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Alumni Magazine

New biological imaging capabilities strengthen Triangle research

Aaron Bell and Chloe Eater, graduate student, using the new Hitachi HT7800 bio-TEM.
Aaron Bell and Chloe Eater, graduate student, using the new Hitachi HT7800 bio-TEM.

The College of Engineering’s Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF) has brought in new equipment, making it an area leader in biological imaging — complementing nearby facilities and strengthening research infrastructure in North Carolina’s Research Triangle region.

AIF is NC State’s primary shared facility for materials characterization. It draws researchers from across NC State, as well as from Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and companies located in Research Triangle Park.

“We have capitalized further on our existing high-end instruments to enhance the convergence of physical, biological and life sciences research, which is a broad international trend. The new equipment provides more opportunities to help NC State and other universities move their research forward,” said Shadow Huang, former associate director of AIF and associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The instruments include a new bio-transmission electron microscope (bio-TEM), cryo scanning electron microscope (SEM), freeze fracture system, high pressure freezer, freeze substitution unit and an ultramicrotome. The high-pressure freezer is one of only two in North Carolina, and there are only a few other ACE900 freeze fracture instruments in the U.S.

Aaron Bell, bio electron microscopy staff scientist, specializes in animal samples and started working at AIF in 2019. Jin Nakashima, a senior research scholar who is a plant specialist, started last October. Together, they lead AIF’s Bio Sample Preparation Lab and assist researchers who want to use electron microscopy to analyze their biological samples in ways that a few years ago wouldn’t have been possible at the facility.

The freeze fracture instrument in particular opens up new opportunities for AIF. When biological samples are frozen and fractured, they tend to break apart along the cell membranes, enabling researchers to see inside of the membrane, explained Bell. After fracturing, the sample is coated with metal and carbon to create a cast of the proteins on the surface of the fractured area.

“I think of it as a topographical map,” Bell said. “It has all these little bumps and looks very three-dimensional, and you can look over a whole cell in one shot as opposed to using a TEM, where you’re sectioning through the whole thing.”

With the new equipment and expertise also comes a new undergraduate and graduate student course. NC State’s Office of Research and Innovation approached AIF about connecting with the Biotechnology Program to develop the course, Introduction to Biological Electron Microscopy Techniques. Started in spring 2022, it is focused on methods used to prepare samples for electron microscopy and covers a range of techniques and equipment.

AIF has already seen a high demand for the equipment.

“We have people from forestry and textiles and the vet school looking at ticks, salivary glands, cellulose fiber and bacteria — you name it,” Bell said. “We have a lot of researchers interested in our facilities.”

Interest and use of the equipment across NC State’s campus:

  • College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: 35.3%
  • College of Engineering: 26.5%
  • College of Sciences: 17.6%
  • College of Veterinary Medicine: 14.7%
  • College of Natural Resources: 2.9%