The Pasteur - Paris University International Doctoral Program

Technological platforms  (core facilities)

Imagopôle

The Pasteur Imagopole contains all the up to date equipment that is necessary for projects needing advanced imaging techniques. At present there are three technological platforms in the Imagopole whose mission is to offer the best and newest imaging techniques available in research. Moreover, a center for human immunology has recently opened at Institut Pasteur. Trainings exist for several instruments and technologies.

1) Core facility for Flow Cytrometry
2) Core facility for Dynamic Imaging
3) Core facility for Ultrastructural Microscopy
4) Centre of Human Immunology


1) Flow Cytometry: This platform mainly deals with two aspects, flow cytometry analysis and imaging or cell sorting by flow cytometry and/or magnetic beads. They possess two cell sorters, one FACSAria (BD BIOSCIENCES) and one MOFLO (BECKMAN and COULTER), three different Multipurpose flow cytometers (BD BIOSCIENCES) and an autoMACS™ Separator, a benchtop automated magnetic cell sorter. Most of the equipment can be used by everybody after having taken a little training. Once this is achieved the machines can be reserved by Internet and used alone.

2) Dynamic Imaging: The PFID is a technological "plate-forme" providing researchers with the equipment and expertise to realize and analyse experiments requiring advanced digital-imaging microscopy. In particular, "Dynamic" imaging which targets living cells and tissues, with the aim of measuring functional dynamics of biological processes occurring in space and time. The facility consists of a collection of imaging stations (currently 12-15) each customized to specific applications, and these are connected into a high-speed local network based around a SGI Origin 3400 server system, designed to facilitate handling large datasets. Moreover, a suite of imaging computers and software are available for advanced image processing and/or analysis. The imaging stations are each isolated (one to two per room) inside P2 dark-rooms providing a level of biological risk control sufficient for most common biological samples including live pathogens. The PFID is open to researchers, at local, national, and European international levels. Certain equipments can be used by everybody after training. The machines can be reserved by Internet and used alone.

3) Ultrastructural microscopy: The (plateforme de microscopie ultrastructurale) PFMU consists of high resolution ultrastructural analysis aimed at answering scientific questions at the subcellular level in collaboration with researchers at the Pasteur Institute and with other research centres. Within these projects, new approaches and technologies are developed and implemented specifically to obtain the best performance when answering specific questions. The PFMU proposes different techniques adapted to the scientific question and the constraint of the sample to study.  These are of two types: room temperature preparation by chemical fixation, and low temperature preparation (high pressure freezing or by immersion).
The analyses of these samples are made by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) or Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) at room or low temperature. The PFMU’s staff provides training for these different techniques on demand.

4) Center for Human Immunology: The CIH is a translational research centre at the Institut Pasteur, dedicated to researchers and clinicians engaged in human subject and pre-clinical studies. The mission of the CIH is to facilitate the development of collaborative projects between basic researchers and clinicians and to establish a scientific community of clinically-oriented scientists and research-oriented clinicians around the shared desire to advance research in human immunology. The CIH technology platform is available to member-labs (register at their web-page). As a fee-for-service, there is access to the FACSAriaII cell sorter, a Luminex (flexible analyzer based on the principles of flow cytometry that enables one to multiplex up to 100 analytes in a single microplate, using very small sample volumes on many assay formats including nucleic acid assays, receptor-ligand assays, immunoassays and enzymatic assays) and ImageStream for researchers at the Institut Pasteur. The CIH organizes trainings for these machines.