Core descriptions and equipment lists: Physiology and Cell Biology Department Core Facilities

Confocal Microscopy and Calcium Imaging Facility

The confocal microscopy suite primarily serves researchers in the physiology and cell biology department. The suite contains a variety of laser confocal microscopes. Also available within the department is a workstation to visualize organelle traffic and rapid calcium waves in cells using a high-speed Nipkow dual spinning disk confocal laser imaging system.

Location: Center for Molecular Medicine Building
Phone: (775) 784-6908

Equipment List

• Zeiss LSM 510 Meta laser confocal microscope
• Bio-Rad MRC 600 laser confocal microscope
• Noran Odyssey laser confocal microscope
• Nipkow high-speed dual spinning disk confocal laser imaging system: QLC100 high-speed confocal scan head, XR-Mega-10 ICCD camera
• Calcium imaging workstation: high-speed Nipkow dual spinning disk confocal laser imaging system consisting of a QLC100 high-speed confocal scan head, XR-Mega-10 ICCD camera, filter sets, fiber optics, 4-channel acousto-optical tunable filter (AOTF), with the scan head mounted on a Nikon E600 FN upright physioscope with fluorescent water immersion lenses

Molecular Core

The department’s molecular core facility is fully staffed and equipped with shared instrumentation that includes a quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) system, a gel imager, and four 96-well thermal cyclers. Additional instrumentation includes gel electrophoresis systems, a rocking incubator, a hybridization chamber, electroporation systems, centrifuges, refrigerators, freezers, and software for sequence analysis.

Location: Center for Molecular Medicine Building
Phone: (775) 784-6908

Equipment List

• Applied Biosystems ABI 7300 sequence detector

Histology and Immunocytochemistry Core

The histology and immunocytochemistry core provides a workstation for paraffin wax-embedding, sectioning, and staining. A microscope equipped with a z-axis encoder and drawing tube is available for histology needs as well as design-based stereological quantification of particles in tissue sections. Additional equipment available includes a motorized cryostat and vibratome, an inverted upright fluorescent microscope with a digital imaging system, and a wet lab with dissecting microscopes for tissue processing.

Location: Center for Molecular Medicine Building
Phone: (775) 784-6908

Equipment List

• Rotary microtome
• Nikon microscope with a z-axis encoder and drawing tube
• Leica CM3050 cryostat