Research Excellence
The National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) at the University of California, San Diego develops state-of-the-art 3D imaging and analysis technologies to help biomedical researchers understand biological structure and function relationships in cells and tissues in the dimensional range between 1nm and 100um. more
 December 2009 — In a collaboration between NCMIR and the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, researchers examined the pivotal role mitochondria play in the events associated with cell death. Read article |
 December 2009 —Using electron tomography, the NCMIR investigators in this study mapped the 3D topologies of dyadic clefts and associated membrane organelles in the mouse ventricular myocardium. Morphological details and the distribution of membrane systems, including transverse tubules (T-tubules), junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and vicinal mitochondria, involved in controlling cardiac Ca2+ dynamics, were determined. Read article |
NCMIR in the News
NCMIR Scientists Provide the First Glimpse of Synthetic Life
May 20, 2010 — Pioneering geneticist J. Craig Venter and colleagues announced the creation of the first synthetic life form, Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 at a press conference in Washington, D.C. and NCMIR researchers were entrusted with obtaining the first images of this new organism. Images obtained by Thomas Deerinck and Mark Ellisman of NCMIR were used in the July 2, 2010 Science article outlining this work and one was featured on the journal cover. Read article.
Sestrin Protects Fruit Flies From Age-Related Pathologies; NCMIR image on cover of Science
March 2010 — NCMIR scientists were members of a team of researchers that studied the intricate link of TOR with sestrins, a family of highly conserved proteins whose expression is induced by stress. As the team reported in the March 5th issue of the journal Science, they found that sestrin proteins prevent excessive TOR activation and delay the onset of age-related pathologies through a negative-feedback mechanism. Produced at NCMIR, the accompanying cover image of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, (magnification 80x, eyes pseudo-colored), appears prominently on the cover. Read article.
NCMIR's Electron Tomography Resource Reveals Novel Mitochondrial Anchoring Scaffolds and Cristae Structured for High-rate Metabolism
January 2010 — Electron microscope tomography was used at the NCMIR to aid Prof. George Spirou (West Virginia University) in his investigation of the mitochondria-associated adherens complex (MAC) in the auditory brain stem and resulted in a publication in the J. Neuroscience. By applying high-resolution electron tomography (ET) to the study of a central terminal, the calyx of Held, researchers at the NCMIR revealed an elaborate cytoskeletal superstructure that connects a subset of mitochondria to the presynaptic membrane near active zones. Read article.
Three-Dimensional Analyses from NCMIR Contribute to Varied Investigations
June 2009 – In recent years, NCMIR neuroscientists were increasingly relied upon to render electron tomographic analysis in support of research at other institutions. In a wide range of investigations, UCSD microimages were used to study topics as diverse as cytoskeletal cross-bridges in peripheral nerves, a virus-induced mini-organelle, and the myocardium of a mouse’s ventricle. Read article
NCMIR Team Provides Tomographic Services to Algae Genome Project
June 2009
– UCSD researchers from NCMIR recently provided transmission electron micrographs and electron tomographic slice data in connection with an important study of tiny algae genes conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Joint Genome Institute (JGI), and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The NCMIR technical support aided scientists from two-dozen research organizations to identify genes in two of the world’s smallest known algal strains. The group’s significant findings were published in the journal Science (April 10) and promise to propel the search for efficient biofuels. Read article
UC San Diego to Lead Neuroscience Information Framework
NIH awards UC San Diego $10 million contract to lead integrated information framework for world-wide neuroscience research community
Oct. 24, 2008 — The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has received a contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enhance and maintain the Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF) – a dynamic inventory of web-based neurosciences data, resources, and tools that scientists and students can access via any computer connected to the Internet An initiative of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, the NIF will advance neuroscience research by enabling discovery and access to public research data and tools worldwide through an open source, networked environment. Read Press Release
UCSD Scientist and NCMIR Co-Investigator Shares 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Oct. 8, 2008 — UCSD Scientist Dr. Roger Tsien was awarded 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie, for their discovery of the green fluorescent protein GFP and its development as a tool for observing otherwise invisible cellular processes. Dr. Tsien is a leader in the development of new indicator systems and their application to cell biology and has been a driving force behing the NCMIR core efforts to develop improved labeling technologies for correlative light and electron microscopy. Read article
