Cell Culture Dishes for Microbeam Irradiation

Standard microbeam cell culture dish

Cell culture irradiations are the primary form of microbeam irradiations that are performed at RARAF. The cells are plated on a modified culture dish where a 1/4" hole has been drilled in the center to act as a culture well. The bottom of the well is covered with 3 micron polypropylene film where the cells are plated. This thin polypropylene allows the chosen radiation to get through to the cells while allowing them to be placed upright on the microbeam end stations with minimal distance between the dish bottom and beam exit window.

We have drafted instruction sheets on preparing microbeam dishes and plating cells for microbeam irradiation.

The dish making and handling procedures have been demonstrated in a video for our microbeam training course.

Video for Dish Handling

Standard microbeam cell culture dish with Hoechst stained cells

The dishes provide a stable base on which the cells can be plated and maintained through out the microbeam irradiations. The cells are primarily imaged through fluorescent staining with Heochst 33342 DNA binding vital stain to target nuclei to be hit or not hit with the irradiation. A typical picture of a stained cell culture is shown here. Other imaging modalities are available if desired and are discussed on the Microbeam Online Imaging page.