Department of Cell and Cancer Biology

Laboratory Facilities

Departmental Shared Facilities and Resources

In addition to the equipment available in their individual laboratories, faculty, staff and students in the department have access to the following shared equipment:

Cold Storage:
Two walk-in cold rooms
Multiple -80o and –140o ultralow freezers
Labconco Freezone 4.5 lyophilizer

Imaging:
Darkroom with automated film processor
Alpha Innotech chemiluminescence and fluorescence imaging station
GE Healthcare Typhoon FLA700 molecular imaging system

Microscopy
Nikon Eclipse 800 fluorescence microscope
Nikon TE2000 fluorescence microscope
Digital cameras and Media Cybernetics imaging software
Olympus IX70 inverted microscope configured for fluorescence and Eppendorf single cell microinjection
EVOS FL Cell Imaging System

Molecular Biology
Amaxa nucleofection system
ABI GeneAmp 7500 real-time PCR systems (2)
Biacore 3000 surface plasmon resonance system
Covaris S220 tissue disruptor

Spectrophotometry
Beckman DU640 UV/Vis spectrophotometer
Molecular Devices SpectraMax M5 UV/Vis and fluorescence 96 well plate reader
Berthold Lumat LB9507 luminometer
Berthold Centro XS3 LB960 Luminometer/Plate Reader

Centrifugation
Beckman L8 Ultracentrifuges (2)
Beckman Optima TLX100 mini-ultracentrifuge
Beckman J2-21 (2) and Sorvall RC5 (2) refrigerated centrifuges

Quantification of Radiolabeled Molecules:
Packard Tri-Carb 2100TR liquid scintillation counter
LKB 1275 gamma counter

Cell Culture Facilities
Eleven Laminar Flow Biological Safety Cabinets, Class II Type A/B3
Seven dual chamber CO2 incubators
Multiple Nikon Diaphot and Zeis ID02 inverted microscopes
Two Harris Cryostar and one Sanyo -140oC freezer for cell storage
Two Coulter Z1 Particle Counters

Cell Biology
Millipore MUSE benchtop cytometer (for cell viability and apoptosis assays)
Synbiosis Proto COL2 Colony Counter

Centralized Core Resources in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences

The Center for Advanced Microscopy & Imaging houses multiple microscopes for standard fluorescence, TIRF, and confocal microscopy. These include a TCS SP5 multi-photon laser scanning confocal microscope (Leica Microsystems) equipped with both conventional and high-speed resonance scanners. The Multi-photon instrument is attached to an inverted microscope and allows deeper penetration into tissue with less photo-bleaching/damage. The system is capable of collecting up to 5 colors simultaneously for quantitative confocal image analysis, 3D reconstruction, FRAP and FRET, animation, stereo imaging, single layer projection, time lapse collection, and co-localization analysis. Lastly, the imaging core oversees access and user training for the Xenogen IVIS Spectrum small animal fluorescence/bioluminescence imaging system, should this be required in later stages of the project.

The Flow Cytometry core facility contains a BD FACS Caliber system for analytical applications, as well as a BD FACS Aria for cell sorting and analysis. Services include cell sorting, DNA histogram/cell cycle analysis, analysis of apoptotic cell populations, and analysis of cell populations labeled with fluorescent antibodies or cell tracers. This core will be used for cell cycle and cell death analysis of cultured cell populations.

The Electron Microscopy and Histopathology core facility provides custom histology, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy services. The facility is supervised by Dr. William Gunning. The lab occupies approximately 1,200 sq. ft. of space in the University of Toledo College of Medicine Department of Pathology.  The electron microscopy and histopathology services, performed by expert technicians, are offered to all investigators on a subsidized fee-for-service basis. This state-of-the-art facility specializes in ultrastructural diagnosis of human disease, histology and immunohistochemistry. Dr. Gunning also provides research support to investigators who need expert pathology evaluations of tumors and variety of other human and animal tissues.  The laboratory is equipped with standard and ultramicrotomes, instrumentation for cryosectioning, immunohistochemical staining, and electron microscopy and image processing.  Two transmission electron microscopes are currently available: FEI Tecnai G2-20 and Phillips CM10.

The Department of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR) maintains state-of-the art facilities for research involving various species. The animal care program uses the ILAR publication, The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1996), as a basis for operation.  The program is accredited by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International (AAALACI) and is in compliance with all municipal, state and federal laws and regulations governing animal research.  The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is constituted with regard to and is operated in accordance with the USDA and HHS standards and policies.  The animal care facility is a centralized resource called the Department of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR).  DLAR management and staff are responsible for care, husbandry, and veterinary medicine for all teaching and research animals housed within the unit. The DLAR facilities are centralized in the Health Education Building with an additional small core of rooms located in the Block Health Science Building.  DLAR provides rooms, equipment and training for the maintenance of most common laboratory animal species.  Specialized facilities for surgery, intensive care and biohazard containment are available.  Microbiological barrier facilities are available for hazard containment and for protection of rodents from murine pathogens and specific rooms are designated for housing immune deficient mice.

Resources Available in Other Colleges at the University of Toledo

The Center for Drug Design and Development is based in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. It provides collaborative assistance to investigators interested in small molecule screening, medicinal chemistry and drug development. The CD3 has two dedicated laboratory complexes, one on the University’s main campus and another on the Health Science Campus. The MC CD3 laboratory complex is devoted to chemical synthesis and molecular characterization, while the HSC complex is devoted to biological screening and bioanalytical assay development, including chromatographic and mass spectroscopy analysis of biological samples.

The University of Toledo Instrumentation Center is based in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics. It provides investigators with training and access to sophisticated instrumentation for biophysical analysis of chemical compounds and macromolecules. The center includes capabilities for NMR, mass spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and crystallography, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic light scattering and elemental analysis.

Last Updated: 6/27/22