Servizio Seahorse

Seahorse analyzers are live-cell metabolic assay platforms that allow to measure oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) in 24/96 wells plates, interrogating key cellular functions such as mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis. They perform compounds addition and mixing, label-free analytical detection, and automatic measurement of OCR and ECAR in real time.

Equipment

  • Seahorse XF24-3, 24 wells flux analyzer (Seahorse Biosciences – consumables out of production)
  • Seahorse XFe24, 24 wells flux analyzer (Seahorse Biosciences)
  • Seahorse XF PRO, 96 wells flux analyzer (Agilent technologies)

User manuals are available at the end of this page.

Location
Seahorse XFe24 and XF PRO are located at 2° floor, north side, room GEOTEC 03-081 (ex-meeting room); Seahorse XF24-3 is located at 2° floor, north side, room GEOTEC 03-109 (Bernardi’s lab).

Opening hours
Monday to Friday, 24/24h
Instruments cannot be used during the weekend; at the end of your session, please check if you are the last user of the week and, in this case, switch it off.

Service Coordinator: Prof. Diego De Stefani (diego.destefani@unipd.it, 049-8276152)
Staff: Elena Trevisan (elena.trevisan@unipd.it, 049-8276064)

Guidelines

Prior to use, it is mandatory to reserve instruments at the Department of Biomedical Sciences instrument booking website http://prenotazioni.biomed.unipd.it/seahorse, using your own laboratory booking account (name of the user, group leader and lab phone number have to be specified).
The calendar is divided in 3.5 hours/session, for single experiments:

  • Session 1 09:00 – 12:30
  • Session 2 12:30 – 16:00
  • Session 3 16:00 – 19:30
  • Session 4 19:30 – overnight

If you need new lab username/password, please contact our ICT service staff at informatica.biomed@unipd.it
If necessary, reservations have to be cancelled not later than 24h prior the experiments.

Use of the instrument and training
Users are expected to perform experiments independently and must be adequately trained to ensure proper use of the instrument. Video training is available to all users (see "Seahorse video training" at the bottom) and periodic trainings are organized in collaboration with Agilent Technologies. For specific technical assistance, please feel free to contact Alfredo Caro Maldonado from Agilent Technologies (alfredo.caro-maldonado@agilent.com).
Only Agilent Technologies consumables (plates and kits) are compatible with XF analyzers; they are not included in the service. See "Seahorse consumables list" at the bottom of this page.

Rules

Before your session:

  • The system must be checked in all its parts, must be clean and without any obvious damage; if this is not the case, please contact immediately the staff.

After your session:

  • Always remove or transfer your files. Staff will periodically remove the user files without prior notice.
  • The default set temperature of measurement is 37°C; if changed to perform specific experiments, it has to be set again at 37°C at the end of the session (see “temperature control” below).
  • Please check if you are the last user of the week and, in this case, switch the instrument off.

Costs

Seahorse XF24-3 and XFe24 Flux Analyzer
Department of Biomedical Sciences users: Eur 30/session
Other UNIPD Departments: Eur 55/session
External users (not UNIPD): Eur 70+IVA/session

Seahorse XF PRO Flux Analyzer
Department of Biomedical Sciences users: Eur 60/session
Other UNIPD Departments: Eur 100/session
External users (not UNIPD): Eur 130+IVA/session

Users will receive an annual report that summarizes your reservations, based on the online booking calendar.

 

User support material

Seahorse video training

General protocol and workflows: How to run an assay | Agilent

Seahorse consumables list:

Specific instructions for 96 wells instrument (Seahorse XF PRO):

Download