{"id":200074,"date":"2023-06-19T07:30:52","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T11:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=200074"},"modified":"2023-06-20T10:23:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T14:23:35","slug":"microscopy-on-ice-with-uconn-healths-new-cryogenic-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/06\/microscopy-on-ice-with-uconn-healths-new-cryogenic-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"Microscopy on Ice with UConn Health\u2019s New Cryogenic Equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wolfgang Peti, <\/span>professor in UConn School of Medicine\u2019s Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, has recently obtained a $<\/span>1.5<\/span> million grant from the <\/span>National Institutes of Health (NIH)<\/span> through their National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)<\/span> and the Office of the Director (OD)<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>He<\/span><\/span><\/span> is using it to <\/span>purchase<\/span> a <\/span>new <\/span>state-of-the-art<\/span> cryo-<\/span>electron microscope that analyzes samples at below-freezing temperatures.<\/span> Key for successful funding was a strong collaboration between UConn Health, UConn, UMass Amherst<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> and Wesleyan University. Additionally<\/span>, Dr. Jianbin<\/span> Ruan, assistant professor in UConn School of Medicine\u2019s Department of Immunology, Dr. Rebecca Page, professor in UConn School of Medicine\u2019s Department of Cell Biology, and Dr. Meng Choy and Dr. Satish Padi, both assistant professors-in-residence <\/span><\/span><\/span>in UConn School of Medicine\u2019s Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics<\/span>, <\/span>have been critical contributors<\/span><\/span><\/span> to this important effort.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cryogenic electron microscopy, or cryo-EM, allows scientists to gain a three-dimensional picture of the molecules they are studying. It\u2019s one of the three most-used imaging techniques for structural biology, according to Peti. The two others, crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, are already in use at UConn Health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see something, it\u2019s much easier to understand,\u201d says Peti. \u201cThat\u2019s the attraction of structural biology<\/span> \u2014<\/span> really understanding something, both the overall look and the chemistry that it\u2019s doing. Ultimately, we can then use it for drug design and essential translational research problems.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are different levels of cryo-EM instruments, Peti explains, and the new instrument in Farmington will fill a critical gap in the New England research corridor. The highest-powered cryo-EM machines currently accessible in national facilities are even more expensive to acquire, and they require researchers to have ready-to-go samples to be able to use them. The machine in Farmington, in contrast, will be more accessible, opening its exciting molecular imaging technology to more scientists across the region and at UConn. It will also allow its users to <\/span>obtain <\/span><\/i>these ready-to-go samples to utilize the higher-powered machines by ensuring they have properly prepared their samples.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It will allow all of our students and coworkers to learn the technique. We can become experts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Peti is excited about the technology\u2019s relevance for UConn Health<\/span> \u2014<\/span> its researchers, its students, and eventually its patients.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt will allow all of our students and coworkers to learn the technique,\u201d he says. When samples had to be analyzed at external facilities, students didn\u2019t get the opportunity to observe and participate in the imaging process themselves. \u201cNow we can use it. We can become experts.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the new machine is acquired and installed, it will be used for structural biology analyses of human, animal, and viral samples. One of Peti\u2019s chief research interests is cell cycle regulation, specifically the functions of proteins within the cell that serve as \u201ccritical timing machines.\u201d In-house cryo-EM imaging will further enable his research into the structure and function of these proteins.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything goes wrong there, it leads to cancer,\u201d he explains. \u201cThat\u2019s why we are interested in understanding how they are working.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cryo-EM is a necessary addition to UConn Health\u2019s cutting-edge research facilities, says Peti. Having the full suite of microscopic imaging capabilities<\/span> \u2014<\/span> cryo-EM, crystallography, and NMR spectroscopy<\/span> \u2014<\/span> will ensure that the university can perform competitive research for decades to come.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to be doing really good research, you have to be able to use all the complementary techniques. The advantages of this technique are clear<\/span> \u2014<\/span> it requires an extremely small amount of sample to use,\u201d he says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The selected cryo-EM instrument, the \u201cTundra,\u201d will also be one of the first Tundra cryo-EM microscopes in the nation to be acquired with NIH funding.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re really at the forefront there,\u201d Peti says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cryogenic electron microscopy, which can produce 3D pictures of minute quantities of biological material, is a new forefront of research capabilities at UConn School of Medicine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":200079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2429,2407,2076,1868,2235,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2413],"class_list":["post-200074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards-scholarships","category-lab-notes","category-research","category-meds","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 15:38:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200074"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200189,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200074\/revisions\/200189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/200079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200074"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=200074"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=200074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}