CryoEM facility (BioKEM): Our Titan KRIOS G3i came online in summer of 2020 and has invigorated structural biology at CU Boulder. It is operated by Mr. Chuck Moe through the BioKEM Facility. In 2021, it was upgraded TFS Falcon 4 Direct Detection Camera and a Selectris Imaging Filter. The instrument (dubbed ‘Princess Krios’) will soon be joined by a Glacios TEM (aka ‘the Duchess’). The instrument is being used by many labs at CU Boulder, and by academic and industry users from all over the country.
Glacios TEM: Glacios operations commenced fall 2023 in JSCBB and has expanded our cryoEM capabilities for robust screening and pursuit of high-resolution macromolecular reconstructions. Dr. Erik Hartwick operates the Glacios in the BioKEM Facility. The Glacios (dubbed ‘Duchess’) is equipped with a 200-keV X-FEG, Ceta 16M CMOS, and Gatan K3 direct electron detector. This instrument will rapidly enhance CU Boulder researchers’ ability to screen samples for both single particle analysis and tomography.
https://www.colorado.edu/facility/biokem/
Gradient Maker: We use our Gradient Maker to generate gradients used to purify macromolecular complexes through density gradient ultracentrifugation. Additionally, utilizing the method GraFix (Gradient Fixation), we can stabilize various complexes through intramolecular chemical cross-linking that can be used for single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). GraFix drastically reduces heterogeneity seen during EM grid preparation due to variations in particle dissociation.
Workstations: We use our workstation computers for scientific computing including molecular dynamics simulations and cyro-EM processing through the latest versions of CryoSPARC and/or RELION (REgularized LIkelihood OptimizatioN).