TELETHON FACILITY FOR ELECTRON MICROSCOPY: ULTRASTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS AND IMMUNO-LOCALIZATION ON MODEL SYSTEMS OF GENETIC DISEASES

In recent years, a renewed interest for electron microscopy has been an emerging aspect of front leading research in biology. The merging of cell biology with genetics and molecular biology has opened new and unexpected perspectives in the investigation of subcellular structures. Electron microscopy has not only coped with these new needs by refining techniques for ultrastructural localization but it has also played an autonomous and propulsive role for the development of important fields, including membrane trafficking, cell adhesion and model genetics of human diseases. In particular, ultrastructural analysis has become a crucial approach for the immuno-localization at the ultrastructural level of gene products, as well as for the identification of specific subcellular phenotypes derived by mutations of genes involved in genetic diseases. However, electron microscopy requires specialized personnel and expensive instruments, which place a heavy burden on grants. Furthermore, interpretation of data requires well-trained experienced morphologists, who understand the underlying biological questions and know the technical limits of each method applied. For these reasons, there is still a very limited access to modern electron microscopy laboratories both in Italy and abroad. TeFEM is an already established Telethon Facility for Electron Microscopy. In this grant application we ask for a 3-year renewal of the Telethon support to the facility.