High-throughput single-cell imaging flow cytometry platform

This proposal is to acquire an ImageStreamX Mark II, a hybrid instrument capable of collecting microscopic data on individual cells in real time as they are sorted by flow cytometry. This powerful new technology will build on Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine Core Facilities infrastructure and has the potential to supercharge the research programs of laboratories within the Atlantic Canada research community. *The instrument will support strategic research goals of natural science and engineering laboratories by allowing high-resolution monitoring of populations of cells with diverse responses to environmental cues, as well as functional characterization of rare cell populations. The instrument will also support cross-cutting research objectives, including measurement of basic cellular properties in fruit flies, microbial eukaryotes and primary neurons, and analysis of the bacteria and viruses comprising microbiome samples. This instrument will be first of its kind in Atlantic Canada and will provide previously unavailable training opportunities to numerous trainees in the region.*The 7 applicants and their 41 trainees, ranging from undergraduates to postdoctoral fellows and professional research associates, are from a diverse range of natural science, agriculture, engineering, and health departments at Dalhousie University. However, we share common research interests in basic biological questions that require simultaneous imaging and flow cytometric analysis of large numbers of single cell events. The instrument will allow us to characterize key players involved in fundamental biological phenomenon occurring in animals, plants, bacteria, and viruses.*The requested equipment will be housed in Dalhousie's Flow Cytometry Core Facility, which is maintained and operated by trained experts who will aid in experimental design, analysis and trouble shooting. Trainees will gain both hands-on experience and valuable expertise with this important cellular imaging technique. The ready access of this equipment and associated expertise to all applicants and to many other researchers at Dalhousie and in the Atlantic region will directly support and enhance ongoing and new research and training programs. The studies performed with the requested imaging flow cytometry system will provide important and novel insights into the individuality of cellular responses, evolutionary biology, neurology, and the responses of both hosts and their associated microbes. *