Description

A confocal microscope is an optical light microscope which uses lasers of varying wavelengths to excite fluorescent dyes which have been specifically added to samples, or samples which are inherently fluorescent. The confocal microscope is useful for determining the presence and location of specific structures, cellular organelles, and proteins on or within samples.  Antibodies to proteins of interest can be labeled with fluorescent compounds and then used to identify the location and amount of these proteins present within samples. 

 

In addition, the confocal microscope eliminates any out of focus illumination, and therefore can be used to "optically section" a sample – capturing images at multiple planes of focus.  The optical sections can then be used to produce a 3-D image of the sample, which can be useful for precisely determining the location of the material of interest or for confirming co-localization of two different proteins or organelles.

 

Equipment and Specifications

The OSU Microscopy Laboratory houses a Zeiss LSM 980 Airyscan 2 Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

 

• Able to image diverse fluorophores in fixed as well as live samples.
• Axio Observer 7 inverted microscope
• Objectives: 10X, 20X, 40X water, 63X oil, and 100X oil objective lenses.
• Lasers, all solid state: 405, 445, 488, 514, 561nm, 639nm.
• Features: 2 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), 32-channel spectral GaAsP Airyscan 2 detector, transmitted light PMT, motorized x-y stage, piezo z, temperature/CO2 incubation, ZEN Blue software.
• Analysis: An off-line workstation will be available for imaging analysis.
   

Note:  All publications containing or describing results obtained using this microscope should include the following acknowledgment: "Parts of this work were carried out in the Microscopy Laboratory, Oklahoma State University, which received funds for purchasing the equipment from the NSF MRI award number 1919805."