Facilities
The Quinn Lab occupies 815 sq. ft. of wet lab space in 3420 ENRC, which has been outfitted to accommodate both in vivo procedures and in vitro cell/tissue culture experiments.
In addition to standard biomedical research equipment, unique features in our lab include:
- ADMET BioTense Bioreactor and MTESTQUATTRO Material Testing system capable of tensile loads up to 100N
- Automated quantitative polarized light microscope for rapid analysis of collagen organization
- Hamamatsu NanoZoomer-SQ capable of whole slide histology imaging in 150 sec (20x, 0.75 NA)
- Inverted laser scanning confocal microscope (Olympus Fluoview FV10i-LIV) designed for live-cell imaging with the following features:
- 405nm, 473nm, 559nm, and 635nm laser lines
- 1 phase-contrast transmission channel and 2 epi-fluorescence channels with a variable barrier filter mechanism by diffraction grating and slit
- 10x (N.A. 0.4) and 60x (N.A. 1.2, water-immersion) objectives
- Automatic focus detection and automatic collar correction
- Automatic water supply and cleaning for 60x objective to facilitate long-term live cell imaging
- Motorized XY stage and motorized objective control
- Built-in micro-incubator to maintain 37C, humidity >90%, and 5% CO2.
We also have established a Multiphoton Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Facility (2937 and 2939 ENRC) consisting of two multiphoton microscopes optimized for label-free imaging.
Our upright multiphoton microscope (Bruker Ultima Investigator Series) has the following capabilities:
- Widely-tunable Ultrafast Ti:Sapphire laser (Insight X3 HP, Spectra Physics, Inc.) with automated tuning between 680-1300nm and an average power of 2.0 W at 900nm with pulse width of <120 fs, as well as a second 1045nm fixed (<200 fs) beam.
- Spectral focusing Timing and Recombination Unit (SF-TRU) that synchronizes the output beams of the Insight X3 laser, allowing for coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy with narrowband spectral resolution up to 5 cm-1 over Raman shifts of 2600-3200 cm-1.
- Four close-proximity, high-efficiency GaAsP detectors with emission filters spanning the visible range and optimized for the collection of endogenous cell and tissue autofluorescence
- Integrated fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and phosphorescence lifetime imaging (PLIM)
- Automated tuning of two-photon excitation wavelengths between 690-1040nm
- 20x Olympus water-immersion objective (1.0 NA) for deep 3D imaging
- Tandem galvo-galvo and resonant-galvo scanning system for customized scanning patterns as well as high-speed scanning modes (30 fps at 512x512 resolution; >1000 fps maximum)
- Motorized control of large platform stage in 3 dimensions
- Rotating nose-piece for imaging in an inverted configuration
- Z-axis piezo drive for controllable high-speed positioning of the objective lens and high-speed volumetric imaging
- Pockels cell for high-speed shuttering and continuous power control of the imaging laser
- Gas anesthesia delivery to the microscope stage and controllable rodent heating pad for in vivo imaging experiments
- Micro-incubator with controllable temperature and humidified gas delivery for in vitro experiments
- Hamamatsu ORCA Flash4.0 Digital CMOS camera
- Ultrafast Ti:Sapphire laser (Mai Tai HP, Spectra Physics, Inc.) with automated tuning between 690-1040nm and an average power of 2.8 W at 800nm with pulse width of <100 fs.
- Four close-proximity, high-efficiency GaAsP detectors with emission filters corresponding to <430nm, 460(±20) nm, 525(±25) nm, and 630(±35) nm, which have been selected and optimized for the collection of endogenous cell and tissue autofluorescence.
- Integrated fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and phosphorescence lifetime imaging (PLIM) within PrairieView software based on Becker&Hickl’s time correlated single photon counting FLIM module and electronics, which enables rapid switching between proportional intensity mode and FLIM mode acquisition.
- 60x Olympus water-immersion objective (1.2 NA) for high-resolution imaging
- Motorized control of large platform stage in X (5.5-inch travel) and Y directions (3-inch travel), as well as both motorized and manual control of microscope position in the Z direction.
- Pockels cells with >500:1 extinction ratio for high-speed shuttering and continuous power control of the imaging laser.
- Micro-incubator with controllable temperature and humidified gas delivery (5% CO2) for in vitro cell and tissue culture experiments.