Center for Molecular Medicine
Dedicated to understanding the intricacies of cellular signaling, the Center for Molecular Medicine was built on Caltech's successes at the interface of chemistry and biology. It is focused on determining how complex systems of molecules interact to create the pathways that regulate the lives of cells and allow them to respond to their environments. Rather than just studying a complex biomolecule in isolation, an understanding of how it is part of a larger path of molecules is the purpose of its establishment. The Center was made possible by a generous grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
If use of the Center instrumentation has contributed significantly to your research, we request that you cite the Center in the acknowledgments section of your publication. For example: "This work was supported by…, and by the Center for Molecular Medicine at California Institute of Technology."
Instrumentation:
Crellin Room 260 (Bacterial)
- Flexstation 3
- Odyssey
- Nanodrop 2000
- QIAcube
- I2500 KC Incubator Shaker
- Innova 43 Incubator Shaker
- Avanti J-26 Centrifuge
- Ultrospec 10
- -80°C freezer
- Beckman LS 6000SC Scintillation Counter
- Tabletop microcentrifuge
Crellin Room 262 (Mammalian)
- Typhoon FLA 9000
- Amaxa 4D-Nucleofector
- CFX 96 Real-Time PCR Detection System
- Neon Transfection System
- Nikon SMZ1000 Microscope
- Nikon TS100 Microscope
- Clean Bench
- Laminar Flow Hoods
- Mammalian Tissue Culture CO2 Incubator
- Eppendorf Centrifuge 5706
- Refrigerator
- Tabletop microcentrifuge
- Water-bath
How to get access to CM2 and use the instruments in CM2?
1. Contact the appropriate caretakers for each instrument you would like to use for the instrument training.
2. Upon completion of training, contact Dina Malounda (malounda@caltech.edu) to get access.
People in the Facility:
- Faculty members:
Dr. Dennis Dougherty
Dr. Jacqueline Barton
Dr. Peter Dervan
Dr. Linda Hsieh-Wilson
Dr. Shu-ou Shan
Dr. Alison Ondrus
Dr. Mikhail Shapiro
- Lab Assistants:
Please see the table of equipment caretakers
- Safety Officer
Dina Malounda malounda@caltech.edu
Seminars:
Thursday afternoons
151 Crellin
12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Upcoming Seminars:
January 31, 2019 - David Romney
February 7, 2019 - Rebekah Silva
February 14, 2019 - Patrycja Kielb
February 21, 2019 - Elliot Mackrell
February 28, 2019 - George Mobbs
March 7, 2019 - Arash Farhadi
March 14, 2019 - Christopher J. Bley
Information on Instrumentation:
For training or troubleshooting, please contact the appropriate caretakers.
|
Equipment |
Caretaker |
Contact info |
|
Biosafety cabinet (TC hood) |
Alice Hsu |
|
|
Chemical fume hood |
Dina Malounda |
|
|
Amaxa 4-D Nucleofector |
John Thompson |
|
|
Benchtop centrifuges |
Dina Malounda |
|
|
Benchtop water bath |
Alice Hsu |
|
|
MilliQ water deionizer |
Brendan O'Boyle |
|
|
Typhoon FLA 9000 gel imager |
Siobhan MacArdle |
|
|
Inverted fluorescence microscope (Nikon TS100) |
Kun Miao |
|
|
Upright dissection microscope (Nikon SMZ1000) + Clean bench |
John Thompson |
|
|
Affinity ITC |
Stefan Petrovic |
|
|
Mammalian cell incubator |
Kun Miao |
|
|
BioRad qPCR (CFX 96 RT PCR) |
Wen Zhou |
|
|
4°C refrigerator |
Alice Hsu |
|
|
FlexStation microplate reader |
Stephen Grant |
|
|
Beckman Avanti J-26 floor centrifuge |
Alex Siegel |
|
|
-80°C freezer |
Brendan O'Boyle |
|
|
Nanodrop 2000 |
Dan Zhou |
|
|
Li-Cor IR imager |
Chien-I Yang |
|
|
Beckman Scintillation Counter |
Rebekah Silva |
|
|
Shaking incubator for bacteria |
Terry Kim |
|
|
Ultrospec cell density meter |
John Thompson |
|
|
QIAcube |
Xun Wang |
|
|
Neon transfection system |
Gracie Zhang |
|
|
Ice maker |
Trixia Buscagan |
Microplate reader with 5 read modes (including absorbance, fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, luminescence, and time-resolved fluorescence) with additional robot functionality (8-channel pipettor) to add liquid reagents.
Contact: Stephen Grant, sgrant@caltech.edu
Quantitative scanning of western blots at 700 and 800 nm.
Contact: Chien-I Yang, cyang3@caltech.edu
CFX 96 Real-Time PCR Detection System
Built upon the Bio-Rad C1000 96 well Thermal Cycler, utilizes filtered LEDs for excitation and is capable of monitoring 450-750 nM excitation/emission wavelength range. This system allows for simultaneous detection of up to 5 different fluorophores per reaction and is sensitive enough to detect one copy of target sequence in human genomic DNA.
Contact: Wen Zhou, wzhou@caltech.edu
Micro-volume full spectrum UV-Visible spectrophotometer for sample volumes as low as 0.5 µL.
Contact: Dan Zhou, dzhou@caltech.edu
Fully automated sample preparation of Qiagen spin-column kits (up to 12 samples per run) for purification of DNA, RNA or proteins.
Contact: Xun Wang, xwang2@caltech.edu
Floor-mounted shaker accepts up to 6-L flasks for culture.
Contact: Terry Kim, tdkim@caltech.edu
Floor-mounted temperature-controlled shaker accepts up to 6-L flasks for culture. Can go down to 5°C.
Contact: Terry Kim, tdkim@caltech.edu
Portable spectrophotometer for OD600 readings.
Contact: John Thompson, jthompso@caltech.edu
Intended for use as a back-up of individual lab freezers.
Contact: Brendan O'Boyle, bmoboyle@caltech.edu
High-resolution biomolecular imager capable of detecting storage phosphor, chemiluminescence, and multiplex fluorescence with 473 nm, 532 nm, and 625 nm excitation. Analysis done with ImageQuant software.
Contact: Siobhan MacArdle, smacardl@caltech.edu
Efficient electroporation of mammalian cells for transfection.
Contact: John Thompson (Hsieh-Wilson), x8119, jthompso@caltech.edu
High efficiency electroporation transfection device for primary cells, stem cells, and difficult-to-transfect cells. It is capable of transfecting 10 or 100 µL volumes.
Contact: Alison E Ondrus/Ondrus Lab, aondrus@caltech.edu
Used for dissections and imaging (transmitted light) with the camera attached. Zoom from 0.8 to 8X, in a clean bench to provide a sterile dissection/preparation work space.
Contact: John Thompson, jthompso@caltech.edu
Used for basic visualization of cultured cells at 10 and 20X, allowing for monitoring and counting cells.
Contact: Kun Mmiao, kmiao@caltech.edu
Provides sterile environment for sensitive dissections or microscope work.
Contact: John Thompson (Hsieh-Wilson), x8119, jthompso@caltech.edu
Laminar Flow Hoods/Biosafety Cabinets
Provides sterile environment for mammalian cell work.
Contact: Alice Hsu, ahhsu@caltech.edu
Mammalian Tissue Culture CO2 Incubator
Provides a controlled CO2 and temperature environment for cells during dissection, transfection or passaging done at the Center. It is intended for temporary use, and not long term housing of cultured cells.
Contact: Kun Miao, kmiao@caltech.edu
Tabletop centrifuge that can accomodate 15 or 50 mL conical tubes.
Contact: Dina Malounda, malounda@caltech.edu
Beckman LS 6000SC Scintillation Counter
The scintillation counter is designed to provide highly accurate, automated counting of the level of radioactivity in radioactivity-tagged samples. Instrument used to count radioactive samples. Note: New users must complete Radioactivity Safety Training with Haick Issaian (haick.issian@caltech.edu), the Institute Radiation Safety Officer, before getting access to the scintillation counte.
Contact: Rebekah Silva (Barton), x3202, rsilva@caltech.edu
Mailing address
Caltech Center for Molecular Medicine
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
MC 164-30
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125
USA