Centre for the Neurobiology of Stress (CNS)

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
What the facility does

Neurobiology research on stress, using various molecular, cellular and neurophysiological techniques

Areas of expertise

The Centre for the Neurobiology of Stress (CNS) is a $10-million state-of-the-art facility. The centre tackles a series of critical areas: long-term memory and consolidation; the role of stress in natural population; maternal effects and maternal programming through epigenetic changes; neuroprotective roles of heat shock (stress) proteins; neurobiology and behaviour using fear, addiction, and other paradigms to understand brain functioning and organization; molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease; maternal adversity and early life stress-on-stress response systems in the brain and in the immune system; and host/pathogen interactions at the cellular and molecular level. 

Research services
  • Fluorescence microscopy,
  • Confocal microscopy,
  • Spinning disk confocal microscopy,
  • Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy,
  • Multiphoton Microscopy,
  • Structured illumination (Apotome)
  • Optical sectioning,
  • Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM),
  • Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM),
  • Patch clamping for electrophysiology,
  • Micro-injection,
  • Flow cytometry,
  • Cell sorter,
  • Gel imaging,
  • Image analysis,
  • Cryostat,
  • Microtome,
  • Ultramicrotome,
  • Centrifuge,
  • Autoclave,
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR),
  • High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
Sectors of application
  • Education
  • Healthcare and social services
  • Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment

Equipment

Function

BD FACSAria III

Flow cytometry cell sorter

BD LSRFortessa

Flow cytometry cell analyzer

Quorum Wave FX spinning disk microscope

Live cell confocal imaging

Quorum TIRF microscope

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) imaging

Olympus Multiphoton Microscope

Multiphoton Microscopy

Zeiss ApoTome microscope

Optical sectioning

Volocity

Image analysis software

Imaris

Image analysis software

Neurolucida

Neuroscience software

Hitachi H-7500 TEM

Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM)

Hitachi S530 SEM

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

Bio-Rad PharosFX

Fluorescence gel imaging

Bio-Rad ChemiDoc XRS+

Gel imaging

PTC-200 Thermal Cycler

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Waters HPLC

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)