Texas A&M University Shared Instrumentation Facility

Real Time Imaging Labs: Cell Physiology and Molecular Imaging (Dr. Mark Zoran, Director)

The Real Time Imaging Lab provides investigators with optical and imaging equipment for quantitative analysis of cellular physiology and gene expression. This includes:

Facilities for visualization and digital image capture of cellular events (e.g., intracellular signaling, gene expression, cell division, cell growth),
Facilities for the detection of gene expression reporters in real-time, and
Facilities for the analysis and archiving of real-time imaging data files.

The purpose of the Shared Instrumentation Lab is also to acquire new optical technologies and real-time approaches for the analysis of clock-components and/or clock-controlled cellular events.

The Real Time Imaging Lab has been used extensively for studies of calcium imaging in neurons and glia. Most significantly, studies of intracellular calcium in diencephalic and retinal glial cell cultures have demonstrated the utility of these cultures for investigation of the role of melatonin, its receptors and its signal transduction mechanisms in the regulation of intracellular calcium waves. Using micromanipulated pipettes to stimulate calcium increases in islands of cultured astrocytes, the C-Imaging system was used to capture, in real-time, calcium waves as they were propagated through the contacting network of cells. Applications of melatonin significantly altered these calcium waves. Other calcium imaging studies of invertebrate neurons are ongoing and, soon, similar studies will be carried out on cultured SCN neurons.

The Real Time Imaging Lab has also been utilized by the lab personnel of Dr. Earnest for imaging of SCN cell cultures and gene expression, Dr. Bell-Pedersen for imaging of fungal hyphae and gene expression, and by the Cassone and Zoran labs for image analysis and electrophysiology. The facility also has considerable usage of non-P01 investigators. Non-P01 studies include: photo-release of calcium from molecular cages at neuronal synapses (M. Zoran Lab), developmental gene expression monitoring in cyanobacteria (J. Golden Lab), mitochondrial calcium imaging in mammalian astrocytes (R. Tjalkens Lab), and calcium imaging of root tips in Arabidposis mutants (T. McKnight lab).