the work currently underway in the laboratories of the participating faculty. First, the Tecnai 12 will upgrade tilting capabilities by providing a eucentric stage with +80-degree tilts. This capability would provide high tilt views of channels and transporters embedded in lipid bilayers, which are critical to resolve the """"""""missing cone"""""""" problem arising from imaging samples using """"""""random conical tilt"""""""" geometry. Second, the Tecnai 12 will be equipped with a CCD camera. This upgrade will eliminate darkroom related work and will greatly speed up data collection. Third, the Tecnai 12 will be integrated into a network for export of data in the laboratories of the participating faculties. This capability will create a high trough put system for data analysis. Fourth, the Tecnai 12 will be equipped with software for automated data collection, written specifically for this system. Finally, the Tecnai 12 has an excellent illumination system and low-dose device. The improved capabilities of the requested system will impact the research programs of 10 faculties in the UCLA School of Medicine and the College of Letters and Sciences currently studying the structure and function of ion channels and transporters.
| Lanzavecchia, S; Cantele, F; Bellon, P L et al. (2005) Conical tomography of freeze-fracture replicas: a method for the study of integral membrane proteins inserted in phospholipid bilayers. J Struct Biol 149:87-98 |
