Page 54 - Annual Report 2020
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    Instrument Core Facility
Todd Schuster / Core Facility Manager
The Shared Instrument Core Facility operates and maintains the shared instruments at the Hormel Institute. We also instruct scientists in the use of these instruments to ensure that they are used properly and safely. New instruments added to the Core this year include a Zeiss LSM 900 confocal microscope. This microscope replaces our old confocal microscope that had reached the end of its lifespan with an instrument that functions bet- ter. Among its many capabilities, this microscope will allow researchers to do precise 3 dimensional imaging to determine the intracellular location
of proteins. Also new to the Core this year is the Seahorse XFe 96 Analyzer. The Seahorse is capable of making real time measurements of the key indi- cators of mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis and the rate of ATP production. This can give the researcher a picture of the cellular metabolic function in cancer cells. Another addition was a ChemiDoc MP imager from Bio-Rad. This imager
is capable of chemiluminescent and fluorescent imaging as well as the near infrared.
The new confocal enables precise, three-dimensional imaging, improved analyses of cellular organelles, and intracellular localization of proteins so we can study more accurately how cancer cells develop and metastasize, leading to more knowledge about how to prevent and control cancer.
Our Core also includes a BD Fortessa X-20 Flow cytometer which has 5 excitation lasers and 16 detectors which allows researchers greater flexibil- ity in experimental design and the ability to detect more parameters in one experiment. We also have a FACS ARIA II cell sorter that has the ability to sort cells with only characteristics that a researcher wants to study into tubes or slides.
Other microscopes include a Zeiss Axioobserver with an Apotome attachment and a Zeiss Palm Microbeam laser dissection microscope. The core also includes an Incucyte S3 live cell imager which allows researchers to perform real-time live cell
analysis. The Biacore T200 uses surface plasmon resonance technology to measure the interactions between proteins, lipids and small molecules.
The Core also has a Rigaku X-Ray diffraction system for protein crystallography.
Histology equipment consists of a Leica TP 1020 tissue processor, a Leica HistoCore Arcadia embedder, a microtome and a cryostat.
                   SUPPORTING DEPARTMENTS
  FY20 ANNUAL REPORT






















































































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