The main objective of this Core is to provide the investigators in this program project group with a complete range of expertise, training, reagents, and equipment to accomplish the imaging of histologic, molecular, and mRNA targets in fixed and living cells and tissues. This Core supports the PPG's five research projects with services related to optical detection, visualization, and quantitative microscopy. It offers access to experienced use of the complete resources of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Microscope Facility (which includes an excellent electron microscope facility) and the Department of Medicine's Multiphoton Laser Scanning Microscope Facility. Drs. Romer and Tuder have assembled the personnel and laboratory facilities to satisfy a wide range of experimental imaging needs. The Core personnel have professional experience spanning the fields of tissue preparation, cell culture, differential detergent extraction and cytoskeletal preservation, cell component-specific staining, microscopy and digital image analysis. The technical staff of the Core provide essential support to this PPG. The core facility features access to multiple microscopes that utilize both Windows PCs and Macintosh work stations, extensive software for image analysis and visualization, and software and hardware for producing manuscript-ready images and figures in hard copy. Specific competencies provided by this Core include: consultation on experimental design, reagents for immunolabeling and fluorescence protein chimera expression, specimen preparation, biopsy processing, in situ hybridization, autoradiographic studies of radio-labeled material in tissues, immunocytochemical labeling for light, epiflurorescence, multiphoton, or electron microscopic examination, transmitted light and spinning disc confocal implementation of two- and three-dimensional image processing, analysis algorithms and quantitative image analyses, three-dimensional reconstruction and stereoscopic visualization, and graphics services involving digital imaging. This core will prepare and analyze specimens from a broad range of research endeavors. Importantly, during the preparation of preliminary data for this proposal, this Imaging and Histology Core Facility has demonstrated that its flexibility, expertise, and resources are available and essential to all of projects in this PPG.
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