Infrastructure
The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics houses infrastructures for especially crucial and cutting edge expertise, including bioinformatics, a comprehensive data centre and highly specialised experimental facilities where cryo-EM is becoming increasingly important.
Infrastructure at DBB
The Stockholm node of the Swedish Cryo-EM National Infrastructure Unit
The Unit is placed at SciLifeLab, Campus Solna, and it is hosted by DBB which also has a large number of structural biology groups that use the technique.
Cryo-EM (cryogenic electron microscopy) is a technique that allows the direct visualisation of single macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids, as well as anything bigger (organelles or full thin cells). By combining a large number of images of macromolecules (particles), in the order of hundred of thousands to millions, three-dimensional (3D) densities and molecular models can be computed in a process known as Single Particle Analysis (SPA).
It is also possible to image and reconstruct entire viruses, organelles or other cell compartments and gain ultrastructural information by using Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET).
Cryo-EM can also be used to collect electron diffraction data of micro- and nano-sized crystals (micro-ED) also with the aim of determining the 3D structure of proteins or chemical compounds.
Micro-ED has been implemented at the SciLifeLab Cryo-EM Unit thanks to a strong and fruitful collaboration with the Zou’s and Xu’s groups at MMK.
The Cryo-EM Infrastructure Unit offers access to state-of-the-art equipment and expertise in SPA, cryo-ET and micro-ED.
The Cryo-EM Infrastructure Unit is equipped with:
- Titan Krios G2 (Thermo Fischer Scientific), equipped with a CetaD camera, and Falcon III and a Gatan/Ametek K3 BioQuantum electron detectors
- Titan Krios G3i (Thermo Fischer Scientific), equipped with a Ceta-D camera and a Gatan K3 BioQuantum detector
- Talos Arctica equipped with Falcon III (Thermo Fischer Scientific), Gatan/Ametek K2 and Ceta CMOS
- All instruments are equipped with advanced software solutions for data acquisition both in imaging and diffraction mode
- Two vitrobots markIV (Thermo Fischer Scientific) for sample preparation
The Cryo-EM Infrastructure Unit offers a service of consultation for image analysis and structure determination via a drop-in bookable service. The Unit is also working, in collaboration with NBIS and WABI (also DBB associated), to potentiate the support for Cryo-EM data analysis.
Access to the Infrastructure is available by registering to the portal (https://cryoem.scilifelab.se/) or by contacting us at cryoEM_stockholm_lab@scilifelab.se. All services are bookable and all projects trackable at https://emhub.cryoem.se/
We aim to provide: (i) an internationally competitive infrastructure that is accessible to all academic scientists in Sweden on equal terms, (ii) training environment where researchers can become familiar with cutting-edge methods in cryo-EM and (iii) an educational framework of scientific meetings, practical workshops and training courses to enhance the activity of the broad Swedish scientific community
The Cryo-EM Infrastructure Unit offers a unique service to the whole of Sweden.
The Unit is supported by SciLifeLab, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Family Erling Persson Foundation and Stockholm University.
CONTACT:
Marta Carroni
marta.carroni@scilifelab.se
National Bioinformatics Infrastructure (NBIS)
National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS) is a distributed national infrastructure, supporting life scientists in Sweden with a range of services, including custom-tailored data analyses, data management, systems development and advanced training. NBIS has staff at six sites (Gothenburg, Linköping, Lund, Stockholm, Uppsala, and Umeå). Most of the Stockholm staff are employed at DBB and located at SciLifeLab in Solna. NBIS constitutes the SciLifeLab Bioinformatics Platform and the Swedish ELIXIR node. For more information, see the NBIS and SciLifeLab websites.
CONTACT:
info@nbis.se
National Genomics Infrastructure – Stockholm
NGI Stockholm consists of two groups; Genomics Production and Genomics Applications Development, and offers state-of-the-art service in the rapidly developing field of massively parallel DNA sequencing. Genomics Production offers library preparation and high-throughput sequencing followed by data processing and best practice analysis for a variety of well established applications. Genomics Production is Swedac accredited, which ensure that projects are completed in accordance with rigorous quality standards. Genomics Applications Development collaborates with researchers on applications not supported by Genomics Production.
CONTACT:
NGI Stockholm
support@ngisweden.se
Ellen Sherwood, Head of unit Genomics Production
ellen.sherwood@scilifelab.se
In Situ Sequencing
The in situ sequencing (ISS) unit provides spatially resolved gene expression data for panels of genes at subcellular resolution.
CONTACT:
Chika Yokota
iss@scilifelab.se
Biochemical and Cellular Assay
The Biochemical and Cellular Assay unit provide the drug discovery projects in the DDD platform with enzymatic and cellular assays using microplate based technologies. We support the drug discovery projects with analyze of the activity for newly synthesized molecules and biologicals in order to drive structure-activity explorations and thereby enabling the next round of design of a new molecular entities.
CONTACT:
Bo Lundgren
bo.lundgren@scilifelab.se
Last updated: February 1, 2024
Source: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics