The Instrumentation Resource Facility (IRF) under the direction of Dr
Robert Price houses state of the art equipment for
imaging biological specimens
- ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
JEOL
200CX TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE This
200 kilovolt electron microscope is available for high magnification
microscopy and is equipped for the capture of digital images as
well as images on photographic plates. Facilities are available
for processing and sectioning for routine and intermediate
voltage transmission electron microscopy, pre- and
post-embedding immuno-cytochemistry techniques for intra- and
extracellular organelles and components, structure of catalysts
and other materials.
A full range of ancillary equipment for
specimen preparation for electron microscopy is also housed in
the IRF
JEOL
6300V SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE
The scanning electron microscope is used for visualization of
the surface morphology of cell
and tissue samples, localization of specific surface
components on cells and tissues, surface structure of metals and
other solids, quality control in production of microprocessors and
machined parts
BIORAD
MRC1024 LASER SCANNING CONFOCAL FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPE
This instrument is available for
immunofluorescence and reflectance microscopy, localization of
specific cell and tissue constituents via primary and secondary
antibodies, stereo imaging of optically sectioned samples and
three-dimensional reconstruction of images. A DELL Server is the
operating computer. The DELL server is also networked
internally to all other computers in the IRF for rapid transfer of
large digital file formats internally and externally to remote
sites. This instrument is equipped with a Kr/Ar Laser and 3
detectors capable of simultaneous imaging of 3 fluorochromes
ZEISS
ATTOFLUOR/CARV LIVE CELL CONFOCAL IMAGING SYSTEM
The Zeiss Axiovert 135/CARV System,
based on Nipkow Spinning disk technology, is equipped for live
cell imaging including the detection of pH and Calcium
fluctuations
Other equipment for light microscopy
includes a Citadel
1000 tissue processor, Leica Histoembedding system, Reichert
2030 microtome and a Zeiss
Microm 505HN cryostat for
sectioning of frozen tissue
Other light microscopes include Nikon
Optiphot systems equipped with a Digital Imaging SPOT camera
and Nikon Biophot microscopes equipped with a Nikon camera system
- LASER CAPTURE MICRODISSECTION
Laser capture micro-dissection is a process
in which cells can be captured from microscope sections. The
tissue is fixed, sectioned and mounted on a clean glass slide. On
the laser capture microscope, the section is overlaid with a
transparent cap containing a heat-sensitive film. When a cell,
seen on the computer screen, is chosen to be captured, an
infra-red laser beam is used to heat the film over the cell. The cap is
then lifted from the section and the cell is removed attached to
the cap. Captured cells can, for example, be extracted to obtain messenger
RNA that can be used in gene array analysis. The IRF houses an Arcturus
Pixcell IIe Laser
Capture Microdissection System that rapidly
isolates pure cell populations for cell-specific analysis
Computers in the IRF currently
include a DELL server that interfaces the facility computers
with other computers in the School of Medicine. In
addition , a workstation operating on dual Pentium 600
processors and six other Pentium 500 or higher machines are in the
IRF for acquisition and analysis of images. In addition to
software programs that interface digital cameras with each
microscope in the IRF, Image Pro Plus and VoxBlast programs are
available for image enhancement and analysis. A full range
of scanners, film recorders and printers are also provided for the
preparation of presentations and publication quality images.
For the analysis of fluoresence
labeling of molcuels on the surface of cells, the
IRF is equipped with a Coulter
EPICS XL dual
laser flow cytometer/ fluorescence-activated cell sorter with a
multi-parameter Data Acquisition system.
Citadel
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