The ability to "see" the inner workings of structures (organelles) within cells, in real time, offers the promise of advancements in disease diagnosis and treatment. Organelle dynamics drive the self-efficient micro-world of cells, but current super-resolution microscopy techniques used to track these interactions have limitations.
Now an advanced technique called SPOT (Spectrum and Polarization Optical Tomography) is giving researchers a "street view" of the vital lipid membranes surrounding organelles and by so doing opens up the opportunities to study the sophisticated world of lipid dynamics.
The researchers say it's a significant development, building on earlier work on super-resolution polarization microscopy. The research is published in Nature Communications.
The lead author said that lipid membranes surround most organelles and play a significant role. "Their shape, composition and phase synergistically regulate biophysical membrane properties, membrane protein function and lipid-protein interactions. However it is challenging to observe such a level of complexity due to their similar chemical composition," the author said.
Simply using one dye that universally stains the lipid membranes, SPOT can simultaneously reveal lipid membrane morphology, polarity, and phase from measuring the intensity, spectrum, and polarization, respectively. Combined with lipophilic probes, the team successfully revealed more than ten types of organelles simultaneously, and their sophisticated lipid dynamics.
Using the new imaging platform established, researchers observed the multi-organelle interactive activities of cell division, lipid dynamics during plasma membrane separation, tunneling nanotubules formation, and mitochondrial cristae dissociation.
"This is the first time researchers have been able to quantitatively study the lipid heterogeneity inside subcellular organelles," senior author.
"This is a very powerful tool for super-resolution imaging the inner working of each single cells, that will advance our knowledge in understanding how cells function, diagnose when a "factory" or a transportation doesn't work properly within the cell, and monitor the progression of disease," the author said.
"With such information it isn't too big a leap to identify pathways for potential drug treatments, as well as examine their efficacy right on the SPOT" the author said.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19747-0
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fhigh-dimensional-super&filter=22
SPOTing the subcellular lipid membranes
- 1,024 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
Mutations in noncoding DNA…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
More influence of environme…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
The assembly of the human c…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Wiring of the human neocortex
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Abusive drugs hijack natura…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Other Top Stories
Bio-inspired hydrogel protects the heart from post-op adhesions
Read more
Heart health protein linked to Alzheimer's dementia
Read more
Intermittent fasting 'no magic bullet for weight loss'
Read more
Phase separation drives aberrant chromatin looping and cancer devel…
Read more
Novel lncRNA counteracts heart failure progression
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Massively parallel screen u…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Distinct genetic and enviro…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Hippocampus-to-amygdala pat…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Integrative spatial analysi…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Time-series reconstruction…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar