Array Tomography with EM Services

The core no longer supports AT imaging due to a lack of accessible hardware. We will still section the array if you want to run your AT at your institution.

 

Please sign in to our database to request AT or EM services

https://ppms.us/hms-neuroimaging/

Please contact Mahmoud el_Rifai to schedule your first validation meeting.

Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm

Samples must be dropped off during working hours.

Offline workstations with ImageJ are provided for post acquisition.

Long term data storage is not provided. Users must use their own collaboration folders on the HMS server. External users will provide an FTP or dropbox location for data storage. 

FYI: Typical dataset exceed 3TB. Be prepared for large dataset storage.

Mahmoud el_Rifai
Array Tomography Technician
Goldenson Building – Room 243
617.432.1683
mahmoud_el_rifai@hms.harvard.edu

Array Tomography Protocols

Sample preparation protocol

Please have your sample perfused, fixed and washed according to the protocol prior to drop off. You are responsible for selecting the area to be imaged. You will inform the Array Tomography technician of your intention for ribbon thickness. The AT technician will work with you on the orientation.

1) Your sample will be cut into ribbons at your preferred thickness.

2) Ribbons will be stained with approved antibodies. Antibody list and staining order can be located below. Please note that you are not restricted to the list of antibodies below, however we cannot guarantee that other antibodies will work well with LR white sections.

Approved Primary Antibodies

Staining Sequence

3) All staining will be done by the AT technician in a clean environment to decrease imaging artifacts. Images will be captured and you will receive the raw data along with the final z-stack. Analysis can be done on one of our workstations or you may contact IDAC for more complex analysis.

This facility is supported by the Neural Imaging Center as part of an NINDS P30 Core Center grant #NS072030. All publications must acknowledge this P30 grant number. Please Contact NIF and tell us when you publish your data. We must keep track of all publications as stipulated by our grant.

Service Fees

In accordance with Harvard University Finance Rules: Rate changes will occur July 1, 2017. Harvard requires service centers (cores) to evaluate fee structures and determine fees based on public funding rules and non-profit status. Rates are determined by the cost of maintaining equipment, personnel salary and benefits, square footage and hours used. 

The pricing is broken down info projects and cost/project External users are required to pay F&A (Facilities and Administrative cost) to Harvard University. This price is set by Harvard and is $99/sqft by the number of total hours external users are using the space.

We are more than happy to show you how to image and align your images to save cost. This frees up our technician for the more critical steps of AT (allowing him to take on more projects). Please inquire for training.