Resources
Research
Behavioral Unit – Institute for Translational Neuroscience (ITN)
The Behavioral Unit at the Institute for Translational Neuroscience is a dedicated facility equipped to support a wide range of preclinical behavioral assays in both mice and rats. Designed to facilitate high-quality research in neuroscience, neuropharmacology, and translational pain, neurodevelopmental and neurodegeneration studies, the unit provides access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, specialized spaces, and expert support for experimental design and data analysis.
Areas of Expertise and Application
The Behavioral Unit specializes in the evaluation of:
- Learning and Memory: Tools such as the T-maze, Morris Water Maze, Barnes Maze, Novel Object Recognition, and Lever Press support investigations into spatial navigation, recognition memory, and operant conditioning.
- Emotion and Anxiety: The Elevated Plus Maze, Fear Conditioning System, Shuttle Box, and Open Field apparatus allow for comprehensive profiling of anxiety-like and fear-related behaviors.
- Social Behavior and Motivation: Systems like the 3-Chamber Social Interaction, Tube Dominance, and Conditioned Place Preference assays help researchers assess sociability, dominance, and reward-related behavior relevant to pain, addiction, and mood disorders.
- Pain and Sensory Processing: The Unit offers robust platforms to investigate nociception, allodynia, and hyperalgesia using Von Frey filaments, Hargreaves’ Apparatus, Rodent Pincher, Hot/Cold Plate, and Kinetic Weight Bearing systems.
- Motor Function and Coordination: Equipment such as the Rotarod, Strength Meter, Balance Beam, and automated activity tracking systems (Any-maze) facilitate the assessment of fine motor skills, strength, and coordination.
- Circadian and Metabolic Studies: Circadian rhythm wheels and a 40-cage monitoring system with exercise wheels support long-term behavioral monitoring and metabolic activity tracking.
Supporting Infrastructure and Equipment
To further enhance experimental workflows, the unit includes:
- A full suite of laboratory equipment (centrifuges, HPLCs, microscopes, stereotaxic instruments, western blotting equipment, and anesthesia setup).
- Brain targeting and neuroinjection capabilities via stereotaxic instruments.
- Satellite housing and monitored cage systems that allow for behavioral analysis in undisturbed living environments.
Facilities and Accessibility
The unit includes:
- Seven dedicated behavioral testing spaces for mice
- Four dedicated testing spaces for rats
- Support from experienced staff is available to assist ITN members in designing and executing behavioral studies, choosing appropriate assays, and analyzing complex behavioral data.
Bioinformatics (Galaxy@SLU)
The Saint Louis University Department of Pharmacology and Physiology has built a bioinformatics-oriented data analysis server which has been named Galaxy@SLU. It is publicly accessible and is based on Galaxy, one of the most popular open-source data analysis platforms under Python. Galaxy's web interface has made it highly attractive among scientists worldwide. Galaxy@SLU offers the following analysis tools and workflows, focusing on ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq.
- ChIP-Seq: Peak calling (MACS) and alignment (Bowtie, BWA).
- RNA-Seq: Alignment and quantification (Tophat, STAR, Cufflinks, HTSeq, Kallisto), differential gene expression (edgeR, DESeq).
- scRNA-Seq: A set of Single-cell RNA-Seq analysis tools based on Seurat.
- Other tools: A tool to import TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas Data) patient samples.
Registration is required for all users.
Galaxy@SLU is maintained by Jinsong Zhang (jinsong.zhang@health.slu.edu)
Pharmacology and Physiology Protein Core
The Departmental Protein Core is located at Doisy Hall, Room R-308, which is equipped with the following:
- GE HealthCare fully-automated AKTA Pure 25L FPLC with a 96-well plate-type fraction collector, injection loop, UV and auto-sampler. This protein chromatography system can purify proteins to a very high degree of purity via affinity, size and ion-exchange chromatography, with minimal sample loss.
- A chilled chromatography cabinet that houses the AKTA FPLC.
- Two temperature-controlled incubator shakers
- Sonicator
- Chemical fume hood
- Freezers (-20°C and -80°C)
- 37°C incubator
- Walk-in cold room
- Biospectrometer
- Top loading balance and analytical scales
- Avestin Emulsiflex C3 with chilled water circulator
- Two temperature-controlled high-speed centrifuges.
For training and assistance on protein purification, please contact the core Director, Ian Mitchelle de Vera, Ph.D. at ian.devera@health.slu.edu
Metabolic Phenotyping Core (MPC)
The Metabolic Phenotyping Core is housed in a six-room suite within the Comparative Medicine Animal Facility and on the third floor of Schwitalla Hall. The MPC core is maintained by Colin Flaveny, Ph.D. (colin.flaveny@health.slu.edu).
The core has the following equipment:
- 96-well Seahorse XF Extracellular Flux Bioanalyzer
- 3 Oroboros-oxygraph devices
- Vantage DCA A1c blood glucose monitor
- Animal electroencephalogram (EEG) telemetry system with locomotor and temperature monitoring
- BioDAQ food and water intake monitoring system
- 32-chamber Comprehensive Lab Animal Monitoring System (CLAMS)
- Six-lane Rodent treadmill
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance machine for measuring body composition
- Blood pressure and Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor
- Cobas c11 clinical chemistry bioanalyzer
- Biotek Synergy Neo 5 Plate reader
- LiCoR Pearl Trilogy in vivo mouse imaging system
Other MPC/PharmPhys Equipment:
- Life technologies QuantStudio 7 Flex RT-qPCR
- 384-sample semi-automated liquid sample handler
- Phosphor imager
- 96-well Luminex 200 bead-based multiplexing system
- Corning Epic Label-Free Detection system
- Ion GeneStudio S5 Next Gen Sequencer
- Biorad Bioanalyzer
- Agilent bioanalyzer
Other Facilities and Resources
Animal Care Facility
The 44,000-square-foot Animal Care Facility operated by SLU’s Department of Comparative Medicine has three full-time veterinarians. It offers training, colony health surveillance and technical support, consultation, and collaborative services.
Animal Imaging Core Facility
The Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology’s Animal Imaging Core Facility offers non-invasive, small-animal imaging using IVIS Spectrum instrument.
Flow Cytometry Research Core
SLU’s Flow Cytometry Research Core offers a FACSCalibur flow-cytometer with cell sorter, Biosciences LSR II, capable of 10-color analyses and Biosciences FACSAria, with simultaneous sorting of four populations. It has two full-time staff members and offers discounted rates to SLU researchers.
Genomics Core Facility
This full-service facility provides investigators with a variety of options for whole genome analysis via microarrays, high-throughput screening, immunoprecipitation and sequencing strategies. The facility is managed by Michelle Brennan, Ph.D., who you can contact at 314-977-9252 or michelle.pherson@health.slu.edu.
High-Performance Computing
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology maintains a wide variety of computing resources. These range from network and backup services to state-of-the-art high-performance computing. The most recent addition to the department is the Gemini Computing Cluster, which leverages modern technologies such as GPU computing capabilities. The cluster consists of 344 CPU cores, 80 GPUs and 1.3 TB of aggregate RAM, providing 135 TFLOPs peak computing power.
Lipidomics Core Facility
The Lipidomics Core Facility, operated by the department and the Center for Cardiovascular Research at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, is a University resource in the Doisy Research Center. The facility focuses on small molecule identification and quantification by mass spectrometry.
Instrumentation in this core includes a Thermo Electron Surveyor LC and Quantum Ultra triple quadrupole electrospray ionization mass spectrometer, as well as two HP6890 gas chromatographs with FID detector and HP 5973 MS detector with both electron impact and chemical ionization sources. Dave Ford, Ph.D., manages the facility. Contact him at 314-977-9264 or david.ford@health.slu.edu.
Protein Core Facility
A shared-use facility that supports expression, purification and analysis of research proteins by providing an array of instrumentation and consultation on strategies for protein production from small to large scale. Yie-Hwa Chang, Ph.D., manages the facility. Contact him at yiehwa.chang@health.slu.edu.
NMR Facility
The Saint Louis University Department of Chemistry houses an NMR facility available to all SLU researchers. The facility has a multinuclear Bruker spectrometer with a field strength of 16.4 Tesla and a newly-installed Bruker Avance HDTM 700MHz NMR spectrometer. These instruments can be used to determine the structures of organic molecules and biomolecules, and can also be used in other dynamic studies.
The facility is located in Shannon Hall and is managed by the Department of Chemistry.
Research Microscopy and Histology Core
Offered by SLU’s Department of Pathology, the Research Microscopy and Histology Core provides a wide range of histological and microscopy services on a fee-for-service basis.
Graduate Scholarships, Fellowships and Assistantships
Saint Louis University’s Office of Graduate Education has multiple scholarship, fellowship and assistantship opportunities for new and returning graduate education students.
View Graduate Scholarships, Fellowships and Assistantships