Tilted Light Sheet Microscopy with 3D Point Spread Functions for Single-Molecule Super-Resolution Imaging in Mammalian Cells

Understanding immune signaling using advanced imaging techniques

Advanced imaging is key for visualizing the spatiotemporal regulation of immune signaling which is a complex process involving multiple players tightly regulated in space and time. Imaging techniques vary in their spatial resolution, spanning from nanometers to micrometers, and in their temporal resolution, ranging from microseconds to hours. In this review, we summarize state-of-the-art imaging methodologies and provide recent examples on how they helped to unravel the mysteries of immune signaling. Finally, we discuss the limitations of current technologies and share our insights on how to overcome these limitations to visualize immune signaling with unprecedented fidelity.

Development of Planar Illumination Strategies for Solving Mysteries in the Sub-Cellular Realm

Optical microscopy has vastly expanded the frontiers of structural and functional biology, due to the non-invasive probing of dynamic volumes in vivo. However, traditional widefield microscopy illuminating the entire field of view (FOV) is adversely affected by out-of-focus light scatter. Consequently, standard upright or inverted microscopes are inept in sampling diffraction-limited volumes smaller than the optical system's point spread function (PSF). Over the last few decades, several planar and structured (sinusoidal) illumination modalities have offered unprecedented access to sub-cellular organelles and 4D (3D + time) image acquisition. Furthermore, these optical sectioning systems remain unaffected by the size of biological samples, providing high signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios for objective lenses (OLs) with long working distances (WDs). This review aims to guide biologists regarding planar illumination strategies, capable of harnessing sub-micron spatial resolution with a millimeter depth of penetration.

Super-resolution imaging and quantification of megakaryocytes and platelets

Recent advances in super-resolution (sub-diffraction limited) microscopy have yielded remarkable insights into the nanoscale architecture and behavior of cells. In addition to the capacity to provide sub 100 nm resolution, these technologies offer unique quantitative opportunities with particular relevance to platelet and megakaryocyte biology. In this review, we provide a short introduction to modern super-resolution microscopy, its applications in the field of platelet and megakaryocyte biology, and emerging quantitative approaches which will allow for unprecedented insights into the biology of these unique cell types.