Cellular and Molecular Neuroimaging Core The Rose F. Kennedy Center Cellular and Molecular Neuroimaging Core has existed at Albert Einstein College of Medicine for over 20 years supported by the Department of Neuroscience, Center grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Development, and other external funds. The overall goal of the Core is to provide investigators a comprehensive package of expert guidance, training and assistance in cell and tissue preparative techniques, optical imaging, electron and related microscopy techniques, and image processing. Services include: specimen preparation; consultation on experimental design, data acquisition and analysis; training and assistance with major equipment and software use; and access to advanced media presentation technologies. The staff provides exceptionally personalized service and welcomes investigators from all areas of biology and medicine, in addition to providing scientific expertise for neuroscience studies. Consultation, training, and assistance are available for all services and equipment listed below. Please visit our website to schedule an appointment. Director: Kostantin Dobrenis, Ph.D 718-430-4027 Associate Director: David H. Hall, Ph.D 718-430-2195 Staff: Kevin Fisher (Image Analysis, Education and Training) 718-430-2455 Ken Nguyen (Electron Microscopy) 718-430-4095 (Optical Microscopy and Laser Microdissection) 718-430-2046 Cell and Tissue Preparation: Equipment Veritas 704 Laser Microdissection and Laser Capture Platform AO 860 Sliding Freezing Microtome Leica CM30505 Cryostat Leica VT1000S Vibratome RMC Powertome XL ultramicrotome Sorvall MT2B ultramicrotome Bal-Tec HM 100 RMC FS High Pressure Freezer and Freeze Substitution Device Denton evaporator Cressington Freeze Fracture Device Pelco Biowave microwave Pelco Cryobox Capabilities Laser assisted tissue region and single cell isolation for gene expression and proteomics studies Large tissue sample sectioning Thick, thin and ultrathin section preparation Microwave irradiative fixation High pressure freezing (HPF) and freeze fracture preparation Other Major Resources: Equipment Helios Biolistics “Gene Gun” system Flexstation II auto-sample handler and fluorescence plate reader Microscope incubation systems: Bioptecs closed perfusion system; PDMI-2 multi-injection culture chamber; Warner DH40i and TB-3 bipolar thermoregulated culture chambers Picospritzer Capabilities Facile delivery of naked DNA to cells and tissues Automated liquid handling for multiplate fluorescence assays Multiwavelength quantitative fluorometry for soluble and cell fluorescence samples up to 384-well plates Multiple microscope incubation systems for optimal live cell and tissue recording arrangements Micropipette pressure injector for single cell perfusion and microinjection Data Analysis/Visualization: Amira (3D/4D visualization) AutoAligner (plane realignment) AutoQuant X (widefield deconvolution) Huygens Deconvolution (brightfield, widefield, laser confocal, two-photon; stack-stitching) Imaris (3D/4D visualization/quantification) Image Pro Premier 3D (3D/4D visualization/quantification) Matlab (data analysis, FMRI) Metamorph (quantitative image analysis, reconstruction and scripting) Media Generation: Epson 9890 wideformat printer FlashForge Creator Pro 3D extrusion printer Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash, Premiere) Imaging: Widefield Microscopy: Equipment Olympus AX70 upright microscope Olympus Multi-Time/Sample (MTS) inverted microscope system Olympus BX41 upright two-headed microscope Capabilities Autofocus Fluorescence, brightfield, phase contrast and DIC Automated multiwavelength and time-lapse image acquisition for multi-sample specimens including up to 384-well multiwells Dual-viewing for teaching and consultation Imaging: Stereology & Morphology: Equipment MBF Bioscience Stereo Investigator workstation MBF Bioscience Neurolucida workstation Capabilities Three-dimensional neuronal evaluation and reconstruction Brightfield and epifluorescence stereologically sound cell counts Volume estimations Imaging: Confocal Microscopy: Equipment Zeiss LSM 510 Meta Duo V2 Capabilities Sequential laser scanning 12 laser line availability Ultrafast scanning (120f/s for 512 x 512 pixels, >30,000 lines/s) Nanopositioning ultrafast Piezo objective Z drive Spectral Imaging Up to 5D acquisition (x,y,z,t,λ) Simultaneous photomanipulation and image acquisition Tiling functions for high resolution large field acquisition Custom- and multi-region scanning Programmable software for automated acquisition routines Specialized FRET and FRAP software modules Imaging: Electron Microscopy: Equipment Philips CM10 Transmission Electron Microscope Focused Ion Beam Milling (FIB/SEM) Capabilities Electron tomography Serial blockface imaging Focused Ion Beam Milling (FIB/SEM) Serial thin section analysis with Elegance software
