Links of Interest
Microscopy and Image AnalysisGeneral References
There are a number of educational websites with a focus on microscopy. Some of the most useful sites are listed below:
Molecular Expressions Optical Microscopy Primer - a great microscopy resource which discusses many aspects of microscopy in an understandable fashion. Their virtual microscopes are informative as well as fun.
Olympus Microscopy Resource Center - includes a microscopy primer as well as information about general microscopy, confocal microscopy, digital imaging, and advanced techniques.
Nikon MicroscopyU - Another useful resource for information on confocal as well as general microscopy.
Microscopy Alliance - Extensive index from the University of Arizona Experimental Pathology Service Core, which contains an index for Confocal Microscopy.
Archives of the Confocal Listserver - Searchable archives from the Confocal e-mail user's group.
Assay Guidance Manual - eBook from the NCBI which covers development of assays for HCS/HTS, but also useful for smaller scale assays.
Spectra
Some useful sites containing fluorophore excitation/emission spectra databases are:
Spectraviewer from Thermo Fisher (formerly Molecular Probes).
Fluorescence Spectrum Viewer from Becton Dickinson.
Fluorescent Protein Resource Center - in addition to excitation/emission maxima it contains other useful information about fluorescent proteins and their properties.
Open Source Software / Freeware
ImageJ -Sophisticated Java-based freeware program which is able to run on any platform and is available from the National Institutes of Health allowing post-acquisition processing and analysis of confocal images, image stacks and much more. A good site with tips for how to get started using ImageJ is the homepage of the ImageJ, as well as the searchable archives of the ImageJ Listserv.
Fiji - a useful image processing program derived from ImageJ, with many microscopy plugins already included.
NIH Image - the original Macintosh-based version of the program. The NIH-Image in Fluorescence and Confocal Microscopy manual can help you get started.
CellProfiler and CellProfiler Analyst - open source HCS image analysis software available from the Broad Institute.
Company Sites
Carl Zeiss website - where you can download an offline version of ZEN lite software, a useful Windows-based freeware program you can use to help with examination of confocal images.
Olympus Deutschland - where you can get more information about the Scan^R Screening Station.
Leica Microsystems - where you can get more information about the Leica spectral confocal microscopes.
Linscott's Directory - Directory of commercially available antibodies.
Antikoerper Online - Directory of commercially available antibodies