Johann Engelhardt

Spherical nanosized focal spot unravels the interior of cells

The resolution of any linear imaging system is given by its point spread function (PSF) that quantifies the blur of an object point in the image. The sharper the PSF, the better the resolution is. In standard fluorescence microscopy, however, diffraction dictates a PSF with a cigar-shaped main maximum, called the focal spot, which extends over at least half the wavelength of light (λ = 400–700 nm) in the focal plane and >λ along the optical axis (z). Although concepts have been developed to sharpen the focal spot both laterally and axially, none of them has reached their ultimate goal: a spherical spot that can be arbitrarily downscaled in size. Here we introduce a fluorescence microscope that creates nearly spherical focal spots of 40–45 nm (λ/16) in diameter. Fully relying on focused light, this lens-based fluorescence nanoscope unravels the interior of cells noninvasively, uniquely dissecting their sub-λ–sized organelles.

Sharper low-power STED nanoscopy by time gating.

Applying pulsed excitation together with time-gated detection improves the fluorescence on-off contrast in continuous-wave stimulated emission depletion (CW-STED) microscopy, thus revealing finer details in fixed and living cells using moderate light intensities. This method also enables super-resolution fluorescence correlation spectroscopy with CW-STED beams, as demonstrated by quantifying the dynamics of labeled lipid molecules in the plasma membrane of living cells.

Maturation-dependent HIV-1 surface protein redistribution revealed by fluorescence nanoscopy.

Switching on HIV Newly assembled human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) virions bud from the host cell as immature particles. Proteolysis of the Gag protein, which forms a structural lattice below the viral membrane, leads to the formation of mature infectious HIV. Fusion of mature HIV virions with a target cell is mediated by viral envelope (Env) proteins that occur in trimeric “spikes” on the surface of the virion. Chojnacki et al. (p. 524) used subdiffraction microscopy to show that the spikes were dispersed on the immature virion but clustered into a single focus on the mature virion. The clustering was important for infectivity. Coupling Gag proteolysis with clustering may ensure that only particles whose interior has switched to the entry mode are competent for membrane fusion. Rearrangements of the interior structural lattice cluster a surface glycoprotein as the virus preps for cell entry. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) buds from the cell as an immature particle requiring subsequent proteolysis of the main structural polyprotein Gag for morphological maturation and infectivity. Visualization of the viral envelope (Env) glycoprotein distribution on the surface of individual HIV-1 particles with stimulated emission depletion (STED) superresolution fluorescence microscopy revealed maturation-induced clustering of Env proteins that depended on the Gag-interacting Env tail. Correlation of Env surface clustering with the viral entry efficiency revealed coupling between the viral interior and exterior: Rearrangements of the inner protein lattice facilitated the alteration of the virus surface in preparation for productive entry. We propose that Gag proteolysis-dependent clustering of the sparse Env trimers on the viral surface may be an essential aspect of HIV-1 maturation.

Molecular orientation affects localization accuracy in superresolution far-field fluorescence microscopy.

We investigate the cooperative effect of molecular tilt and defocus on fluorophore localization by centroid calculation in far-field superresolution microscopy based on stochastic single molecule switching. If tilt angle and defocus are unknown, the localization contains systematic errors up to about ±125 nm. When imaging rotation-impaired fluorophores of unknown random orientation, the average localization accuracy in three-dimensional samples is typically limited to about ±32 nm, restricting the attainable resolution accordingly.

Bax assembly into rings and arcs in apoptotic mitochondria is linked to membrane pores

Bax is a key regulator of apoptosis that, under cell stress, accumulates at mitochondria, where it oligomerizes to mediate the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane leading to cytochrome c release and cell death. However, the underlying mechanism behind Bax function remains poorly understood. Here, we studied the spatial organization of Bax in apoptotic cells using dual‐color single‐molecule localization‐based super‐resolution microscopy. We show that active Bax clustered into a broad distribution of distinct architectures, including full rings, as well as linear and arc‐shaped oligomeric assemblies that localized in discrete foci along mitochondria. Remarkably, both rings and arcs assemblies of Bax perforated the membrane, as revealed by atomic force microscopy in lipid bilayers. Our data identify the supramolecular organization of Bax during apoptosis and support a molecular mechanism in which Bax fully or partially delineates pores of different sizes to permeabilize the mitochondrial outer membrane.

Quantum Dot Blueing and Blinking Enables Fluorescence Nanoscopy

We demonstrate superresolution fluorescence imaging of cells using bioconjugated CdSe/ZnS quantum dot markers. Fluorescence blueing of quantum dot cores facilitates separation of blinking markers residing closer than the diffraction barrier. The high number of successively emitted photons enables ground state depletion microscopy followed by individual marker return with a resolving power of the size of a single dot (∼12 nm). Nanoscale imaging is feasible with a simple webcam.

Parallelized STED fluorescence nanoscopy

We introduce a parallelized STED microscope featuring m = 4 pairs of scanning excitation and STED beams, providing m-fold increased imaging speed of a given sample area, while maintaining basically all of the advantages of single beam scanning. Requiring only a single laser source and fiber input, the setup is inherently aligned both spatially and temporally. Given enough laser power, the design is readily scalable to higher degrees of parallelization m.

Three-dimensional organization of promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies

Promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) are mobile subnuclear organelles formed by PML and Sp100 protein. They have been reported to have a role in transcription, DNA replication and repair, telomere lengthening, cell cycle control and tumor suppression. We have conducted high-resolution 4Pi fluorescence laser-scanning microscopy studies complemented with correlative electron microscopy and investigations of the accessibility of the PML-NB subcompartment. During interphase PML-NBs adopt a spherical organization characterized by the assembly of PML and Sp100 proteins into patches within a 50- to 100-nm-thick shell. This spherical shell of PML and Sp100 imposes little constraint to the exchange of components between the PML-NB interior and the nucleoplasm. Post-translational SUMO modifications, telomere repeats and heterochromatin protein 1 were found to localize in characteristic patterns with respect to PML and Sp100. From our findings, we derived a model that explains how the three-dimensional organization of PML-NBs serves to concentrate different biological activities while allowing for an efficient exchange of components.

Direct Light‐Driven Modulation of Luminescence from Mn‐Doped ZnSe Quantum Dots

Quantum dot (QD) nanocrystals remain at the forefront of fluorescence microscopy as they have the advantages of enhanced photostability, high quantum yield, and macromolecular size. Furthermore, the ability to tune the QD fluorescence, either by changing their size or by doping, allows for multiplexed imaging. The range of applications extends well beyond the realm of microscopy: QDs may also play a major role in developing novel photonic devices including lasers, light-emitting diodes, and displays. Despite significant advancements in nanocrystal research, the inability to directly modulate the fluorescence from QDs has precluded their implementation in several areas. In particular, emerging far-field diffraction-unlimited microscopy techniques uniquely benefit from the capability to reversibly modulate/switch fluorescent ensembles from a bright “on” state to a dark “off” state. This activation must occur as a response to optical stimuli which do not contain spectral components within the excitation kernel of the fluorescent markers. With the need for optical control over QD fluorescence, indirect methods have been conceived by using hybrid QD structures that incorporate a photochromic activator/quencher. Although the concept has been clearly established, hybrid QD structures suffer from inherent drawbacks, such as inadequate photostability, limited fluorescence quenching, and sensitivity to local environment/ solvent. Herein we report on the direct light-driven modulation of QD fluorescence. The mechanism for the fluorescence modulation relies only on internal electronic transitions within Mn-doped ZnSe quantum dots (Mn-QDs). It is demonstrated that the fluorescence of the QD can be reversibly depleted with efficiencies of over 90% by using continuous-wave optical intensities of approximately 1.9 MWcm . Time-domain measurements during the modulation indicate that the number of fluorescent on–off cycles exceeds 10 before a significant reduction in the fluorescence quantum efficiency occurs. Such robust nanometric probes having remotely controllable optical transitions are useful in many areas of research, particularly in far-field nanoscopy based on reversible saturable or switchable optical fluorescence transitions (RESOLFT). Consequently, we show that implementation of Mn-QDs for imaging leads to an increase in the resolution by a factor of 4.4 over that of confocal microscopy. A schematic diagram of the electronic transitions involved in light-modulated fluorescence from Mn-QDs is shown in Figure 1a. Initially, electrons are photoexcited from the

Birefringent device converts a standard scanning microscope into a STED microscope that also maps molecular orientation

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy usually employs a scanning excitation beam that is superimposed by a donut-shaped STED beam for keeping the fluorophores at the periphery of the excitation spot dark. Here, we introduce a simple birefringent device that produces a donut-shaped focal spot with suitable polarization for STED, while leaving the excitation spot virtually intact. The device instantly converts a scanning (confocal) microscope with a co-aligned STED beam into a full-blown STED microscope. The donut can be adapted to reveal, through the resulting fluorescence image, the orientation of fluorophores in the sample, thus directly providing subdiffraction resolution images of molecular orientation.