Care for horses & livestock/farm animals
Care for cats, dogs & other companion animals
This microscope provides super-resolution images by means of structured illumination microscopy (SIM). It is capable of both 2D-SIM and 3D-SIM, as well as 2D-SIM in combination with TIRF (total internal reflection fluorescence) microscopy. This system has integrated environmental controls and laser-based autofocusing for long-term imaging of live cells.
Registered users can access the PVIC online scheduler to reserve and use the Penn Vet Imaging Core instruments.
If you are not already registered, please contact the core manager.
The images and video (below) show HEK-293T cell transfected to express GFP-tagged ebola VP40 protein imaged using SIM TIRF (Structured Illumination Microscopy and Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence) on the DeltaVision OMX instrument. Ebola VP40 protein is able to assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs) that are able to bud from the cell membrane and are used as a noninfectious model system to study processes involved in virus budding. Although VLPs can be microns long, they are only about 80 nm in width. The images show TIRF images without (left) and with (right) SIM super-resolution for comparison. The video is a time-lapse sequence with an image acquired every 5 seconds.
Images courtesy of Xiaohong Liu and Bruce Freedman, UPenn School of Veterinary Medicine.