Centre for Biological Timing and Cognition (CBTC)

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
What the facility does

Molecular and cellular basis of brain function

Areas of expertise

The Centre for Biological Timing and Cognition collaborates with researchers from academia, hospitals, and industry to advance research in sleep (disorders), hypoxia, circadian rhythms of disease, and neurogenesis. Its broad array of instrumentation, from long-term animal monitoring and dialysis (to collect samples from moving live animals), to molecular characterization, enables a researcher to observe a phenomenon in a controlled environment and then probe the molecular landscape using analytical techniques. With training, most instrumentation is available for independent use. This provides students with a space that is akin to their laboratory. The experienced staff is always available to provide guidance, experimental design, and mentoring. 

Research services

Confocal microscopy, tissue sectioning, bio-analysis - HPLC, CE, mass spectrometry, animal behaviour testing, method development, experiment design, technical assistance   

Sectors of application
  • Healthcare and social services
  • Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
Specialized lab Equipment Function 
Imaging & Electrophysiology Spinning disc confocal system with FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) and FRAP (fluorescence resonance after photobleaching) High-resolution, 3-D images of thick specimens – great for live cell applications of molecular diffusion, and active movement of cell component
  Deconvolution and live cell imaging system on upright  microscope dual camera  
  Deconvolution and live cell imaging system on inverted microscope single camera  
  Two stereo microscopes with fibreoptic illumination  
  Two patch clamp systems for brain slice on automated microscopes – dual cameras Electrophysiology, micromanipulation, for example, to measure the electric current passing through single membrane channels in cells
  Calcium imaging system for cell physiology on automated microscope – dual camera Used to illustrate the calcium status of a cell, tissue or medium
Histology – Leica equipment Motorized cryostat (CM 3050S) Cutting cryosections, rapid conversion of fresh tissue into microscope-ready sections; can prepare samples for laser capture microdissection
  Floor standing tissue processor (300S) Routine and research histopathology of up to 300 cassettes while minimizing carry-over
  Motorized microtome (RM 2255) Sectioning of paraffin- and resin-embedded specimens
  Modular tissue embedding station (EG1150) Can arrange embedding work flow in either direction
  Vibrating blade microtome (VT1200S) Fully automated fresh and fixed tissue sectioning
  Programmable slide stainer and cover slipper  
Microdialysis – bioanalytical systems Eight stand-alone portable stations Low-volume sampling for live animals
Surgical suites Multiple digital stereotaxic and anesthesia stations – portable and stationary  
Animal behavioural testing – Coulbourn Instruments Acoustic startle – eight stations  
  Place preference – two stations  
  Elevated plus maze  
  Eight arm radial maze  
  Open field activity system – four stations  
  Shuttle avoidance system with shock – eight stations  
  Self-administration – four stations  
  Six Ccamber ISS system – six stations  
  Self-stimulation – four stations  
Long-term animal monitoring and recording systems – respironics Minimitter and Coulbourn Animal monitoring for 96 subjects  
  Core body temperature  
  Heart rate  
  Gross motor activity  
  Running wheel turns  
  Drinking/licking frequency  
  Feeding behavior  
  480 channels for activity monitoring  
  40 stainless steel isolation units Light cycle control
Pathogen-free animal colony 864 mouse cages  
  324 rat cages  
  STERIS cage and rack washer  
  Medium STERIS sterilizer  
  Six animal change stations  
Electrochemistry – GMA and Quanteon Two complete stations Chronoamperometry and amperometry
Human testing labs Behavioural testing, including E-Prime (v1.2, v2.0Pro)  
  High-density (128 channels) EEG/ERP – two on-site and one mobile  
  SR Research Remote Eyelink II eye-tracking – two on site  
  Virage driving simulator  
  Online survey (Opinio)  
Mobile human testing vehicle Behavioural testing  
  EEG/ERP  
  SR Research eye-tracking  
Molecular characterization Mass spectrometer- Thermo Orbitrap Discovery Proteomics, metabolomics, method development
  Accela LC Liquid chromatography
  Gene expression analysis – Beckman Coulter GeXP Gene expression, DNA sequencing, SNP, STR, oligonucleotide purity, AFLPs
  2D fractionation – Beckman Coulter PF 2D Mostly for complex mixtures of biomolecules, e.g. proteins, glycosylated compounds, lipids, etc.
  Capillary electrophoresis – Beckman Coulter PA800 with UV and LIF detection Separation of biomolecules using electrophoresis; can be an off-line fraction collector for mass spectrometry
  Beckman HPLC with UV and EC detection Chromatographic separation and quantitation using UV or electrochemical detection
  Beckman 880 microplate reader Reader for proteins assays
  UV spectrophotometer - Beckman Built-in programs for protein assay, kinetics, micro cuvette available
  Centrifugation including ultra-  
  electroporator/multiporator  
  Thermal cyclers Amplify segments of DNA via polymerase chain reaction
  Informatics software – Proteome Discoverer, MaxQuant