Microscopy and Imaging provides instrumentation, training, and expert advice for light and electron microscopy d image analysis. Light microscopy includes optics for bright field, dark field, phase contrast, differential interference contrast or Hoffman optics, epifluorescence wide field and confocal microscopy for high resolution light microscopy of tumor cells, tissues, and subcellular localizations. Transmission and scanning electron microscopes available for high resolution subcellular morphology. A newly acquired microinjection system allows us to microinject individual tumor cells. The inverted microscope on this system is interfaced with a camera for digitizing images. The installation of Windows-compatible Optimas 5.1 updates our capacity for image analysis. Time lapse imaging of motile cells is now underway using this work station. The shared facility has a greatly expanded capacity or image storage and transfer with the recent acquisition of writable CD-ROM and networking of the digitized imaging work stations. In addition to traditional studies supported by the core, some examples of recent projects the image analysis/ microinjection system include microinjection of plasmids and antisense oligonucleotides, quantification of nuclear size and shape, in vitro angiogenesis, live cell motility, size and extent of epithelial branching in developing mouse mammary glands, and cell surface structure. Dr. Susette Mueller is the Director and Manager of the Shared Resource, and Dr. Maozheng Dai is the Microscopist. The main laboratory of the shared source is now located on the fourth floor in the Cancer Center space within the new Research Building. The electron and confocal microscopes are m their original location in the adjacent Preclinical Science Building. The use of the facility has expanded significantly in the past three years, with about double the number of principle investigators (15 to 33), peer-reviewed projects (15 to 34), and departments (8 to 13) utilizing the Shared Resource. The Resource in-acts with all 8 programs and with 4 other Shared Resources.
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