Cell sorting
Lighthouse operates three high speed cell sorters: a 16-color FACS Aria Fusion and a 17-color FACS Aria III, both from Becton Dickinson, as well as a 14-color MoFlo Astrios cell sorter from Beckman Coulter. Due to their complexity these machines must be operated by members of the Core Facility.
FACS analysis
For FACS analysis Lighthouse operates 5 BD FACS Analyzers, 1 Sony Spectral Analyzer and 3 Beckman Coulter Systems, all with different lasers and possible color combinations.
Confocal microscopy
Lighhouse currently operates three spectral confocal microscopes: Zeiss LSM 880 with AiryScan Zeiss LSM 710 Leica TCS SP2 AOBS Confocal microscopes can take images in which only the focal plane of a sample is visible. This results in an improved signal to noise ratio, as well as an increase in effective resolution relative to those made with a standard fluorescence microscope. Confocal microscopy is of potential interest in a wide range of experiments, for example those involving thick specimens, intracellular studies, and colocalization, as well as in studies where the three-dimensional structure of the sample is important.
High content screening
Lighthouse has an Olympus Scan^R High Content Screening Station which allows automated image acquisition and data analysis of biological samples. Other terms for this field include image cytometry or automated microscopy. The Scan^R is able to process large numbers of samples in an objective manner, enabling quantitative analysis across cells, wells, and samples. Although the total throughput is not as high as that of a flow cytometer it is still much higher than that of a typical microscope, allowing entire cell populations to be examined. Unlike flow cytometers, cells can be examined in situ, allowing morphological information from cells and tissue sections to be collected and used for analysis. However, the images acquired can be analyzed through the use of histograms, dot plots and even population gating as in flow cytometry.
Lighthouse forms and user guidelines
The Lighthouse Core Facility was founded to give investigators access to a broad spectrum of fluorescence-based technologies useful in answering research questions in the areas of cell and molecular biology. For more information about what instruments and services are available at the facility and how you can take advantage of what we have to offer, click on the button above and select an instrumentation category.
