There is substantial interest at the SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, in research on various aspects of cellular and molecular biology. Several NIH funded programs currently have substantial need for a state-of-the-art freeze-fracturing machine such as the Reichert-Jung Cryofract 190 with Cryoblock (or equivalent). In addition, several recently-appointed faculty members not yet funded will have need for this type of instrument in the near future. Initially, the major users of the instrument have their primary academic appointments in six different departments and represent three university campuses. The freeze-fracture unit will be housed in the centrally-located Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology electron Microscopy Suite where a full-time technically trained individual will oversee its maintenance and operation. The funded projects which will initially require the use of the freeze fracture instrument include: three-dimensional localization of contractile/cytoskeletal/membrane proteins in developing myocytes; gap junctions in intestinal smooth muscle; structure of the cochlear hair cells; information processing by the parietal eye; gap junction/membrane relationships; electrical coupling and gap junction formation; membrane vesicles-structure and function; dynein-ATPase morphology; contractile proteins and membrane relationships in inner hair cells; localization of calcium-calmodulin dependent kinase on developing neurites; and embryological development of gap junctions in developing cells. Moreover, it is anticipated that several new incoming faculty members in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Pharmacology will become major users of the instrument. Thus, there is clearly an urgent, current need for a new freeze fracture unit and such an instrument will be heavily used for many years to come.
