The CINEMA Laboratory (Cinema imaging using new microscopy approaches)

To create a state-of-the-art light microscopes imaging center. This will that cutting edge technologies and to complex cell biological questions that can not be addressed with standard methodologies.

This is possible due to partnerships with industry and sponsorship by the LICR. For instance, Total Internal Reflection Fluorescent Microscopy (TIRFM) allows imaging of a very thin plane (<100 nm) so events that occur near the cell surface (e.g. membrane trafficking, cytoskeleton) can be observed with exquisite clarity. With this approach detection of single molecules are possible. A 4D (3D + time) multicolor spinning disk confocal will soon be implemented here for fast live cell imaging of fast moving dim objects (e.g. vesicles) that traverse several focal planes.

Site and On-site Operations Capacities:

The CINEMA Lab imaging center is located in SHM IE17/19 (~730 sq. ft), adjacent to the CCMI facility. CINEMA Lab is equipped to accommodate 3 advanced microscope setups (1 slot is currently free for the proposed instrument). It was can accommodate up to 6 water-cooled lasers (20-70 Amps) and multiple air-cooled lasers and has ceiling equipment racks and blackout curtains. It is designed for use with research grade lasers in safety: the room is electronically card coded, has emergency cut-off switches and warning signs, curtained partitions, and water leak detection.

It also has an adjacent tissue cell culture room with CO2 incubators, a class II biosafety hood, a refrigerator/freezer, and centrifuges. Thus researchers can easily prepare samples in advance without worrying about damaging cells in transit and use sterile technique when preparing cells or working with viruses. There is also a 'wet-lab' bench so that researchers can easily manipulate samples before or during use. Last, the center has a bench with Ethernet links to accommodate post-data acquisition computers (1 computer is budgeted as part of the proposal).

Click on the images for samples of CINEMA Lab works
images: D.Toomre

 

 

 

Equipment:

Current:

• Multicolor Total Internal Reflection Fluorescent Microscope (TIRFM) using an inverted Olympus microscope (IX-70) base.
• A full Tissue Culture BL2 room is adjacent to the CINEMA lab with laminar flow hood, incubators, water bath, etc.

In Progress:

• Prism-type upright TIRFM based on an upright Olympus microscope (BX-51). This is also equipped for electrophysiology (capacitance & amperometric) and microinjection.
• Multicolor spinning-disk onfocal based on an inverted Olympus microscope (IX-71)

Sponsorship:

• Yale University School of Medicine
• LICR
• Olympus
• Andor Technologies
• Zeiss
• Personal Grants (Toomre lab)

Contact:

• Dr. Derek Toomre, Director of the CINEMA laboratory (derek.toomre@yale.edu)