Ultrastructural imaging (360G-Wellcome-212912_Z_18_Z)

This application is for funds to purchase a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and necessary accessories to enable post-embedding immuno-electron microcopy to be performed. We also request funds for salary support for a full-time specialist technician to oversee tissue preparation, sectioning and microscope operation. The microscope will be located within the imaging facility within Capella (due to open in November 2018), a new research-dedicated building on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC), which will house the Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (CSCI) and the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease (CITIID), and will be available for use by other research groups across the CBC. Access to ultrastructural imaging is essential for many research groups working with Capella and across the CBS. This investment will establish a core EM facility on the CBC, the importance of which is reflected by both the large number of PIs who have expressed their support for this application and the wide range of research questions for which ultrastructural imaging data will play a key role. The establishment of a core EM research facility for the CBC will provide the basis for subsequent expansion, enabling, for example, addition of equipment for 3D ultrastructural reconstruction.