Abberior MIRAVA STED Microscope

About This Grant

Project Summary/Abstract Nine NIH-funded investigators with similar but independent super-resolution microscopy needs are requesting funding to acquire an Abberior Mirava 3D STED microscope to enable imaging of molecular topographies in fixed or live tissues and cells at unprecedented resolution at the scale of tens of nanometers with fluorescent probes. This platform will be maintained in the Washington University Center for Cellular Imaging (WUCCI), an institution-wide shared technology resource. There is no instrument like this at WUCCI or anywhere else on campus. One huge advantage of this system is that it works just like a confocal microscope in terms of the field of view, imaging depth, and data acquisition interface. As such, many investigators will be ready to utilize it immediately. Sample preparation is nearly identical to conventional confocal microscopy, except for the use of specific fluorescent probes, and care taken to use mounting or immersion media and cover slips with matching refractive indexes to enable maximum resolution. STED technology breaks the traditional barrier of optical microscopy set by the diffraction-limited point spread function (PSF) by PSF engineering, achieving 40 nm resolution, exceeding the resolution of the already heavily subscribed Nikon NSPARC and Zeiss Airyscan. The major user group comprises nine investigators from 6 departments who will utilize this microscope to enable a wide range of basic and translational research studies. Scientific goals include understanding primary cilia, the role of actin cytoskeleton dynamics in intracellular networks, energy and lipid storage and lipid droplet or to resupply membranes with lipids, mechanobiological mechanisms underlying kidney glomerular filtration, glutamate receptor geography at cochlear synapses, receptor dynamics in pancreatic islet hormone secretion and neuroinflammation biomarkers for biological imaging and chemotherapeutics. Given its location in a busy core facility, we expect this microscope to be impactful to many research programs beyond the initial major user groups. The expertise and institutional support for this instrument are excellent. Dr. Mark Rutherford, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, used STED microscopy extensively during the historical development of this technology. Dr. Rosa-Molinar and the WUCCI staff have a long-standing track record of training NIH- funded researchers to optimize their use of state-of-the-art microscopy methods. In support of this S10 grant application, the Washington University School of Medicine will commit $176,647 of matching funds for the acquisition of the instrumentation plus an additional $125,000 operational support ($25,000 per year for five years) to ensure the long-term success of this equipment.