This project, developing a scalable high performance computational system, aims to support the acquisition, processing, and dissemination of data collected by the recently constructed Lattice Light-Sheet Microscope (LLSM). Developed in collaboration between SDSMT, the University of South Dakota (USD), and South Dakota State University (SDSU), the instrument contributes to multiple proposed fluorescence imaging research projects, especially those in conjunction with the statewide Biochemical Spatiotemporal NeTwork Resource (BioSNTR) collaboration. The unified implementation allows investigators to access and apply any set of algorithms to any set of on-line imagery, independent of where the data resides and without requiring data conversion before processing. The power of the LLSM lies in its ability to capture high-speed three-dimensional (3-D) data constructed from wide-field fluorescence images, resulting in real-time volumetric imaging of living cells at sub-wavelength spatial resolution. To effectively utilize the capabilities of this advanced microscopy technique, significant computational hardware and software solutions must be developed to address the specific needs of this ultra-wide bandwidth system. The instrumentation also includes a web-portal design to allow geographically distant researchers seamless access to large volumes of fluorescence imagery. The instrumentation enables important studies that could contribute to the fundamental understanding of signaling processes in diverse biological systems and support the development of future bio-technologies, including improved bio-materials, improved understanding of cell signaling, and improved understanding of drought-tolerant plant species.
The instrumentation supports the need to dynamically visualize the evolution of fluorescently labeled markers within cellular and sub-cellular compartments of biological systems to inform bioinformatics studies and systems biology approaches towards the understanding and discovery of regulatory networks in biological systems, and to reveal the architecture of important biological systems studied with the LLSM. This project serves as the nexus for collaborative science undertaken by a diverse group of physicists, computer scientists, biologists, and chemical engineers with broad scientific, educational, and societal impacts. Methods for 3-D volumetric fluorescence imaging within cellular and sub-cellular compartments of animal and plant biological systems are necessary to extend current understanding of living systems. The impetus for the instrument resides in the need to tightly couple initial and subsequent bioimage informatics processing with the LLSM instrument itself, providing investigators with transparent and seamless access to the instrument, data, and appropriate processing techniques. Furthermore, the proposal emphasizes the significant effort needed to both collect and develop the appropriate techniques needed for this bioimage informatics initiative.
