Controlled lighting provide insights

A high-precision 3D live insight into the cell is provided by a microscopy technique developed at TU Braunschweig. It works using „fluorescence super resolution“, as Prof. Philip Tinnefeld and his group of researchers call their technique.

The method developed at the Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry can make even smaller biomolecules in living cells visible. „We mark the molecular structures selectively using dyes and cause them to glow by applying laser light,“ explains Tinnefeld. The fluorescent molecule images in the microscope are captured by a camera. Certain tricks are used to ensure that not all particles marked glow at the same time, as this would produce a blurred image without contours.

By selectively adding ascorbic acid, the natural off-status of the particle‘s fluorescence can be prolonged. From a series of staggered snapshots taken in this way, it is possible to locate individual molecules to within twenty nanometers. Another aim of the project, being run jointly with scientists at the University of Würzburg, is to develop „individually tailored dye and additive combinations to observe various types of biomolecules and processes“, says Tinnefeld.

www.tu-braunschweig.de/pci/forschung/tinnefeld