Equipment

The ETH Flow Cytometry Core Facility (FCCF) is equipped with the following instrumentation for single cell analysis and purification:

The 4-laser BD LSRFortessa, which allows simultaneous single cell analysis of up to 18- parameters (16 colors) and is equipped with a high-throughput-sampler (HTS) for automated acquisition of cell suspensions in 96- and in 384-well plate format. The BD Accuri C6 offers a simpler configuration (up to 4 colors) and is also equipped with a plate reader for automated acquisition.

The two high-end cells sorters are: BD FACSAria III for biosafety level 1 (BSL1) material, and a BD FACSAria Fusion placed in a biosafety hood for BSL2 material. Both sorters are equipped with 5 lasers and allow analysis of up to 16 and 18 colors, respectively. These high-end-cell sorters enable high-speed bulk sorting (up to 25’000 processed events/second), as well as single cell sorting into 96- or 384-well plates.

GEML is setup for molecular biology, tissue culture experiments, and single cell analyses (10x Genomics). Moreover, in collaboration with the Functional Genomics Center Zurich (FGCZ), GEML operates state-of-the-art NGS instruments. Access to diverse quality control apparatus (Fragment Analyser, Tapestation, Qubit) as well as elegant medium-throughput quantification methods (i.e. digital droplet PCR) offer further experimental flexibility. Several published and validated whole genome libraries (human and mouse) are readily available in GEML.

NEXUS operates two fully integrated lab-automation systems. The first - designed for cell-based and biochemical assays - is equipped with devices that allow for automated cell seeding, liquid handling, compound addition as well as for different readout options under BSL2 conditions. With its two docking stations, the system can be individually adapted to the scientists assay requirements. Currently, devices for high-content readouts (Acumen Cellista, TTP Labtech) and spectroscopic readouts (M1000 plate reader, Tecan) can be connected to the system. In collaboration with ScopeM the acquisition of a screening microscope is planned for Q2 2020.

The second automation system is used for preparatory and routine work, e.g. bacterial library management, preparation of sub-libraries, or the purification of plasmid DNA (192 clones per hour). Further, a Light Cycler 480 (Roche) RT-PCR machine allows automated pipetting and measurement of HT-PCR in 384-well format experiments.

ScopeM offers numerous microscopes for all sorts of imaging experiments. For high-throughput projects, we currently run a wide-field fluorescent microscope (Image Express Micro from Molecular Devices) with a plate loader unit. The purchase of a new high-throughput confocal microscope (together with NEXUS) is in progress and should be completed in the first half of 2020. Both the old and the new microscopes can handle also live samples and support also bright-field (transmission) imaging. The image acquisition is supported by an extensive hardware and software infrastructure to enable the analysis and management of the acquired (typically quite large) datasets. ScopeM also runs some sample preparation equipment like a well-plate dispenser/washer, a BSL2 compatible cell culture lab etc.

The LAF is equipped with six liquid handling robots.

The Hamilton StarPLUS robotic system H0 is our work horse for maintaining mammalian cell cultures. The system can manage cell cultures of several groups simultaneously. Tasks like cell splitting, imaging, seeding of assay plates or media exchanges are automatically scheduled and prioritized via a database management system and allows the robot to run 24/7.
The Hamilton Star robotic system H1 is a second cell culture system dedicated to downstream processing of cell culture assay plates, like transfections, preparing cells for FACS, drug dose-response testing or time-lapse imaging. It carries all the functionalities of the cell culture maintenance system H0.
The Hamliton Star robot H2 is specifically equipped to peform any kind of biochemical assays. It carries 16 individual pipetting channels for increased pipetting speed. The integration of a plate sealer, a fluorescence plate reader, two temperature controlled modules, four shakers and a centrifgue allow for the execution of complex assay protocols like SEAP (secreted alkaline phosphatase) assays, DNA quantification using Picogreen or pipetting of dose-response curves.
H3 is a Hamilton Star liquid handling system build for simple liquid handling operations, like cherry picking or dilution of DNA, that do not require additional on-deck functionality.
The Tecan robotic system T0 is designed for molecular biology and biochemical assays. The use of highly precise liquid displacement pipetting channels allows transfers of volumes down to 0.5µl. Integration of many third party devices as well as the possibility to exchange plates with the robotic system T1 enables the automation of highly complex workflows such as gene assambly or together with T1 complete cloning campaigns with at-line microbial transformation, growth and clone picking.
The liquid handling robot T1 is equipped for microbial suspension cultures and colony picking. The integrated orbital shaker enables the cultivation of up to 16 x 96-well deep well plates at controlled temperature and shaking conditions (5 cm shaking diameter, up to 300 rpm). By use of a light table and integrated camera, microbial colonies can be selected from agar plates. The possibility to exchange plates with the robotic system T0 enables the automation of highly complex workflows.