Inverted fluorescent microscope with integrated UV through near-IR microspectroscopy system for
Abstract
Understanding the dynamic behavior of the different mechanistic pathways enabling biological systems to interact with external stimuli is directly related to the DoD research mission. Specifically, many health issues have been directly linked to different types of stimuli (blast, EMP). Therefore, in order to create protective, preventative, predictive and therapeutic measures, it is first necessary to understand the root cause of these destructive pathways. This requires a comprehensiveunderstanding of both the mechanical and chemical changes that a cell undergoes. Unfortunately,performing these types of multi-modal experiments on a single sample simultaneously has not been possible. Therefore, researchers were forced to combine data from different experiments and draw conclusions. However, due to a pair of advances, this field is on the brink of a transformation. First, researchers realized that different cellular components (e.g. cell membrane vs. DNA) have unique spectroscopic signatures. These signatures change as the structures are disrupted. However, this discovery is not sufficient in and of itself. This year, Andor created an imaging spectrograph capable of detecting these unique chemical signatures from individual cells. Moreover, the spectrographoperates from the UV through the near-IR. Therefore, an entire suite of cellular components can be identified by its unique signal. As an expert in the field, Andor’s spectrograph can capture data at sufficiently fast acquisition rates to perform the dynamic experiments. Additionally, it is designed to operate coaxially with an inverted fluorescent microscope, enabling the spectroscopy data to be overlaid with fluorescence results. Therefore, this instrument provides a truly transformative opportunity for the current and future DoD-funded research activities in the PI lab. It will be placed in a central user cell culture lab, where it will be accessible to other researchers. Therefore, thissystem will allow us to perform previously impossible experiments and pursue new avenues of research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 21, 2018
- Source ID
- N000141612048
Entities
People
- Andrea Armani
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Southern California