Resources available for MIMIT PhD

In order to best carry out all the research activities for the various research projects of the doctoral students, in the laboratories participating in the doctorate (for the Department of Experimental Medicine and Biology) there are a large number of people with high technical competence in order to follow the doctoral student along the training path. As regards materials, instrumentation and machinery overall, the doctoral student can have access to various consumable materials and reagents, as well as numerous and varied types of instruments and equipment: for example, instruments for gel electrophoresis (for RNA and DNA), for two-dimensional electrophoresis, instrumentation for performing Western Blots, automatic nucleic acid extractor, UV transilluminators, gel-Doc, luminometers / spectrophotometers (capillaries / plate), thermocyclers for nucleic acid amplification, Real time PCR and Digital droplet PCR (Biorad) for quantifications of nucleic acids, fluorometer, refrigerated benchtop centrifuges, benchtop centrifuges, ultracentrifuges, readers for toxicity assays, cell counters, optical reader for ELISA plates, Washer for automatic washing of ELISA plates; an ABI PRISM 3130 sequencer (Applied Biosystem), a MiSeq new generation sequencer (Illumina) with all the equipment necessary for the sequencing procedure; a FACS calibur 4-color flow cytometer (BDBiosciences); availability of primary cell cultures, wide variety of cell lines, cell culture incubators (37°C, 5% CO2), numerous laminar flow hoods, optical microscopes, an electron microscope (in collaboration).

For storage of biological samples and reagents, several -80°C freezers, -20°C freezers, +4°C refrigerators, liquid N2 banks and access to a centralized biobank with anonymized biological samples from HBV-infected people , and/or HCV and/or HIV-1 (in collaboration with Cryolab). One Cold Room, two level 2 safety laboratories (BSL2). Computer tools and programs: computers and numerous computational servers. Sequencing analysis software; R and SPSS software for mathematical and statistical analyses; Mega Version 6 and PAUP*Version 4.0 for phylogenetic analyses. There are also 1 FACSCalibur Flow Cytometer (Becton Dickinson), 1 Flow Cytometer 3 Lasers 13 colors (CytoFLEX, Beckman Coulter), 1 Cell Sorter (SRT Beckman Coulter) 3 lasers, 10 colors, 1 Real Time PCR (CFX96, Biorad ), 1 Thermal cycler for PCR, 4 Optical microscopes, 1 Fluorescence microscope, BLS2 laminar flow hoods for biocontainment, 1 Chemical hood, Thermostatic baths, Magnetic stirrers, Vortex, MiniMACS magnets for immunomagnetic separations, Precision balances (if not available was add), a Stove for bacteria, Nanoparticle generation system - Dolomite Microfluidics equipped with digital microscope, Zeta-Sizer Advance Lab, Red Label - MalvernPanalytical, HPLC LC 2050C 3D – Shimadzu, Microplate reader - Varioskan™ LUX multimode – Thermo Fisher (for fluorescence, luminescence and absorbance measurements).

The laboratory of the Department of Systems Medicine is equipped to carry out immunology, virology, cellular and molecular biology studies for the study of host-pathogen interaction. Inside the laboratory, which occupies two spaces of approximately 40 m2 each, there are: 1 "ELLA" instrument for immunoenzymatic assays with high sensitivity and wide dynamic range; 1 Spectrophotometer for Elisa plates; 1 cuvette spectrophotometer; 1 Automatic microplate washer; 2 Thermocyclers for PCR; 1 Ultra benchtop centrifuge (beckman); 1Optical microscope; 1 Electrophoresis Apparatus; 1 refrigerated countertop centrifuge; 2 Microcentrifuges; 1 CO2 incubator for cell cultures; 1 thermostatic bath; 2 Containers of Liquid Nitrogen; 2 Magnetic Stirrers and 2 Vortex; 1 freezer -20°C; 1 refrigerator +4/-20°C; 1 freezer -80°C; 4 BLS2 laminar flow hoods for biocontainment; 1 Light Cycler 1.5 PCR-RT system device; 1 MidiMACS magnet for immunomagnetic separations with relative support; 4 MiniMACS magnets for immunomagnetic separations with relative supports. For the laboratory of the Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, it is fully equipped for the manipulations of nucleic acids and proteins. In particular, we have: PCR machinery, electrophoresis equipment, Freezers -80°C, Freezers -20°C, Refrigerators +4°C, centrifuges (cooled and non-cooled). The laboratory is fully equipped for cell cultures, with incubator, microscope , electroporation device and flowlaminar hoods. Chamber + 4°C, fluorescence microscope and 2 optical microscopes, a “Bacterial incubator shaker”, a device for Real Time PCR (Step on Plus, Applied Biosystem) and an ImageQuant LAS 4000 mini system for high resolution digital images of proteins .