# Zeiss LSM 980 with Airyscan2 microscope and Fast Mode for live cell and enhanced resolution imaging

> **NIH NIH S10** · SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $584,494

## Abstract

Project summary/abstract
The purpose of this application is to request funds to purchase the Zeiss LSM 980 with
Airyscan 2 microscope. This laser scanning confocal imaging system performs fluorescent
multi-color live cell imaging with enhanced resolution, high sensitivity and rapid image
acquisition capabilities. This instrument fills a critical unmet need for high resolution of dynamic
nanoscale interactions of specific macromolecular assemblies in living cells at Syracuse
University (SU) and Upstate Medical University (SUNY-UMU) and will allow federally funded
investigators to extend their studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D), neurodegenerative diseases,
renal failure, embryonic development, oogenesis and cell fate determination. Biological samples
include human and rodent pancreatic beta cells, mouse astrocytes and hippocampal neurons,
mouse oocytes, mouse macrophages, fly sperm, C. elegans germline cells, zebrafish spinal
cord interneurons and fluorescently labeled single molecules such as misfolded proteins and
molecular motors undergoing dynamics transport. The purchase of this important imaging
system will directly support the research of 6 NIH-funded “major users” plus other investigators
who have federally funded research grants. This fully integrated “turnkey” system is ideal for a
core facility with a large dedicated user base. As configured, the system will be able to perform
enhanced resolution live cell imaging with minimal photo-damage. The Airyscan technology
achieves improvements in spatial resolution and the signal-to-noise (SNR) by exploiting a
combination of the equivalent of confocal imaging with a 0.2-Airy Unit pinhole setting and pixel
reassignment. The Airyscan technique is superior to conventional confocal for live cell imaging.
The Zeiss LSM 980 with Airyscan 2 will be housed in the Biology Department Imaging Center, a
campus-wide imaging core located in the Life Science Complex, College of Arts and Sciences.
The facility serves the needs of the biomedical scientists in the College of Arts and Sciences,
the College of Engineering and biomedical scientists at Upstate Medical University.
Investigators at institutions in the surrounding Central New York region also have access to the
center.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9940510
- **Project number:** 1S10OD026946-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa E Pepling
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $584,494
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9940510

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9940510, Zeiss LSM 980 with Airyscan2 microscope and Fast Mode for live cell and enhanced resolution imaging (1S10OD026946-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9940510. Licensed CC0.

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