This award provides support for acquisition of an ultramicrotome with cryostage and a glass knife maker to be placed in the Integrated Imaging Center located in the Johns Hopkins University Biology Department. The Integrated Imaging Center includes both light and electron microscopy equipment and thus provides university faculty and students convenient access to conventional and advanced techniques in both types of microscopy. The major focus of the Center is the utilization of fluorescent and electron dense probes for the purpose of investigating cellular/subcellular structure and function. In recent years, the development and refinement of new techniques that use antibodies to localize specific proteins within cells has become an essential component of any comprehensive study of subcellular structure and function. Typically, the antibodies used are chemically conjugated to fluorescent or electron dense moiety to facilitate visualization by microscopy. This complements and extends results obtained by other approaches. The Center offers both undergraduate and graduate courses in microscopy (as well as regular workshops) as a means of providing training and exposure to the latest, most advanced microscopy techniques to students and to faculty. These courses emphasize the integration of microscopic techniques with the use of other cell biological research tools. The new equipment will replace older existing equipment that can no longer function with the precision required for modern cell biology research. Among the projects that will make use of the equipment are studies of the endocytosis pathways of yeast and insect cells, analysis of mitochondrial dynamics in yeast, and investigation of the role of golgins in structure and function of the golgi apparatus.
