Cryo-workstation for rapid freeze fixation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Microscopical imaging of biological specimens represents a crucial component of a variety of research disciplines ranging from molecular and cell biology to physiology and systematics. The Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (IRBV) is equipped with an excellent imaging facility that comprises both optical (including confocal) and electron microscopes. To be able to respond to the needs of the users, the facility needs to be complemented with a cryo-workstation. Numerous experimental approaches require the specimen to be fixed, and the more "life-like" the resulting structure is, the better the quality of the image and the interpretation of the data. The widely used chemical fixation protocols have the major drawback of introducing artefacts due to the slow penetration of the fixing agent. A cryo-workstation allows the rapid fixation via contact with extreme cold that fixes the molecules in space within milliseconds. Furthermore, compared to chemical fixation, the preservation of antigenicity is significantly enhanced. The introduction of cyro-fixation has resulted in a revolutionary development in microscopy in the past decades. To keep up with the technical advancement and provide the researchers with an up-to-date facility we request the funds for a cryo-workstation that allows rapid freeze fixation of small biological specimens via plunge or slam freezing. It will be used for specimen preparation involving freeze substitution, freeze fracture, histochemistry, and immunolabel. It is useful for all major types of microscopy ranging from light and fluorescence microscopy to transmission electron and scanning electron microscopy. Several research programs at the IRBV would greatly profit from the availability of this equipment which will be accessible to graduate students and scientists of the Université de Montréal as well as to external users.