Low phototoxicity live imaging of cells and their molecular machineries at high temporal and spatial resolution.

Our overall aim is to enable the study of the dynamic cellular and molecular processes which underpin the formation and repair of animal tissues. The cell is the fundamental unit of all complex life forms and so understanding the biology of the cell and its component parts is a key goal in life science and medical research. While we currently benefit from several imaging systems which allow us to image living cells as they interact within tissues, most of these imaging methods are phototoxic - they make use of high-power light source to visualise cellular machineries.

This phototoxicity limits our ability to image live cells, as it introduces artefacts and can even lead to cell death. Next-generation microscopes such as the Zeiss AiryScan 980 confocal, are profoundly changing the way cells, sub-cellular structures and tissues can be studied in a live environment, by enabling imaging of cells at low phototoxicity and in very high detail.

This type of capability is essential in any world-leading research institution. Equipped with this new imaging system, our consortium of researchers will be able to study how cells interact and communicate through chemical and mechanical signals to generate the various tissues that make up our organs. UCL has invested significantly in the past seven years in developing a globally recognised Centre of Excellence with a strategic Science Technology Platform, by ensuring it has cutting edge imaging equipment to support it research community.

The research supported with this proposal will include work in epithelial tissues, which line most of our organs (e.g. lung, kidney, intestine), nervous system development and maintenance of their internal functions, as well as work on the pathways which control cell fate commitment, morphogenesis (cell-shape) and migration. Collectively, these processes underpin the formation of our tissues and organs and allow for their repair upon injury or disease.

Studying these fundamental developmental processes and identifying key players controlling these pathways will help further human knowledge of understanding health and disease.