Editorial/Quadratin Mexico
MEXICO CITY. May 22, 2022.- To support the work of physicians, clinical researchers, academics and the general population, the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) has the National Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (LNMA-IMSS), which offers services and assistance in the preparation of samples through tissue sections, clarification, labeling and staining; visualization of live or fixed samples; capture of images and videos, and the reconstruction of three-dimensional structures.
Dr. Vadim Pérez Koldenkova, head of this laboratory located at the National Medical Center (CMN) Siglo XXI, explained that the LNMA-IMSS is one of the three National Advanced Microscopy Laboratories of the National Laboratories network of the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt), constituted as support centers for research throughout the country.
He explained that the main headquarters is located in Cuernavaca, Morelos, and is in charge of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the other headquarters is located in Baja California, and belongs to the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada. (CICESE).
According to Dr. Pérez Koldenkova, diseases are characterized by their different markers, which can be identified using microscopy techniques.
“Those who come to our unit study markers of different types of cancer such as leukemia, which is one of the most common among children. Also in neurodegenerative diseases, skin diseases, spinal cord damage, COVID-19 and others. In addition, we seek to establish links between researchers who work on similar issues at an institutional, national and international level”, he detailed.
Dr. Pérez Koldenkova highlighted that among the most important equipment that the LNMA-IMSS has, it has a confocal microscope, a confocal microscope, a macroscope to observe and take color images of large samples, a straight microscope, centrifugal incubators, a laminar flow hood, as well as with a vibratome to make cuts of living tissues, which allows them to be cultivated and observed in their native state.
“As the National Advanced Microscopy Laboratory of the IMSS we have advantages compared to other laboratories, we can take images for long periods of time, observe live samples, we have equipment to make cuts and even culture tissues such as cancers to study them in the most optimal conditions. as close as possible to its natural environment, which allows us to know what are the physiological processes that occur in this type of tissue”, he stressed.
Among the main users of the laboratory are the Research Units of the CMN Siglo XXI Specialty Hospitals, Oncology and Pediatrics. In addition, researchers from the IMSS, the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers (ISSSTE) in Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Sonora and Veracruz, as well as the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Hospital del Niño Oaxaqueño, Hospital Gea González, among others.
One of the users of the LNMA-IMSS is Dr. María Rosalía Lira Carmona, associate researcher D in the Medical Research Unit in Infectious and Parasitic Diseases of the Specialty Hospital of the CMN Siglo XXI, who is currently investigating the effects caused by the disease of the SARS-CoV-2.
“The particular case of what we are working on at the IMSS Microscopy Laboratory is a project for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens in biopsies of patients who unfortunately died of this disease. This is a project of the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in charge of Dr. Edgar Sevilla Reyes, in which we are collaborating”, he highlighted.
Dr. Lira Carmona added that the interest of this research is to describe the location of viral antigens in tissues, since this virus, in addition to affecting the respiratory system (lungs, bronchi, etc.) also attacks the heart, brain and other organs. “The aim is to contribute to the description of this spread of the virus in different tissues, the research is ongoing, but the antigen detection systems are already standardized thanks to the support of this laboratory.”