This Major Research Instrumentation award funds the acquisition of system upgrades for a Zeiss LSM 710 confocal microscope at Wake Forest University. The instrumentation enables faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduates to study and publish important findings on brain plasticity; hormonal regulation of plant development; stress response systems, gene expression, and protein localization in Drosophila; mechanisms of DNA repair, protein complex formation, protein oxidation, and posttranslational modification. The requested accessories permit live-cell, dynamic, and multi-label experiments and enable more educational opportunities. Consistent with WFU's mission to strengthen connections beyond campus, the LSCM is also used by regional investigators for research and education, and is utilized during outreach workshops. The results of these research and teaching efforts will be broadly disseminated through abstracts and peer reviewed publications, as well as by active participation of students and faculty at professional meetings.
Wake Forest University (WFU) is a small liberal arts institution that emphasizes the dual role of teacher-scholars in the classroom and the research laboratory. The confocal microscope, located in the Biology department’s Center for Confocal Microscopy, has had a significant impact on the opportunities for teaching and scholarship at WFU. Because of this NSF major research instrumentation award, innovative scholarship spanning departments and disciplines, including Physiology, Neuroscience, Cellular and Cancer Biology, Biochemistry, Plant Biology, Biophysics, and Medicinal Chemistry has been made possible. The intellectual merit of the impacted research projects is substantial. The microscope has facilitated the development of a chemical probe to study redox signaling (Fig. 1), an area of research with growing recognition of its importance in normal cellular functions and pathologies (Fig. 2). The microscope has also been important for the development of a newly created platinum-based anticancer agent. Research using this microscope has generated new knowledge regarding neural control of hormonal signaling; hormonal control of vesicle trafficking, cell growth and development (Fig. 3); changes in cellular mechanics such as diffusion and binding behavior during neoplastic transformation (Fig. 4); receptor-mediated signaling cascades; neural circuits mediating sensory signaling, learning/memory, and seizure induction. While these and other research projects are on-going, many important findings have already been shared with the scientific community, as indicated by 13 publications, with many more in stages of preparation or review; by five completed student theses and seven in process; and by numerous presentations at scientific meetings by faculty and students. In addition to these impacts on scholarship, this NSF award has also enabled WFU to make significant broader impacts on the education and development of the scientific community. Due to the presence of this microscope on campus, WFU has been able to provide the regional scientific community with free workshops on advanced microscopy methods. Two major workshops were hosted during this award period, which attracted 70 participants from eight institutions and 95 participants from seven institutions respectively. In addition, confocal workshops have been provided for faculty from regional 2yr and 4yr teaching colleges, impacting over 75 faculty. The microscope is a central component of a graduate-level course on microscopy at WFU, which has provided in-depth training to ~20 graduate students during this award period. Overall, >20 undergraduates, >30 graduate students, >20 postdoctoral fellow, and 20 faculty have received substantial training in advanced microscopy methods during this award period. The regional K-12 community has been exposed to this instrument as well through facility tours, of which there are usually 5 per year.
