Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This equipment grant will allow the applicants to create a microscope-based test system that can combine bi-axial mechanical measurements with quantitative, 2-dimensional birefringence measurements.  The system will be constructed on an inverted microscope, to provide working space for the mechanical test system.  The CRI PolScope birefringence imaging system will allow us to measure the magnitude and orientation of birefringence at all pixels in a digital image of the mechanical test specimen.  This facility makes it possible to document the role of tissue microstructure to mechanical properties.  In addition, the microscope system will have facilities for fluorescence microscopy so that antibody stains or GFP constructs can be used to identify specific proteins in tissues and living cells.  Having the birefringence and fluorescence imaging systems on the same microscope will allow the co-localization of ordered structures and specific proteins at the resolution of the optical system.  We will use this system to investigate the structure-property relationships of collagen and elastin based connective tissues, intermediate filament based structural systems and myofilament systems.