Facilities and Resources

The Saint Louis University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology maintains a number of facilities and resources for use by researchers.

Genomics Core Facility

The Saint Louis University Genomics Core Facility offers a range of services to both internal and external users. The goal of the Core is to make genomics-based projects easy and accessible to all researchers regardless of their experience with genome wide research.

The facility is managed by Michelle Pherson, Ph.D.

Learn More About the Genomics Core Facility

Washington University Center for Cellular Imaging (WUCCI)

SLU and Washington University signed a collaboration agreement that allows SLU researchers to use the Washington University Center for Cellular Imaging (WUCCI), a state-of-the-art imaging facility that opened in 2015, and offers light microscopy, electron microscopy, and X-ray microscopy, in addition to cryo-EM.

SLU researchers have the same access, priority, costs, and technical help afforded to WashU investigators as well as providing access to instruments not currently at SLU.

Learn About the Collaboration

View WUCCI Equipment Regulations

X-ray Facility

A state-of-the-art X-ray facility is available to researchers in the department for the collection of high-resolution data on macromolecular samples. The facility has a 0.8 kW MM007 Rigaku generator with VHF optics interfaced to an R-Axis IV++ imaging plate system and a 1.2 kW MM007HF Rigaku generator with VHF optics double ported with two R-Axis IV++ imaging plate systems. A Phoenix robotic instrumentation from Art Robbins Instruments is available for the preparation, screening and imaging of crystals.

The facility is managed by Sergey Korolev, Ph.D.

NMR Facility

The Department of Chemistry houses an NMR facility, which is available to all researchers at SLU. The facility has a multi-nuclear Bruker spectrometer with the field strength of 16.4 Tesla, as well as a newly-installed Bruker Avance HDTM 700MHz NMR spectrometer. These instruments can be used to determine the structures of organic molecules and biomolecules, and can also be used in other dynamic studies.

The facility is located in Shannon Hall and is managed by Fehu He in SLU's Department of Chemistry.

Learn More About SLU's NMR Facility

Olympus cellTIRF-4

The Olympus cellTIRF-4 Line system allows ultra-sensitive, simultaneous multicolor Total Internal Reflection (TIRF) using four laser channels with independent beam paths. This inverted microscope-based system with cellTIRF laser illumination (491 nm, 561nm, and 640 nm) allows through-objective TIRF with software control of the depth of evanescent field, allowing the user to produce high-contrast images with minimal background noise for cell surface and single molecule studies.

An Andor IXON Ultra897 EMCCD camera and QV2 four-channel image splitter allow simultaneous recording of up to four color images of immobilized single molecules at up to 52 frames per second. Fast (1 ms) switching between lasers allows interrogating immobilized molecules with alternating two excitation wavelengths.

The Olympus cellTIRF4-Line system is managed by Tomasz Heyduk, Ph.D.

MicroTime 200

The MicroTime 200 is a time-resolved confocal microscope with unique single molecule sensitivity. It includes an Olympus X71 inverted microscope-based system with 488, 532, and 640 nm picosecond pulsed lasers, four detection channels, and a piezo xyz scanner. Emission can be split according to color or polarization.

Typical uses of this instrument are for single molecule FRET, including Pulsed Interleaved Excitation, FRET, FCS, FCCS, FLCS, TCSPC histogram, and photon-counting histogram. Additional analyses are possible for freely diffusing molecules as well as imaging measurement analyses are possible: Time-gated Fluorescence Intensity Imaging, Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging, FLIM-FRET, Intensity FRET, and Anisotropy imaging.

The MicroTime 200 is managed by Nicola Pozzi, Ph.D.

Bioinformatics

The Bioinformatics Facility offers complete analysis of high-throughput expression data, including gene ontology enrichment analysis. We also offer next-generation genomic sequence assembly and variant analysis. We maintain an in-house MASCOT database for peptide mass searches, NCBI BLAST for custom database searching, and HMMer for protein domain searches. Custom script development is available for automation of protein and DNA sequence analysis. We have access to a state-of-the-art high performance-computing cluster maintained by the Biochemistry HPC core.

The facility is managed by Maureen Donlin, Ph.D.

Lipidomics Core Facility

The Lipidomics Core Facility, operated by the department and the Center for Cardiovascular Research at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, is a University resource located in the Doisy Research Center. The Facility focuses on small molecule identification and quantification by mass spectrometry.

Instrumentation in this Core includes a Thermo Electron Surveyor LC and Quantum Ultra triple quadrupole electrospray ionization mass spectrometer, as well as two HP6890 gas chromatographs with FID detector and HP 5973 MS detector with both electron impact and chemical ionization sources.

The facility is managed by Dave Ford, Ph.D.

Protein Core Facility

A shared-use facility that supports expression, purification and analysis of research proteins by providing an array of instrumentation and consultation on strategies for protein production from small to large scale.

The facility is managed by Yie-Hwa Chang, Ph.D.

Learn More About the Protein Core Facility

EPR Facility

The Doisy Research Center Electronic Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Facility is equipped with an EMX X-band continuous-wave (CW) EPR spectrometer and a Bruker Elexsys E580 pulse EPR spectrometer capable of pulse and CW EPR spectroscopy at both X and Q-bands, as well as a variety of ELDOR and ENDOR spectroscopies.

Bruker Elexsys E580 Q-band (33.9 GHz) EPR spectrometer equipped with a 40 W TWT amplifier
Bruker X-band (9.8 GHz) EMX spectrometer equipped with ER4122 SHQ and ER4123D dielectric resonators
Saint Louis University School of Medicine is the only location in the state that houses such a facility.

The facility is managed by Reza Dastvan, Ph.D.