StratNeuro Infrastructure

Karolinska Institutet Brain Bank

Karolinska Institutet Brain Bank (which is a core facility at Karolinska Institutet) is a center for clinical and experimental neuropathology which aims to study development, aging and diseases in the human central nervous system. The Brain Bank provides post mortem samples from human brain tissue and spinal cord. It is also an organization for donation of samples, to get consent from donors willing to donate brain and spinal cord samples. By being accessible to the public, to the health care system and for researchers, Karolinska Institutet Brain Bank can aid in gaining a better understanding of human brain disorders.

Imaging platforms

PET-MRI/CT

The nanoScan® PET-MRI preclinical system is an imaging system with high resolution (0.7 mm) that is used for imaging of central nervous system in rodents. To allow for more efficient use of PET radioligands, an additional PET-CT system was also installed in 2012. This makes it possible to examine two animals using the same radioligand batch. The investment has reduced costs/measurement and secures capacity to meet current demands. The demand has also been steadily increasing.

National Magneto EncephaloGraphy center (NatMEG)

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a functional neuroimaging technique for mapping brain activity by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical currents occurring naturally in the brain, using very sensitive magnetometers. Applications of MEG include basic research into perceptual and cognitive brain processes, localizing regions affected by pathology before surgical removal, determining the function of various parts of the brain, and neurofeedback. The new MEG was installed during autumn 2013. The unit serves the whole Swedish human electrophysiology community.

Neuroscience Behavioural-analysis Resource (NBR)

NBR is a behavioural facility with methods tailored to study cognitive and motor functions in rodents focusing on behaviour that is commonly impaired in human brain diseases. Available platforms within NBR are;

1. Schizophrenia/Depression Behavioural Platform,
2. ADHD/Autism Spectrum/Addiction Behavioural Platform,
3. Alzheimer Behavioural Platform and
4. Optogenetic platform. Optogenetics is a technique whereby cells that express a light-sensitive protein are controlled by light.

Neuroinformatics

The mission is to support StratNeuro researchers with regard to neuroinformatics, mainly computational neuroscience and analysis of large brain imaging datasets (fMRI, PET, and M/EEG). The neuroinformatics platform has access to recently acquired dedicated supercomputers (Cray XE30) for experimental work.

Human Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory

Reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells opens up for studies on cells from patients. To date much of our understanding of human diseases relies on our ability to study suitable pathological tissues. For diseases of the brain this is particularly difficult as there is little live brain biopsy tissue available for analysis and postmortem specimens are of limited experimental value. Reprogramming and directed differentiation of human iPS cells offers a way to meet this lack of suitable tissues by generating the necessary pathological cells for analysis. The Falk Laboratory is building cellular models of human brain disorders to study the mechanism behind the disease using reprogramming, iPS cells, neural stem cell and neurons.

Virus Synaptic Tracing (VSP) facility

A fundamental question is how the brain is connected to itself and the rest of the body. Having this information could help in the future to better understand effects of localized brain damage. Virus synaptic tracing is a tool for visualizing the connections between the neurons in the brain. Virus has the ability to infect neurons and also spread to adjacent neurons. With the use of labelled virus particles it is possible to visualize presence of virus in single neurons and to which other neurons virus has spread. This state-of-the-art technique requires the use of modified viruses that can be administered locally in the nervous system to study the upstream neuronal populations and possibly also downstream targets of specific genetically defined cell populations. In this way a brain network map can be produced.

VirusTech Core Facility

The core facility specializes in the production and concentration of Lentiviral (LV), Gamma-retroviruses and Adeno Associated Viruses (AAVs), but it aims to develop and optimize the production of other types of viruses such as Adenovirus (AV), rabies virus, retrograde AAV and Herpes simplex viruses (HSV).

Its primary purpose is to produce and distribute quality viral vectors to our fellow researchers within Karolinska Institutet and investigators world-wide. The VirusTech facility is a non-profit facility hosted and sponsored by StratNeuro, that produces viral vectors on a fee-for-service basis, in accordance with KI policies for core facilities. Its primary goal is to serve the investigators at KI, but services are also available to other academic centers within Sweden and world-wide.

Common virus room

The common virus room (D411) is a biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) lab for working with viral vectors including lentivirus, retrovirus and adeno-associated virus, which are widely used to deliver gene of interest to target cells for basic research or therapeutic study.  The lab is equipped with all necessary instruments and personal protective equipment, allowing for research work from virus production to transduction/infection and functional analysis carried out in a safe environment. Assistance in applying for L-anmälan from the Swedish Work Environment Authority and introduction/training are provided by the facility.

Zebrafish Facility

The Zebrafish Core Facility is a state-of-the-art facility at Karolinska Institutet, and the largest such facility in Sweden. It houses fish in a continuously monitored environment and all staff are qualified animal technicians. Researchers are provided with fish from wild-type lines and they also can bring in mutant/transgenic fish lines of interest from other laboratories. The facility has, in collaboration with researchers from Karolinska Institutet, developed protocols for a wide range of techniques, including modification of gene expression using antisense technology, whole-mount in situ hybridisation, electron microscopy and immunofluorescence assays. There are already zebrafish models established for a number of human diseases, for example muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease.

Radiation Source for CNS Lesions

A powerful 320 kV radiation source for animals has been purchased, enabling irradiation of the whole brain or selected brain regions in order to study radiotoxicity or to deplete neurogenesis. Whole body irradiation prior to bone marrow transplantation facilitates detection of bone marrow-derived cells in the brain, for example to distinguish between resident microglia and blood-borne macrophages. Bone marrow transplantation is a very useful tool to study the interaction between the immune system and the brain.