Arctis Cryo-PFIB wins Microscopy Today Innovation Award at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2023
The Thermo Scientific Arctis Cryo-Plasma Focused Ion Beam (Cryo-PFIB), a dedicated microscope for cryo-lamella preparation for cryo-electron tomography, was awarded a 2023 Microscopy Today Innovation Award at this year’s Microscopy & Microanalysis (M&M) conference.
![Arctis Cryo-PFIB collaborators with Microscopy Today Innovation Award Arctis Cryo-PFIB collaborators with Microscopy Today Innovation Award](https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/atomic-resolution/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2023/08/award-1024x975.jpeg)
Dr. Jim Naismith, Director at Rosalind Franklin Institute and collaborator in the development of the Arctis Cryo-PFIB (left) and Thermo Fisher’s John Mitchels (right).
The Arctis Cryo-PFIB was introduced at M&M 2022 following a strategic collaboration with The Rosalind Franklin Institute to innovate cryo-electron microscopy technology.
Thermo Fisher Scientific and The Rosalind Franklin Institute began working together in 2019, using existing technology to understand and determine what’s next for cryo-electron microscopy, and where innovation would be needed to create the next generation of instrumentation.
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With the introduction of the Arctis Cryo-PFIB came several innovations designed to help users prepare optimal samples for cryo-electron tomography. The microscope enables higher throughput lamella preparation, features an integrated fluorescence light microscope at the coincidence point of electron and ion beams, autonomous nitrogen cooling that enables multi-day operation, and a robotic sample loading system for up to 12 samples that can be transferred directly to the cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM).
Rebecca Pool, PhD, editor of Microscopy & Analysis, recently spoke with Thermo Fisher product manager Alex Rigort, PhD, about the development of the Arctis Cryo-PFIB and how cryo-electron tomography could make a real real difference for cell biologists.
Rigort “was instrumental to the development of ‘Arctis’ from its very beginning and has long been exploring the best ways to study biological structures – he is confident the instrument is set to change the way we see cells,” she wrote.
The advantage of cryo-electron tomography
Cryo-electron tomography enables the study of proteins and other molecule interactions in a cellular context, at resolutions unsurpassed by other microscopy techniques, and holds enormous potential for cell biology research.
The combination of cryo-FIB and cryo-TEM makes this technique a powerful tool for in situ structural cell biology. It can be used to unravel fundamental cellular processes and provide critical insights, for example, for understanding infectious diseases or neurodegenerative disorders.
Cryo-electron tomography bridges the gap between light microscopy and atomic resolution techniques such as single particle analysis, providing both structural information about individual proteins and their spatial arrangement in the cell. The systematic production of lamellae from cellular samples is a key technology for this.
Cryo-lamella preparation has become essential for cellular electron tomography. Without cryo-FIB lamellae, electron tomograms cannot be acquired from inside cells as it is necessary for the samples to be electron-transparent. The cryo-FIB technique has gained popularity quite rapidly in the last 10 years since its development and is now used in hundreds of tomography laboratories. Yet, cryo-electron tomography on cellular samples remains a time-consuming and complex procedure.
Arctis Cryo-PFIB offers advanced preparation of cellular samples for cryo-electron tomography
Based on feedback from the cryo-electron microscopy community, Thermo Fisher developed the Arctis Cryo-PFIB to further advance the preparation of cellular samples for electron tomography.
The microscope meets the requirements for lower contamination, longer run times, correlative microscopy, improved connectivity to the cryo-TEM, as well as higher throughput rates and a higher degree of automation. Its PFIB technology also enables applications that are not covered by liquid metal ion source (LMIS) FIB systems. For example, it is possible to use the different milling properties of the three available ion beams to produce a high-quality sample while avoiding gallium implantation effects. The system enclosure is designed with biosafety in mind and an a heat decontamination solution is optionally available for higher biosafety level labs (e.g. BSL 3).
In analogy to the development of the automated cryo-TEM about 15 years ago, Thermo Fisher sees a similar significance of its Arctis Cryo-PFIB for the advancement of cryo-electron microscopy technology.
The Thermo Scientific Arctis Cryo-PFIB is expected to accelerate cryo-electron tomography research and its potential applications. With the development of this microscope, Thermo Fisher aims to further improve the applicability and usability of the cryo-FIB technique, enable an end-to-end tomography workflow for new and experienced users and significantly increase the number of biological samples that can be prepared for structural biology analysis, and contribute to cryo-electron tomography becoming a frontier technique in cell biology.
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