3D imaging achieved with superior accuracy

pte20220622027 Technology / Digitization, Research / Development

Göttingen scientists combine two different methods already known

Image of cells on a gold surface (Photo: uni-goettingen.de, Alexey Chizhik)

Göttingen (pte027/22.06.2022/12:30) –

Researchers led by the University of Göttingen http://uni-goettingen.de They have investigated an ultra-high-resolution imaging technology that combines the advantages of two different methods. This enables ultra-high-resolution 3D imaging at the nanometer scale. Details were published in “Science Advances”.

Rental and dSTORM

Metal-induced energy transfer (MIET) was used. The exceptional depth resolution of MIET imaging combined with the exceptional lateral resolution of microscopy of single-molecule localization, particularly with a method called direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM), enables 3D super-resolution of subcellular structures.

In addition, the researchers used the two-color MIET-dSTORM technology to 3D image two different cytoskeletons, such as clathrin-coated microtubules and pits, which are small intracellular structures that coexist in the same region. “By bringing together well-established concepts, we have developed a new technique for super-resolution microscopy,” says lead author Jan-Christoph Thiel.

Simple and Versatile

The range of applications of the new powerful tool is very wide to solve protein complexes and small organelles with sub-nanometer precision. Co-author Oleksii Nevskyi adds: “Anyone with access to a confocal microscope with a fast laser scanner and the ability to measure fluorescence lifetime should try this technique.”

(End)