MRI is the cell imaging facility of the Montpellier region. It offers access to cutting-edge instruments for optical and electron microscopy, flow cytometry, and X-ray micro-tomography.

More than 30 engineers are at the service of approximatively 750 active users. The instruments are housed in seven sites that mirror the distribution of the Life Science research campuses of the region. MRI’s mission is to support research by offering the most recent and sophisticated imaging instruments and image analysis solutions.

 

Application portfolio:

There are many imaging applications for Life Science. Here are few examples:

  • Ultrastructural studies
  • Identification of rare events/cells (e.g., circulating tumour cells), of sub-populations by flow cytometry or automated microscopy
  • Cloning of cells of interest, isolation of tissues for proteomic or genomic analyses
  • Imaging of hard tissues and morphological analyses, including comparative morphology and creation of virtual anatomical atlases
  • 3D reconstruction of objects (from microscopic structures to samples of centimetres in size)
  • Dynamic studies of biological functions

Main expertise/Services:

  • Multi-parameter cell sorting
  • X-ray micro-tomography and 3D reconstruction
  • F-techniques in optical microscopy (FRAP, photoactivation, FLIM, FRET, FLIM, FCS)
  • Observation from milliseconds to weeks
  • Super-resolution microscopy (SIM, PALM)
  • Scanning and transmission electron microscopy and 3D tomography
  • Large-scale microscopy (high-content screening, virtual slides, Serial Block Face Imaging)
  • Imaging of lipids, proteins and secondary metabolites without labelling
  • Automated image analysis, remote data storage and analysis

We develop original non-commercial solutions, such as super-resolution microscopes (SIM, PALM) as well as innovative tools for image analysis and management.

Access and service policy:

We pledge to offer to users the most advanced and complete techniques. Therefore, our services range from advice on the experimental set-up and choice of instrument, training and help in the use of our instruments, to the final analysis of images/data.

MRI is open to the private and academic sectors without any thematic, institutional or geographical restriction. Users operate the instruments on their own, with the exception high speed cell sorters by flow cytometry. Access to our instruments is fee-based, but it is not linked to the establishment of collaborations.

MRI is part of the France-BioImaging Montpellier node, a French national infrastructure dedicated to imaging techniques in biology (PIA). It has the GPTR and IBiSA labels and the ISO 9001 and NFX 50-900 certifications for all the optical microscopy, flow cytometry and X-ray micro-tomography services.

Publications

Applications notes:

  platform website

 

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