Imaging Facility : PRISM

Presentation
 

The imaging facility PRISM (Platform of Resources in Imaging and Scientific Microscopy) has been created to develop and provide access to state-of-the-art microscopes and together with expertise in optical microscopy and image analysis.

Fully integrated in the Institute of Developmental Biology and Cancer (IBDC CNRS UMR 6543) in the Valrose campus and Antoine Lacassagne Cancer Centre, the platform coordinates the imaging needs and provides expertise for research groups using a wide variety of biological models including cultured cells, yeast ( S. cerevisiae and C. albicans ), worms ( C. elegans ), flies ( D. melanogaster ), zebrafish, and mice, to address a range of fundamental scientific questions using different approaches.

The Imaging facility is also accessible to external users. With MICA - Microscopy and Imaging Côte d'Azur - , PRISM is part of a joint imaging facility for 7 institutes which has been labelled IBiSA . Based on this partnership, these different platforms coordinate their development to provide the largest panel of advanced microscopy techniques. PRISM is also member of Complex Optical and Imaging Systems Competivitity Cluster OPTITEC, and hence the platform is open to a wide variety of academic and industrial partners in the scientific community.

PRISM is located in Valrose Campus ( Nice-Sophia Antipolis University ).

Platform's missions

The platform's mission is centered on three main axes:

	Provide access to microscopy users of the platform (wide-field, deconvolution, confocal, multi-photon, S.H.G., laser microsurgery, spinning disk confocal).
	Provide teaching, assistance and expertise to imaging users.
	Develop new techniques with respect to image acquisition and analyses in collaboration with the IBDC research groups and external partners. We recently installed in the Institute, Second Harmonic Generation Microscopy, Reflection Interference Contrast Microscopy, and a range of analyses tools, such as colocalisation based on 2D correlation, ratiometric quantification, PSF Analysis, PALM Microscopy, etc .

Within the framework of the Réseau Technologique "Microscopie de Fluorescence Multidimensionnelle" and groupement de recherches "Microscopie Fonctionnelle du Vivant" , the platform is in contact with the other microscopy facilities, to exchange on the state-of-the- art microscopy technologies.

Terms of service

Access to platform equipment is open to IDBC staff and to external users, with priority given to the former. Microscope use requires online pre-booking, which is basis for invoicing (see the price ). Institute staff can access booking via the intranet, and external users via email (prism@unice.fr).

New users are trained by the facility staff to be autonomous on the microscopes. They also have to accept the users charter.

List of Equipments:

	3 Wide-field microscopes (Zeiss Axiovert200M with Coolsnap HQ or with Coolsnap EZ, Nikon TI-E with Andor camera).
	3 confocal microscopes (Zeiss LSM 510 META ; Leica TCS SP1 ; Leica SPE).
	multi-photon microscope (Zeiss NLO 510) including SHG and Laser microsurgery
	Spinning disk microscope (Olympus/ Andor technology)
	Deconvolution microscope (DeltaVision).

More details of the equipments…

Contacts.

     For additional questions, you can contact directly prism@unice.fr.