ThermoFisher Glacios Cryo-TEM

The ThermoFisher Glacios is a high-end, 200kV X-FEG cryogenic transmission electron microscope (CryoTEM) optimized for Single Particle Analysis (SPA), electron tomography, and micro-electron diffraction (microED). The Glacios is equipped with industry-leading Autoloader grid manipulation technology controlled by the ThermoFisher EPU software, allowing users to assess sample quality in a contamination-free environment. The microscope is also equipped with a Volta Phase Plate and Falcon4 Direct Electron Detector, making the Glacios both a stand-alone system for high-resolution SPA data acquisition, and a tool for pre-optimization of sample quality before transfer to a Krios CryoTEM system.

The Glacios fills the gap in high-end electron imaging for a variety of research areas, including structural biology, medicine, chemistry and biochemistry. Specifically, techniques such as SPA and microED are designed to determine structures of proteins, protein complexes, and small molecules at near-atomic resolution, while eliminating exclusionary sample preparation steps. For example, vitrification of biological samples permits users to sidestep the crystallization process, allowing analysis of a wide range of targets, from small, single proteins to large protein complexes. Further, the complete automation of samples manipulation allows users to pre-screen up to 12 grids at once, making it easy to optimize experimental parameters before extended data collection. Additionally, because electrons have much stronger interactions with small crystals compared to X-rays, microED application allows users to obtain solvable structures from nanocrystals (~100 nm) that would be inadequate for standard X-ray techniques. The ±70° alpha tilt capabilities of the Glacios sample stage along with the added contrast of the Volta Phase Plate also provides state-of-the-art cryo-electron tomography capabilities for ion-milled or cryo-sectioned specimens.

The Glacios sample prep lab has been constructed to provide users will the tools they need for successful sample preparation and imaging, all in one space. We provide access to our CryoTEM glow discharge system, a new FEI Vitrobot for plunge freezing, and liquid nitrogen dewars for short-term sample storage. The Glacios CryoTEM instrument room and sample preparation facilities have been specifically designed to reduce humidity and temperature fluctuations to ensure a high-quality environment for our users.

This instrument was purchased with partial financial support from the National Institutes of Health.