QB3 Research Facilities
Structure Determination | High-Throughput Screening
| Genomics and Protemics | Informatics
| Imaging | Bioengineering
QB3 researchers enjoy access to world-class instrumentation, technologies, and materials.
Access to these resources enables scientists and engineers to develop devices, drugs, and therapies
that save human lives, as well as technologies to prevent or mitigate environmental damage and improve
energy production and use.
This page features two kinds of facilities: 1) Core facilities that are accessible
to QB3 faculty affiliates and in some cases the broader Biosciences community, and 2)
Non-core facilities that may be accessible to QB3 faculty affiliates by special arrangement.
QB3 faculty affiliates are invited to visit the password-protected Intranet and
click on Research Facilities for notes on access, training, cost, and other details.
QB3 research facilities serve six general research areas:
Structure Determination
Beamline 8.3.1 at the
Advanced Light Source at LBNL
This facility is owned jointly by Robert Stroud, professor of biochemistry &
biophysics and pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF, Thomas Alber, professor of biochemistry &
molecular biology at UCB, and James Berger, associate professor of biochemistry & molecular
biology at UCB. This is a national facility that generates bright synchrotron light for studies
in materials science, biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental sciences. The beamline uses
a superconducting bend magnet in the 6-18keV range to deliver light through an optical obstacle
course in order to resolve a protein structure. Core facility.
Central California 900 MHz NMR Spectrometer Facility at UCB
To be established by David Wemmer and Tracy Handel, the facility will feature 13 NMRs
(including 800 and 900 MHz machines), and will be installed in the new Stanley Biosciences and
Bioengineering Facility in 2006. Core facility.
Macromolecular X-ray Crystallography Facility at UCSC
Under Harry Noller, professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology, and Alice
Vrielink and Bill Scott, professors of chemistry and biochemistry, the facility houses a
state-of-the-art rotating anode/imaging plate X-ray crystallography data collection suite,
a cryosystem, and a collection of computer workstations and software for crystallographic
computations, molecular visualization, and model building. This facility dovetails with the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source synchrotron radiation facility.
Core facility.
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory at UCSF
Directed by Thomas L. James, professor and chair of pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF, the facility
includes 600 MHz and 500 MHz spectrometers for high-resolution studies of macromolecules including the
solution structure of proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes. Core facility.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility at UCSC
This facility in the department of chemistry and biochemistry is used to examine molecular structure
and folding in studies involving structure and biochemical mechanisms of cancer and anticancer therapies
and environmental toxins. It houses three different high-resolution NMR spectrometers.
Core facility.
Return to top
High-Throughput Screening
The Bay Area
Screening Center in the Center for Advanced Technology at UCSF
Established by Kip Guy, UCSF assistant professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and QB3 faculty affiliate,
BASC provides Biosciencesers with improved access to the knowledge, equipment, and reagents
needed to carry out high-throughput screening techniques, without heavy investment in infrastructure
or purchase of expensive libraries. On an interim basis, the BASC screening capabilities remain housed
at the Gallo Center in Emeryville and the computational facilities at UCSF's Genentech Hall. In early
2005, the center will consolidate all operations in UCSF's new QB3 building, adjacent to the
combinatorial chemistry facility. Core facility.
Return to top
Genomics and Proteomics
Microarray Facility at UCSC
Established by Manuel Ares, professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology at UC Santa Cruz,
and managed by microarray technology specialist Lily Shiue, this resource facilitates large-scale analysis
of alternative splicing and comparative genomics.Core facility.
Proteomics Facility at UCSC
Designed to perform large-scale comparisons in protein expression, this facility houses an Amersham
Ettan proteomics lab with differential gel electrophoresis technology. It is collaboratively operated by
chemistry and biochemistry professors Ted Holman and Tony Fink and environmental toxicology professor Don
Smith.Core facility.
The UCSF Core Facility for Genomics and Proteomics in the Center for Advanced Technology at UCSF
This facility was established by Joe DeRisi, assistant professor of biochemistry & biophysics at
UCSF, Erin O'Shea, professor and vice chair of biochemistry & biophysics at UCSF, and Jonathan Weissman,
professor of cellular & molecular pharmacology. The facility is fully equipped to whole genome approaches,
in particular expression profiling.Core facility.
Return to top
Informatics
Resource for Biocomputing, Visualization, and
Informatics at UCSF
This facility was established by Tom Ferrin, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and biopharmaceutical
sciences at UCSF. This facility provides access to state-of-the-art computer graphics hardware and software
for research on biomolecular structures and interactions. It houses the Computer Graphics Laboratory, an
NIH National Center for Research Resources Biomedical Technology
Research Center for the integrated analysis of biological sequence, structure, and functional information.
The other major components of the Center include the
Babbitt Laboratory and the Sequence Analysis and Consulting Service (SACS). Core facility.
Return to top
Imaging
Electron Spin Resonance Facility at UCSC
Managed by Glenn Millhauser, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, the facility houses a Bruker
ESP 380 X-band spectrometer that operates in either continuous-wave or pulsed mode at variable temperatures
and a high-sensitivity Bruker ExexSys 500 for limited sample sizes needed for many biological studies.
Non-core facility available by special arrangement only.
Mass Spectrometry Facility at UCB
Details to come… This resource will be installed in the new Stanley Biosciences and Bioengineering
Facility in 2006. Core facility.
Margaret Hart Surbeck Laboratory of Advanced Imaging at UCSF
Established by Sarah Nelson, professor and chair of the division of bioengineering at UCSF, the facility
will have a 3 Tesla and a 7 Tesla magnets for high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance
spectroscopy (MRS) to study the physical and metabolic details of human tissues.
Core facility.
W.M. Keck Advanced Microscopy Laboratory at UCSF
Being established by David Agard, director of QB3 at UCSF, HHMI investigator and professor of biochemistry
and biophysics at UCSF, and John Sedat, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF, this facility specializes
in developing improved light microscopes and high-resolution cryo-electron tomography and single particle methods.
Non-core facility available by special arrangement only.
Return to top
Bioengineering
Biomolecular Nanotechnology Center
at UCB
Directed by Luke Lee, professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley, the center will be installed in the new Stanley
Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility in 2006. The center’s goals are to 1) create realistic nanoscale probes
and soft-state biologic devices for the quantitative measurements of biological signals in molecular and cellular levels,
and use those analysis to identify critical biological pathways; 2) develop practical Biologic Application Specific ICs
(BASICs) to build up the foundation of systems biology; and 3) use this knowledge to establish a new platform for future
preventive medicine. Core facility.
Nanosecond Time-Resolved Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory at UCSC
The department of chemistry and biochemistry contains several systems capable of measuring different time-resolved
spectra from the far ultraviolet to the near infrared regions for a wide variety of research applications. Non-core
facility available by special arrangement only.
Return to top
|
