NDSU has received a $595,000 award from the National Institutes of Health Shared Instrumentation Grant Program (NIH S10) to fund a new cryo-capable transmission electron microscope, known as TEM, that will be housed in NDSU’s Electron Microscopy Center.
TEM is a microscopy technique that uses a beam of electrons transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The instruments are capable of producing high resolution images that can capture detail as fine a single column of atoms.
The new TEM system will allow for preparation and characterization of flash-frozen samples. The cryo-capability will provide critical data for understanding the structure and function of materials such as proteins and soft polymers that cannot be fixed using traditional TEM systems.
The proposal was led by Chris Colbert, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Scott Payne, director of the NDSU Electron Microscopy Center, will serve as principal investigator.
Colbert assembled a team of researchers from a broad spectrum of disciplines at NDSU in support of the proposal and included information about how their research activities would benefit from the use of the instrument. These individuals include Colbert, Mohiuddin Quadir. assistant professor of coatings and polymeric materials; Yagna Jarajapu, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences; Sangita Sinha, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Sheela Ramamoorthy, associate professor of microbiological sciences; Yongki Choi, associate professor of physics; and Achintya Bezbaruah, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
“The acquisition of a cryo-capable TEM at NDSU will allow our researchers to expand their research into techniques ranging from small molecule structure determination by microelectron diffraction to protein structure determination by cryoelectron microscopy single particle reconstruction and cellular protein organization by cryoelectron tomography,” Colbert said. “This electron microscope is critical for making NDSU researchers competitive for access to the NIH’s transformative cryoelectron microscopy service centers.”
The new TEM unit will join the existing microscopy instruments housed in the NDSU Electron Microscopy Center. “This new instrument will replace a 100 kv TEM that is more than 30 years old, and also will provide a whole new range of capability not previously available at NDSU,” said Payne. “As a core service facility, we’re always happy to offer new options to meet the expanding needs of our university researchers.”
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