# Combined Optical Tweezers-Fluorescence Super-Resolution Microscope for Single-Molecule Biophysical Studies

> **NIH NIH S10** · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · 2021 · $1,337,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
In this application, we propose to acquire a combined optical tweezers-fluorescence super-resolution microscope
for single-molecule biophysical studies from LUMICKS. The LUMICKS C-Trap will be placed in a shared
instrumentation facility such that it will be available for use by the entire biomedical research community at
Columbia University. Consequently, the C-Trap will impact a large number of current and future NIH-funded
research programs at Columbia University. Specifically, the C-Trap will be installed, housed, operated, and
maintained in the Columbia University Precision Biomolecular Characterization Facility (PBCF), a university-
supported, staffed, shared instrumentation facility that will provide all Columbia University researchers with
efficient, low-cost access to the C-Trap. The proposed C-Trap is a state-of-the-art instrument that will be
equipped with quadrupule laser tweezers, a three-wavelength, single-photon-sensitivity laser scanning confocal
fluorescence microscope, and stimulated emission depletion (STED) super-resolution fluorescence microscope
(i.e., a STED nanoscope), thereby enabling the broadest range of research to be accommodated. There are
currently no comparable instruments anywhere at Columbia University and there are only two C-Trap
instruments in the entire New York City area. These two instruments are not located in a shared instrumentation
facility and are instead located in the laboratory of individual researchers, where the instruments exclusively
serve the experimental needs of the individual researcher’s laboratory and are therefore rendered unavailable
to outside users. Moreover, these two instruments are configured differently from the requested instrument and
have limited capabilities and, thus, cannot be used to perform the experiments proposed in the current
application. Successfully establishing the proposed C-Trap in the PBCF is expected to advance the aims of more
than 26 NIH-funded research programs spanning many departments and schools at Columbia University and
representing an extremely broad range of biochemical, biophysical, and biomedical research programs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10177000
- **Project number:** 1S10OD028696-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** Ruben L Gonzalez
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,337,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10177000

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10177000, Combined Optical Tweezers-Fluorescence Super-Resolution Microscope for Single-Molecule Biophysical Studies (1S10OD028696-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10177000. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*