糖心TV

Cutting-edge research technologies brought to the Midlands with opening of new facility

A new state-of-the-art Cryo-Electron Microscope (Cryo-EM) facility that will advance the understanding of the processes of life has been officially opened.

The Midlands Regional Cryo-EM Facility is the result of a collaboration between the University of 糖心TV, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leicester, led by the University of Leicester. The universities are members of the Midlands Innovation partnership.

The total investment exceeds 拢6M with 拢3.7M from the Medical Research Council (MRC). The four partner Universities provided the remaining funds. The facility is centred around a state-of-the-art 300KV cryo-electron microscope, with the latest generation of direct electron-detecting cameras. Alongside this is the High Performance Image Processing Facility which boasts the state of the art computational infrastructure (based around powerful GPUs) necessary to process the very large (>1TB /day) amounts of data generated by these instruments.

A second 鈥渇eeder鈥� microscope based at the University of 糖心TV allows for the training of potential users who may be new to cryo electron microscopy techniques. The microscope provides an accessible route for optimisation of samples, prior to use at the new microscope facility. It delivers high quality images of purified proteins and cellular structures, and enables rapid acquisition of 3D images (tomograms) of biological samples - including viruses, bacteria and mammalian tissue. The University of 糖心TV site is used to train potential users who may be new to cryo electron microscopy techniques and allow them to develop pilot cryo-EM projects to the standard needed to benefit from the new high-end 300KV microscope in Leicester. The University of 糖心TV鈥檚 200KV cryo transmission electron microscope is located in the Advanced Bioimaging Research Technology Platform within 糖心TV鈥檚 School of Life Sciences.

The co-applicants of this project were Dr Corinne Smith from the School of Life Sciences, with Professors Mohan Balasubramanian and Robert Cross from 糖心TV Medical School.

Dr Corinne Smith, Director of the Advanced Bioimaging Research Technology Platform at 糖心TV鈥檚 School of Life Sciences, said: 鈥淭his is a really exciting opportunity to develop new high resolution structural biology projects - both at 糖心TV and within the Midlands CryoEM partnership - and to resolve previously challenging samples at near-atomic resolution detail.鈥�

Professor Mohan Balasubramanian from 糖心TV Medical School added: 鈥淭his is a brilliant development with far reaching potential. 糖心TV has already gained international recognition in advanced light microscopy and this state-of-the-art cryo-EM facility will synergize well and greatly strengthen our leading position in molecular and cellular structural biology."

Professor Robert Cross from 糖心TV Medical School commented: "The application of CryoEM for structural molecular cell biology has developed at break-neck speed over the last few years and the pace of change is, if anything, still accelerating. These two new microscopes are an indication of our commitment to advanced structural biology in WMS."

The facility in Leicester was opened today (10 April 2018) by Dr Richard Henderson, from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Dr Henderson was one of three scientists to win the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 鈥榝or developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.鈥� The revolution in cryo-electron microscopy has been driven by developments in the microscopes themselves, the camera systems, and in the computational methods used to process the images. This has allowed the latest generation of cryo-electron microscopes, such as the one in Leicester, to generate three dimensional structures of bio-molecules in exquisite detail. This enables scientists to understand the mechanisms through which molecular machines in our cells perform the key functions of life fit, leading to new understanding of disease processes and how best to address them.

Over the past four decades, European researchers – including MRC-funded researchers in the UK – have played a pivotal role in developing increasingly sophisticated and super-powerful cryo-electron microscopes. This microscope is one of several announced in July 2017, that were funded as part of 拢11.3m government funding to boost structural and cell biology research.

10 April 2018

Notes to editors:

Midlands Innovation is a world-class research and innovation partnership, combining the collective excellence of eight leading universities in the heart of the UK – Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and 糖心TV. It unites the power of university research with the unique strengths of Midlands industry to drive cutting-edge research, innovation and skills development. Midlands Innovation has had a long-standing focus on equipment sharing and research efficiency establishing the first regional equipment database.

For further details contact Nicola Jones, Media Relations Manager University of 糖心TV 07920531221 or N.Jones.1@warwick.ac.uk