Acquisition of a laser capture microdissection platform for application in cell and molecular biology studies

Abstract

This project request is for the acquisition of a laser capture microdissection (LCM) system based on gravity and the movement of a laser beam over the samples, which will make it possible to perform dissection studies and to capture cells from tissue or rhizosphere samples and, at the same time, will ensure high performance in terms of the speed and precision of the microdissection of samples of different thicknesses. This technology has been applied to obtaining cells of plants and animals, as well as, more recently, to the study of plant-microorganism interactions. Particularly, the techniques used in studies in the plantmicroorganism interactions are of particular relevance for research into mutualistic plant-pathogen and plantmicroorganisms relationships. The USP-CENA research team will use the LCM system in their analyses of gene (proteomic) expression at specific sites (transcription and spatial expression), because it allows RNA to be isolated, provides data related to transcript profiles, facilitates the investigation of gene functionality, and can identify the molecular basis of the active processes in samples. The system is accompanied by devices for the motorization of the microscope, in order to capture and overlap fluorescence images, as well as to monitor the functions of the LCM system. The estimated cost is € 182,720. The system will serve to support projects conducted by USP-CENA researchers, as well as those conducted by researchers affiliated with the following institutions: the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP); Institute of Biology; the University of São Paulo ( USP) Ribeirão Preto School of Pharmaceutical Sciences; the USP Higher School of Agriculture Luiz de Queiroz; the UNICAMP Faculty of Dentistry of Piracicaba; the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Institute of Biology; and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. The projects involve techniques such as in situ hybridization, immunolocalization, and visualization of reporter genes and have required the cell-specific analysis of the expression of individual genes and of the accumulation of individual proteins. The LCM technique is a cutting-edge method that can furnish such cellular data for large-scale studies in genomics and proteomics. (AU)