Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

• Subject Area: Microbiology, Virology and Immunology
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 517270083

At the Institute of Virology of the Philipps-University Marburg several groups investigate molecular mechanisms of infection, replication, and pathogenicity of highly pathogenic viruses that affect human health, including Ebola and Marburg virus, coronaviruses (SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2), influenza A virus, different flaviviruses (e.g. Dengue, Zika, and West Nile), Lassa, and Nipah virus. The institute has laboratories up to the highest biosafety level that allow the study of these viruses. Many groups in the Institute utilize, among other techniques, state-of-the-art microscopy methods to study viral replication and the effects on the infected host cells to identify host cell machineries that are critical for virus entry, replication, and egress and to elucidate pathological alterations in infected cells. Many of these studies strongly rely on confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to visualize viral and host cell proteins in infected cells and study their localization and/or aberrant trafficking. These studies are the foundation to understand critically important aspects of virus replication and pathogenicity at cellular and molecular levels that may be amendable in the future as therapeutic targets. The institute currently has a 12-year-old CLSM, that is the microscopy workhorse in the institute and is heavily booked. Due to its age, service will be discontinued at the end of the year and spare parts for repair will no longer be available. To continue the highly successful research on these important human pathogens, the instrument has to be replaced in the near future.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Konfokales Laser-Scanning-Mikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 5090 Spezialmikroskope
• Applicant Institution: Philipps-Universität Marburg
• Leader: Professorin Dr. Eva Herker