Equipment list

Light microscopy

Zeiss LSM 900 Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope – “Lupin”

Capable of automated z-series, time-lapse, xyzt, and tiling.

Inverted CLSM with DIC controlled by Zeiss ZEN Blue software.
Two conventional fluorescence channels and one transmitted channel.
Motorized stage with Definite Focus for automatic focus drift correctionZen software for FRAP, FRET, Co-localization, etc.

Zeiss PECON incubation system for live cell imaging with temperature and CO2 control, compatible with 35mm dishes and chambered coverglass slides (previously on LSM710).

Excitation lines:

• 405 nm
• 488 nm
• 561 nm
• 640 nm

Objective lenses:

• 5X/0.16 Plan Apo,
• 10X/0.45 Plan Apo
• 20X/0.80 Plan Apo
• 25X/0.80 Plan Apo Multi Immersion (previously on LSM710)
• 40X/1.4 Oil Plan Apo (previosuly on LSM710)
• 63X/1.4 Plan Apo Oil

Zeiss LSM 710 Spectral Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

Capable of automated z-series, time-lapse, xyzt, and spectral image capture.

Inverted CLSM with DIC controlled by Zeiss ZEN 2011 software.
Two conventional and one spectral fluorescence channel and one transmitted light channel.
Motorized stage with Definite Focus for automatic focus drift correction.
Zen software for linear unmixing, FRAP, FRET, Co-localization.

Excitation lines:

• 405 nm
• 458 nm
• 488 nm
• 514 nm
• 543 nm
• 594 nm
• 633 nm

Objective Lenses:

• 10X/0.45 Plan Apo
• 20X/0.80 Plan Apo
• 40X/0.95 Plan Apo
• 40X/0.6 LD Plan Neo (previously on LSM700)
• 63X/1.4 Oil Plan Apo

Lavision Ultramicroscope II light-sheet system – “Snape”

This system illuminates samples with a light-sheet that is approximately 5um-thick at its narrowest point in the Z dimension. To avoid shadowing artifacts and allow full imaging of thick samples, 3 angled light-sheets can illuminate the sample from each side. In addition, the light-sheet can be scanned horizontally in the X dimension to avoid a loss of Z resolution near the edges. The system comes equipped with five laser lines (488, 514, 561, 647, 785nm) and filter sets compatible with all common fluorophores from the green to far red regions of the spectrum. The system is outfitted with an Olympus MVPLAPO 2X/0.5 objective coupled to a zoom body with a total of 11 possible magnifications, ranging from 1.26 to 12.6X. The objective has a corrected dipping cap with a working distance of 5.7mm, an alternative dipping cap with a working distance of 10mm (though at the cost of inferior optical quality) is available. These objectives and the sample mounting system are fully compatible with immersion media used in all clearing protocols, including those that require harsh organic solvents. The system has an automated stage that allows easy tiling of large specimens.

Detailed filter information here.

Andor Dragonfly Spinning Disk Confocal Microscope – “Hermione”

1) Laser lines:

• 405nm
• 445nm
• 488nm
• 514nm
• 561nm
• 637nm

These can be combined for DAPI/GFP/RFP/Cy5 or CFP/YFP/RFP/Cy5 imaging.

2) Two cameras:

• iXon Life 888 EMCCD
• Zyla Plus 4.2MP sCMOS

Cameras can be used simultaneously for dual-channel imaging with the following combinations: DAPI/GFP+RFP/Cy5 or CFP+YFP/RFP/Cy.

3) A full incubator enclosure and drift correction mechanisms allows stable imaging for many days at 37C with humidified CO2.

4) Two pinhole diameter options (40um and 25um) allow optimization of sensitivity and optical sectioning.

5) A piezoelectric Z stage allows very fast Z stacks

6) Leica objectives:

• HC PL APO 10x/0.45
• HC PL APO 20x/0.75 LWD
• HC Fluotar L 25X/0.95 W 0.17 VISIR
• HC PL APO 63X/1.4 Oil
• HC PL APO 100x/1.40 OIL CS2

The 25X/0.95 can be used for prolonged imaging (days) with a water pump. An additional 1.5X magnification can be added to any of the objectives through an additional lens.

7) Mosaic system, which allows patterned photostimulation, photoconversion and bleaching.

Detailed filter information here.

Andor XD Spinning Disk Confocal Microscope – “Hagrid”

Olympus BX61 Upright Wide Field Microscope – “Neville”

Capable of automated time lapse and z-series

Imaging modes: Bright Field, Dark Field, DIC,
Polarized Light, Epi-fluorescence
Manual stage
Computer controlled by Improvision’s Velocity software

Hammatsu ORCA R2 and QImaging RETIGA 4000R cameras

Objective Lenses:

• 1.25X/0.04 PlanApoN,
• 2X/0.08 PlanApoN
• 4X/0.13 UPlanFLN
• 10X/0.30 UPlanFLN
• 20X/0.75 UPlanSApo
• 40X/0.90 UPlanSApo
• 60X/1.42 Oil PlanApo N
• 100X/1.30 Oil UPlanFLN
• 20X/0.50 UPlanFLN (removed from system)
• 40X/0.75 UPlanFLN (removed from system)

Detailed filter information here.

Olympus IX81 Inverted Light Microscope – “Luna”

Capable of automated time lapse, z-series and multiple x-y position image capture, as well as targeted photobleaching, photoactivation and photostimulation

Imaging modes: Bright Field, Phase, DIC, Epi-fluorescence
Fully motorized including LEP Bioprecision motorized stage
Computer controlled by Improvision’s Velocity software
Capable of automated time lapse, z-series and multiple x-y position image capture
Zero Drift Control maintains focus over space and time

Tokai Hit CO2 and temperature control system for live cell imaging.

Hammatsu Flash4 v3 sCMOS and QImaging RETIGA 4000R cameras

Objective Lenses:

• 1.25X/0.04 PlanApoN,
• 2X/0.08 PlanApoN
• 4X/0.13 PhL UPlanFLN
• 10X/0.30 Ph1 UPlanFLN
• 20X/0.45 Ph1 LUCPlanFLN
• 40X/0.60 Ph2 LUCPlanFLN
• 40X/1.30 Oil DIC UPlanFLN,
• 60X/1.42 Oil DIC PlanApo
• 100X/1.3 Oil UPlanFLN
• 100X/1.4 Oil UPlan S Apo PSF quality

Detailed filter information here.

Leica WILD Macroscope M420 – “Bucky”

Macroscopic imaging system for objects up to 5 cm long

Magnification from 3.6X to 87.5X with APOZOOM lens
Bright field and dark field imaging in transmitted light
Epi-illumination (not fluorescence) imaging in reflected light

QImaging Micropublisher Camera using QCapture software

 [RETIRED] Zeiss LSM 700 Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

NOTE: this microscope was retired in August of 2022. We include its information here only for reference.

Capable of automated z-series, time-lapse, xyzt, and tiling.

Inverted CLSM with DIC controlled by Zeiss ZEN 2011 software
Two conventional fluorescence channels and one transmitted channel
Motorized stage with Definite Focus for automatic focus drift correctionZen software for FRAP, FRET, Co-localization, etc.

Bioptechs temperature control system for live cell imaging, compatible with 35mm Bioptechs 0400417B dishes.

Excitation lines:

• 405 nm
• 488 nm
• 555 nm
• 639 nm

Objective lenses:

• 5X/0.16 Plan Apo,
• 10X/0.45 Plan Apo
• 20X/0.80 Plan Apo
• 40X/0.6 LD Plan Neo
• 40X/1.3 EC Plan Neofluar Oil
• 63X/1.4 Plan Apo Oil

[RETIRED] Olympus IX70 Inverted Live Cell System – “Moody”

NOTE: this microscope was retired in July of 2021. We include its information here only for reference.

Capable of time-lapse imaging at multiple locations in phase and three fluorescence channels over several days with stable focus, temperature and CO2 concentration.

Imaging modes: Bright Field, Phase, Epi-fluorescence
Motorized stage and motorized focus control
Enclosed within an environmental chamber controlling temperature and CO2

Stage compatible with multi-well plates, chambered coverglass slides, chambered slides, and 35 mm dishes.

Computer controlled utilizing cellSens software

Hamamatsu ORCA R2 camera.

Filters optimized for the following fluorophores and combinations of fluorophores:

• Cy5
• Rhodamine
• GFP/mCherry
• CFP/YFP/mCherry

Objective Lenses:

• 4X/0.13 PhL UPlanFL
• 10X/0.30 Ph1 UPlanFL
• 20X/0.45 Ph1 LUCPlanFLN
• 40X/0.60 Ph2 LUCPlanFLN

Detailed filter information here.

 

Electron Microscopy

JEOL JEM 1230 Transmission Electron Microscope

40 kV to 120 kV accelerating voltage, Tungsten filament
0.2 nm lattice, 0.38nm point resolution, high contrast objective pole piece
50X to 600,000X magnification range
5-axis goniometer stage in X, Y, Z, +/- 45 degree tilt, 360˚rotation
Gatan Orius SC1000 CCD camera with Gatan Microscopy Suite 3.0 software

Zeiss Supra 25 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

Resolution: 2 nanometers
Accelerating voltage: 1 kV to 30 kV
Magnification 20X – 1,000,000X
Fully computer controlled with digital image capture
Motorized goniometer stage will hold up to 8 samples
In-lens secondary electron detector
Standard T-E secondary electron detector
Backscatter detector
STEM detector
EDX detector

Image Analysis

Imaging workstation with 512GB RAM, 24GB video card, 2×8 core 3.2Ghz CPU, 8 x 8 TB NVMe PCIe SSDs in RAID 10.

Has the following software packages installed:

• Imaris: 5D analysis
• Autoquant: deconvolution
• Matlab: macros for image analysis
• FIJI: free, open-source software for image analysis