News

ULS Online Seminar - Chromium iX Single Cell Analysis System

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce the recent addition of the 10x Genomics Chromium iX single cell analysis system.   The system employs the NEXT GEM technology to partition cells or nuclei, and each of the partitions contains a bead that is coated with a unique oligonucleotide barcode sequence and functionalized sequences to capture molecules of interest, so that all fragments or information from the same cell or nucleus share a common barcode, giving a single-cell sample for downstream reactions to create short-read sequencing libraries.   Application: Single cell gene expression Single cell ATAC (Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin) Single cell immune profiling Single cell multiome ATAC + gene expression Single cell FIXED RNA profiling The ULS is co-organising an online seminar with Biostar Technology Limited on this system. It will cover the introduction of Chromium iX, its application and technical tips.   Title: 10x single cell site-pre presentation Date: 28 Feb 2023 (Tuesday) Time: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Lauguage: English Venue: Online via Zoom (https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84882588956?pwd=MkI4MndBUDYwSWt0TnVzSnlad00wUT09) Meeting ID: 848 8258 8956 Passcode: 067471   All are welcome!   Should you have any enquiries, please contact Dr. Ryan Chow (email: hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk)   Thank you for your attention.

New ULS Equipment - Chromium iX Single Cell Analysis System

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce the recent addition of the 10x Genomics Chromium iX single cell analysis system. The system employs the NEXT GEM technology to partition cells or nuclei, and each of the partitions contains a bead that is coated with a unique oligonucleotide barcode sequence and functionalized sequences to capture molecules of interest, so that all fragments or information from the same cell or nucleus share a common barcode, giving a single-cell sample for downstream reactions to create short-read sequencing libraries. Please refer to the ULS webpage for further details of the equipment, and contact Dr. Ryan Chow for any enquiries and for arranging for a training. Thank you very much for your attention.

New ULS Equipment - Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences is pleased to introduce an addition of the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer.   The 2100 bioanalyzer is a well-established tool for quality control of DNA, RNA and protein samples. It employs a fully automatic chip based microfluidic technology so that samples move from the injection point to the microchannels with the minimum sample consumption and faster analysis times. The samples are then electrophoretically separated and eventually detected by their fluorescence, resulting bands and peaks for data analysis interpretation.   Features and Applications: Sample requirement as low as 1µl RNA Integrity Number (RIN) Detection range DNA: 25 – 12000bp; quantitative range of 10 pg/µL – 50 ng/µl Small RNA: 6 – 150 nt; quantitative range of 50 – 2000 pg/µl Total RNA/mRNA: 250 pg/µl – 250 ng/µl Protein: 10-250 kDa; quantitative range of 0.3 – 3000 ng/µl Analysis of DNA/RNA library and fragmented DNA QC for NGS (sizing, quantitation, integrity, etc.) Protein purity check Quantitation of low protein abundance   Please refer to the ULS website for more information of the system.   For training session or other inquiry, please contact Dr. Ryan Chow (Tel: 34008057; Email: hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk).   Thank you very much for your attention.

New ULS Equipment - Covaris ME220 Focused-ultrasonicator

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences is pleased to introduce an addition of the Covaris ME220 Focused-ultrasonicator.   The Covaris ME220 focused-ultrasonicator uses the Adaptive Focused Acoustics (AFA) technology for sample preparation. It combines the integration of proprietary high-performance control electronics, medical-grade transducers, and custom-engineered acoustical cuvettes to reproducibly convert focused high-frequency acoustic energy into mechanical force in a tightly-defined region of the sample tube. It allows a temperature-controlled, non-contact and closed vessel environment to process samples with high-power acoustic energy, and gives traceable, highest quality, reproducible results.   Features and Applications: Operating temperature programmable from +6.0 °C to +40.0 °C Sample volumes: 15µl to 1ml Batch Size: 1 to 8 samples DNA/RNA extraction for NGS Extraction of complex cell-free DNA from blood plasma Mechanical shearing of DNA/RNA/chromatin for NGS Biomarker (nucleic acids, small molecules and peptides) extraction Cell lysis (mammalian, bacterial, yeast, etc.) Tissue lysis and extraction Please refer to the ULS website for more information of the system. For training session or other inquiry, please contact Dr. Ryan Chow (Tel: 34008057; Email: hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk).   Thank you very much for your attention.

Migration of ULS online booking system to URFMS (6)

ULS has kicked off the migration of the online booking system to University Research Facility Management System (URFMS, https://urfms.polyu.edu.hk/) which is developed and maintained by ITS. The initial stage of migration has been completed successfully in previous months. List of equipment in URFMS can be found in this link: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/uls/current-list-of-equipment-in-urfms/. The next phase of migration, which begins in the January 2023, includes the followings:   Progenesis QI software workstation 1 Progenesis QI software workstation 2 Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) Software workstation Bruker AmaZon Speed ESI-ion Trap-ETD Mass Spectrometer Bruker UltrafleXtreme MALDI-TOF-TOF Mass Spectrometer Waters ACQUITY H-Class UPLC with QDa Mass Detector   We have helped to transfer user data (Equipment Access) to the new system. Current users of the above equipment can now log in the system and prepare for the URFMS online account. Once completed simple registration procedures, online booking of the 6 equipment/software can then be made immediately for any date on or after 12th January 2023 (Thursday). Attached the guideline for user and supervisor, respectively.    User Guide-ULS-July.pdf User Guide for Supervisor.pdf   Below are some highlights of the migration:  New URFMS user needs to log in the system, agree the Terms and Conditions, add an emergence contact number and seek endorsement from supervisor through the system. Virtual ULS payment account is used for booking instead of a true research funding account, usage cost will be included in the current ULS monthly invoice. The virtual ULS payment account and invoice payment method is only applicable to the ULS system. Supervisor needs to approve user registration in the URFMS and agree the Terms and Conditions. Budget allocation and budget top-up is not needed. Supervisor can grant right to a team member to use the virtual ULS payment account. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Ryan Chow at 34008057 or hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk.   Thank you for your attention.

ULS Newsletter (8th Issue)

The 8th issue of the ULS newsletter has been issued. Please click the image below to view it online.   The ULS newsletter aims at introducing the latest technologies and innovations in life science, promoting new and existing equipment managed by the ULS, as well as encouraging users and principal investigators to connect with us. We welcome readers to give us comments and suggestions, as we strive to make our contents timely, relevant and interesting.   Thank you very much for your support.

Migration of ULS online booking system to URFMS (5)

ULS has kicked off the migration of the online booking system to University Research Facility Management System (URFMS, https://urfms.polyu.edu.hk/) which is developed and maintained by ITS. The initial stage of migration has been completed successfully in previous months. List of equipment in URFMS can be found in this link: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/uls/current-list-of-equipment-in-urfms/. The next phase of migration, which begins in the December, includes the following equipment:   Bertin Instruments Precellys Evolution Tissue Homogenizer Labconco Refrigerated CentriVap Vacuum Concentrators Logos Biosystems X-Clarity Tissue Clearing system BD Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer BD FACSVia Flow Cytometer BD FACSAria III Cell Sorter FUJIFLIM VEVO LAB and Flowing Software JASCO CPL-300 CPL Spectrometer   We have helped to transfer user data (Equipment access) to the new system. Current users of the above equipment can now log in the system and prepare for the URFMS online account. Once completed simple registration procedures, online booking of the 8 equipment can then be made immediately for any date on or after 12th December 2022 (Monday). Attached the guideline for user and supervisor, respectively.    User Guide-ULS-July.pdf User Guide for Supervisor.pdf   Below are some highlights of the migration:  New URFMS user needs to log in the system, agree the Terms and Conditions, add an emergence contact number and seek endorsement from supervisor through the system. Virtual ULS payment account is used for booking instead of a true research funding account, usage cost will be included in the current ULS monthly invoice. The virtual ULS payment account and invoice payment method is only applicable to the ULS system. Supervisor needs to approve user registration in the URFMS and agree the Terms and Conditions. Budget allocation and budget top-up is not needed. Supervisor can grant right to a team member to use the virtual ULS payment account. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Ryan Chow at 34008057 or hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk.   Thank you for your attention.

New ULS Equipment: Thermo Scientific Orbitrap IQ-X Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce that the following equipment is now available for booking.   The ULS has recently acquired a Thermo Scientific Orbitrap IQ-X Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS), which is an ultra-high resolution LC/MS specalised for small molecule analysis. This instrument has high mass accuracy, high sensitivity, fast acquisition rate and multistage fragmentation (MSn) function, allowing identification of unknown compounds in trace amount with high level of confidence. Major applications of this instrument include metabolomics, identification of drug metabolites, lipidomics, food analysis and environment analysis (e.g., study of transformation pathway of environmental chemicals). Please refer to the ULS webpage for further details of the equipment, and contact Dr So Pui-Kin (pui-kin.so@polyu.edu.hk/Tel: 34008797) for any enquiries and for arranging for a training.   Thank you for your attention.

New ULS Equipment - 10X Genomics Chromium iX Single Cell Analysis System

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce that the 10X Genomics Chromium iX Single Cell Analysis System will soon be available at the facility. The system employs the "Gel Bead-in-emulsion" (GEM) technology to barcode target of interest from single cell for downstream preparation of short-read sequencer-compatible libraries, such as single cell gene expression, single cell ATAC (Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin), single cell immune profiling and also single cell multiome ATAC and gene expression. In addition, other key NGS instruments will also be available at the ULS in the near future. Please stay tune for the update of installation and training arrangement. Thank you very much for your attention.

New ULS Equipment - Abberior STED Super-resolution Microscope

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce that the Abberior Facility STED Super-resolution/Confocal Microscope is now available for booking.  The new system is equipped with such features as time-gated signal detection to enhance lateral resolution, an additional depletion light path to enhance axial resolution, adaptive illumination to reduce photodamage, as well as deformable mirror-based adaptive optics to minimise sample-induced aberrations.  These enable researchers to perform super-resolution imaging on live cells as well as tissue sections.   Please contact Dr Michael Yuen for enquiries on its applications and for arranging for a training.   Thank you for your attention.