The Cystic Fibrosis Center at Case Western Reserve University maintains a specialized multiuser imaging facility for three dimensional and 4 dimensional cell physiological studies on live cells. These studies are concerned with dynamic measurements of cellular processes as detected by fluorescent probes. Processes studied include intracellular signaling events, transepithelial electrolyte transport, cellular inflammatory responses, receptor-mediated gene transfer, and mucin exocytosis. These studies require better temporal and spatial resolution than is possible with the current system. Therefore, we request a Light Microscopy Imaging system that allows fluorescence studies on live cells with greater spatial and temporal resolution, as well as computer control of the instrumentation and data acquisition. The system of choice is a Zeiss Axiovert 100M based imaging station with Nipkow-disc based confocal capability. The system will provide the hard- and software for 3D image acquisition with sufficient temporal resolution and off-line reconstructions by image restoration from a stack of brightfield epifluorescence pictures as well as from confocal images (Nipkow disc system). Due to the greater temporal and spatial resolution, the new microscopy system will provide major enhancements and acceleration of ongoing funded research in which information on the dynamic and cellular localization of processes in live cells is important.
