This request is for funds to purchase a Leica SP8 MPE confocal/multiphoton fluorescence excitation microscope system. This system will be housed, managed and maintained by the Indiana Center for Biological Microscopy, a core facility of the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Indiana University NIDDK P50 George M. O'Brien Center for Advanced Renal Microscopic Analysis, the NIDDK-P30 Indiana Diabetes Research Center and the NIDDK-P30 Indiana Cooperative Center of Excellence in Hematology. The proposed Leica system is sought to replace two aging confocal/multiphoton microscope systems, one of which has outlived its eligibility for service contract support, and the other of which will be ineligible for support as of March, 2019. The microscopy capabilities of these two systems are crucial to the Center grants listed above as well as to a number of other NIH-funded projects. This proposal is predicated upon the need to avoid a dangerous dependence on these unsupported systems for the successful completion of these projects. In addition to replacing the Olympus systems with a more reliable system with an extended life- expectancy, the new system will also provide users with a more modern instrument with numerous advantages in both performance and functionality that will enhance the research of all users.
The proposed instrument is crucial to the NIH-funded research of numerous biomedical researchers studying the physiology and pathophysiology of kidney disease, diabetes, blood disorders and drug- induced liver injury. Studies conducted with this instrument will be used to identify the underlying mechanisms of disease and its prevention and thereby to develop interventions to treat and/or prevent disease.
