Zeiss/Alvéole/CryoCapCell Live Imaging, Micropatterning and HPF workstation

The Workstation is designed with a CryoCapCell HPM Live μ High Pressure Freezing (HPF) System and an Alvéole Primo Micropatterning system that are coupled with a Zeiss LSM 900 Microscope. With the HPM Live μ HPF System, users are able to perform live imaging to screen and pinpoint the particular cell(s) or cellular event for which they need to “snapshot”, seconds before high-pressure freezing the sample, therefore making the HPF-fixed sample biologically relevant. In addition, the Alvéole Primo micropatterning system is capable of creating chemical patterns (such as UV-induced poly-glycine) on surfaces to control cell shape, positioning, and the microenvironment. Primarily utilized in biomaterials and cell biology, the system enables precise control over cell adhesion, differentiation, and organization. And it is also now being applied to Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) sample preparation to facilitate large-scale cell adhesion to grids, allowing for high-throughput data collection and 3D structural determination.