amdu

Nick

Summary

This unit has two defining roles:
1. to develop new microscope systems and technologies.
2. To provide access to advanced microscope techniques.

The emphasis on development gives the AMDU a unique flavour. New microscopes will be developed and existing microscopes enhanced. The resulting new technologies will be fed back into the unit and made accessible via collaboration.

Access: It will be possible to book both time and training on most AMDU microscopes, with the exception of development instruments. The AMDU will initially be established in newly-converted space within Warwick Biological Sciences in February 2010. Once we are up and running I will make an online booking system.

Development: Microscope development in the AMDU will cover many topics besides optics. To develop modern digital microscopes the majority of R & D man-hours go into software, electronics, engineering and optics (in that order). We will develop in all these areas via PhD and postdoc development projects, and via collaborations at Warwick and elsewhere.

Research: (Using microscopes as well as building them!). With a background in single molecule mechanics I will continue to research in this field (Nature 435 p308), in particular building on studies of the mechanochemistry of kinesin family motor proteins.

Nick Carter

microscopes

 

E800Epifluorescence & darkfield
Nikon E800

Efficient fluorescence imaging combined with darkfield or VE-DIC. Two cameras available, a chilled, back-illuminated CCD (for slow time lapse sequences), and an EM-CCD (for rapid time-lapse sequences). A PC running Metamorph controls piezo focus, shutters, filter wheels and image acquisition, and can also do off-line deconvolution. The microscope is in a temperature controlled enclosure.

DV-RT

Personal Deltavision

Timelapse 3D widefield fluorescence deconvolution imaging of live cells in experiments lasting up to several days. Contains fast shutters and Xenon light source, which allow more rapid live cell imaging applications.

DV2-RT

Deltavision RT

Timelapse 3D widefield fluorescence deconvolution imaging of live cells combined with laser-based applications (FRAP, photoactivation) e.g. to study motility and turnover of microtubules. Also has capacity (following upgrade) to carry out real-time imaging of two separate channels e.g. EGFP and mCherry

Trap1

Laser trap (optical tweezers)

Extensively modified Axiovert inverted microscope. A laser tweezers system with infrared trapping laser (3W, CW, 1024nm), microsecond beam stearing (AODs), nanometer precice XY stage, focus control, LED ve-DIC and extremely precise bead position detection (Sub-nanometer resolution at 40kHz). Single molecule force measurements and nanometer-resolution tracking of molecular motors

spindisk

Spinning disk confocal

Fast two-channel confocal imaging with a Yokagawa CSU-X1 disk unit and dual EM-CCD cameras for fast 4D timelapse with minimal phototoxicity. Interactive FRAP module: bleach/activate a particular pattern & watch recovery kinetics, laser nanosurgery: cut cytoskeletal filaments, remove centrosomes etc. during live imaging; dynamic colocalization of fast moving objects.

TIRFM

TIRF1 / FRAP

TIRF: image dimly fluorescent signals including single molecule imaging. TIRF can image the first ~100nm beyond the glass coverslip surface. There is no background fluorescence from out of focus probes. This technique is suitable for in vitro imaging or imaging at or near the the cell membrane. <100nm beneath cell membrane. Environmental chamber for cells. Includes a galvo-based FRAP system for versatile photoactivation/bleach experiments.

TIRF2

TIRF2

Similar spec to TIRF1 without the FRAP capability and with an emCCD camera.

veDIC

Nikon Microphot with VE-DIC

Mercury illumination on the transmission pathway is flattened by a fiberoptic light scrambler. The acquired DIC is "video enhanced" using a video processor that performs background subtraction and contrast enhancement in real time. This system is used for visualizing microtubule dynamics and motility assays. The system is used along with custom written video capture and object tracking software.

mrc600

Biorad confocal

Now a classic confocal microscope the MRC-600 features a simple macro language than enables the scan head to be programmed and parked in a simple repeatable way. A feature that is missing on modern confocal systems. Not just a functioning confocal we use the 600 along with custom software for micro-etching and lithography on glass slides.