[3dem] Negative Stain on a Benchtop Microscope

[Cliff Mathisen]

Hello CryoEM Community,

Negative stain is still a widely used and helpful technique for optimizing samples in the single particle workflow. However, many of the workhorse microscopes used for negative stain imaging such as Morgagnis, T12's, and CM12's, are at the end of life. Finding parts for these can be difficult or impossible. Some cryoEM labs have opted out of negative stain altogether as lab space is too constrained for a traditional TEM, high tension tank, computer racks, chiller, and other peripheral components.

Our applications team has done significant exploration and optimization using the Phenom Pharos benchtop STEM for negative stain imaging. The results we can achieve from such a small microscope are impressive (please see the example of apoferritin below). Several SPA labs have recently added the Phenom into their workflows specifically for this purpose. The Phenom doesn't require any facilities modifications, sits on a lab bench, loads samples in less than a minute, and produces beautiful images quickly. No chiller, high tension tank, or server rack are required. The Phenom's lower accelerating voltage also produces higher contrast which eliminates the need for uranium-based stains. This removes a barrier to entry from a Health and Safety perspective. The Phenom's compact footprint means it can be placed in the cryoEM facility and can also be placed directly where protein purification takes place. The Phenom has a far lower cost to own and maintain than a traditional TEM. The amount customers save on an SMA alone pay for the Phenom in just a few years.

In the spirit of letting the community know about useful tools, please find a link to one of our recent blog posts, below. The video in the post is particularly nice to watch as it shows you how you can go from an TEM grid in the hand to high resolution results in two minutes. Our team is happy to run negative stain samples on the Phenom Pharos for labs in the US at no cost. We can point you in the right direction if your lab is outside of the US. If you have any questions about the Phenom Pharos for negative stain imaging, please let me know!

Link to Negative Stain Blog:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nanoscience.com/blogs/5-reasons-to-use-a-desktop-stem-to-screen-negatively-stained-samples/__;!!Mih3wA!GeFQJUq1F2LxyltW5KXjwgfxh_zDfxGHt9HYWcKZz2gbtcmJFmI1P1b7l12R1O11a17hrNyLrm7qQcJ46yqaL3h9$ 

Best,

Cliff

[cid:image003.png at 01DC2E21.7DA89170]
Sample courtesy of Misha Kopylov, NYSBC

[cid:image001.jpg at 01DC2CA2.E995E070]

Cliff Mathisen - Account Manager for EM and Cryo Solutions
Nanoscience Instruments, Inc
Mobile: 978-376-8780
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.nanoscience.com__;!!Mih3wA!GeFQJUq1F2LxyltW5KXjwgfxh_zDfxGHt9HYWcKZz2gbtcmJFmI1P1b7l12R1O11a17hrNyLrm7qQcJ468OgTAlV$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.nanoscience.com/__;!!Mih3wA!GeFQJUq1F2LxyltW5KXjwgfxh_zDfxGHt9HYWcKZz2gbtcmJFmI1P1b7l12R1O11a17hrNyLrm7qQcJ467L_h52N$ >

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