With our dozen fluorescence microscopes, test sessions are critical for deciding the right instrument for the science! Email us to schedule a free consultation.
Fluorescence/Confocal/Super-Resolution Microscopy Services
- Fluorescence/Confocal Microscope Imaging
- Confocal (6 instruments)
- Super-Resolution (4 technologies: Zeiss Airyscan, Nikon dSTORM, Lattice light-sheet, Structured Illumination)
- High-Content Imaging (up to 54 microtiter plates)
- Multiphoton and many more technologies
- Sample Preparation
- Cryostat and Vibratome sectioning
- Staining strategies (Consultations)
- Personalized Training (future self-use)
- Microscope operation
- Specimen preparation
- Software analysis tools (Fiji, Imaris, Volocity, etc)
For light microscopy, there are pragmatic questions to address. However, we can advise about general scientific strategy, even if microscopy isn’t involved! All the technical staff have advanced degrees and have done bench research in multiple disciplines.
- What are your samples? Tissue, cells, other? And about how thick is your sample?
- Are you looking to see intracellular morphology or are you trying to count the number of cells expressing a particular protein?
- Are you doing live-cell/live-tissue work? If so, do you need any extra environmental controls (temp, CO2, etc)?
- How many fluorescent labels will you be using and, if you know yet, what are those labels? (e.g. Alexa 488, DAPI and Texas Red…)
- Is there a publication you are referencing? If so, would you please bring or email it.
Specialized Techniques
Once you’ve built confidence that you can do the basics, it’s natural to consider specialized or advanced techniques on Facility equipment. These include FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching), FRET (Forster-fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) and TIRF (Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence). Presumably, you’ve already gotten the concepts and principles elsewhere (particularly from our classes).
Even if you already understand the concepts, using these techniques and getting results takes a significant amount of time. In addition, we have custom-written software that goes beyond the commercial software for the quantitative analysis of these and other experiments. Email us to schedule an advanced training session.