The METi platform is now home to a fully automated cryo-electron microscope (Talos Arctica, ThermoFisher Scientific) equipped with a direct electron detection camera coupled to an energy filter (K2 summit BioQuantum, Gatan). This transmission electron microscope, dedicated to the high-resolution/high-throughput observation of biological and organic samples frozen in amorphous ice, is fully operational.
One of the major applications of electron cryomicroscopy is the determination of the 3D structure of macromolecules at near-atomic resolution. This approach, which has made it possible to access the structure of coronaviruses for example, opens up very significant prospects in structural biology, pharmacology, virology, enzymology, etc. During the qualification tests, an initial series of image acquisitions led to the determination of the structure of apoferritin, a «test» enzyme well known to structural biologists, at a resolution of 2.35 Å in a few days.
This Talos Arctica will also make it possible to study the three-dimensional structure of cells or other nano-objects, biological or otherwise, using cryo-electron tomography. With this new device, Toulouse is joining the currently very exclusive club of French sites equipped with high-throughput / high-resolution cryo-microscopes. Installed in the new 4R4 building of the Centre for Integrative Biology, the Toulouse Talos Arctica is open to projects from the local and national scientific community.
Contact and booking
- Contact: Stéphanie Balor
- Online booking
