JEMCA, the Joint Electron Microscopy Center at ALBA, was inaugurated in 2023 and is the result of a collaborative project to create a unique microscopy platform in Catalonia. It currently houses two state-of-the-art electron microscopes, with a third one planned to arrive in the near future. Specifically, the Cryo-EM microscope has been supported by the following research centers: the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC), which acts as the owner; the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the Biomedical Research Institute (IRB Barcelona), the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the ALBA Synchrotron, where the microscope is located and operated. It has been funded by European ERDF funds.

Now, the company TEMPoS has used the JEMCA Cryo-EM microscope to carry out key phases of optimization, structural analysis, and sample validation across various projects.

“Access to this state-of-the-art infrastructure allows for the establishment of more robust and efficient experimental procedures, increasing the reproducibility and quality of the data obtained. Moreover, the technical and human support has been a fundamental pillar: a highly competent, rigorous, and committed team that has provided constant guidance at every stage of the process, playing a decisive role in the success of the work carried out,” say from TEMPoS regarding their experience using the microscope.

TEMPoS Microscopy is a company specialized in providing structural determination services for proteins and protein complexes using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to pharmaceutical companies and academic laboratories. Cryo-EM offers critical structural insights that directly impact the rational development of drugs, vaccines, gene therapies, and the understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms. TEMPoS serves as a bridge between scientific knowledge and its industrial application, facilitating access to cutting-edge technologies through an agile, collaborative, and highly specialized approach.

“Currently, we collaborate mainly with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies of various sizes at the international level, working with a wide range of samples — from ion channels and globular proteins to GPCRs — since cryo-EM has opened up new experimental possibilities for the study of complex and dynamic targets,” they add from TEMPoS.