The Confocal Microscopy Platform of the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, coordinated by Dr. Esther Peña Sendra and in collaboration with the platform’s senior technician Dr. Josep Oriol Juan, is a biomedical research support platform specialized in image analysis that offers a wide range of services.
The mission of this platform, which is certified with ISO 9001:2015, is to advise on the experimental design, the choice of equipment according to the needs and training in the use of each group or research project, as well as the acquisition, quantification, and analysis of images to perform biomedical studies.
The professionals on this platform, in addition to advising on the preparation and/or approach of the studies, also offer training in the different techniques they use, such as immunofluorescence of 2 to 5 fluorochromes, the reconstruction of 3D images and 4D, colocalization studies, fluorescence microscopy, time lapse or anatomopathological studies of different tissues.
As a user of this platform, Dr. Eduard Gallardo, researcher at the Neuromuscular Diseases Research Group, explains that one of his lines of research is the discovery of new autoantibodies in seronegative myasthenia gravis.
“Confocal microscope analysis is becoming very important to evaluate the reactivity of both whole serum and purified IgG from patients against antigens located in the motor plate both in muscle biopsy sections and in human primary myoblasts. The insightful comments of Dr. Esther Peña have been very helpful in improving the quality of the images of our experiments.”
There are groups that practically do all their research in collaboration with this platform. It is the case of Dr. Gemma Arderiu, researcher in the Molecular Pathology and Therapeutics of Atherothrombotic and Ischemic Diseases group at IIB Sant Pau. He explains that “in 99% of our articles ‘Confocal Microscopy’ appears. We use it for many things, such as locating proteins at the level of the membrane, cytoplasm or nucleus, by seeing fluorescents. But what we use more is to see the interaction between two cells”.
This group studies the process of angiogenesis and for many of their studies they need to observe how the vessels are formed. “For example, we analyze endothelial cells and muscle cells to find out how they are organized with each other. Or, adipose tissue stem cells, which we have differentiated into endothelial cells and we want to see how these vessels are formed with different staining can be functional”.
Dr. Arderiu highlights that the Confocal Microscopy Platform is a strategic partner of its research group that brings excellence to its research. “Since I have been in Sant Pau I have collaborated very closely with Dr. Esher Peña and she has always made very valuable contributions to us. He gives us added value not only in terms of technique, but also with his conceptual knowledge which, without a doubt, helps us greatly improve the quality of our articles”.
