4.3.2 Spinning disk confocal microscopes
Thespinning disk confocal microscopeemploys a different scanning system from the
LSCM. Rather than scanning the specimen with a single beam, multiple beams scan
the specimen simultaneously, and optical sections are viewed in real time. Modern
spinning disk microscopes have been improved significantly by the addition of laser
light sources and high-quality CCD detectors to the instrument. Spinning disk systems
are generally used in experiments where high-resolution images are collected at a fast
rate (high spatial and temporal resolution), and are used to follow the dynamics of
fluorescently labelled proteins in living cells (Fig. 4.14).Fig. 4.14Time-lapse imaging ofCaenorhabditis elegansdevelopment.Z-series were collected every 90 s of
a developingC. elegansembryo genetically labelled with GFP-histone (nuclear material) and GFP-alpha
tubulin (microtubules – cytoskeleton) and imaged with a spinning disk confocal microscope. Each column
consists of six optical sections collected 2mm apart, and the columns are separated by 90 s increments of time.
(Image kindly provided by Dr Kevin O’Connell, National Institutes of Health, USA.)120 Microscopy