Tobias Meckel
Technische Universität Darmstadt
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Publication
Featured researches published by Tobias Meckel.
Applied Physics Letters | 2007
Laurent Holtzer; Tobias Meckel; Thomas Schmidt
Wide-field single-molecule fluorescence microscopy has become an established tool for the study of dynamic biological processes which occur in the plane of a cellular membrane. In the current study we have extended this technique to the three-dimensional analysis of molecular mobility. Introduction of a cylindrical lens into the emission path of a microscope produced some astigmatism which was used to obtain the full three-dimensional position information. The localization accuracy of fluorescent objects was calculated theoretically and subsequently confirmed by simulations and by experiments. For further validation individual quantum dots were followed when passively diffusing and actively transported within life cells.
Immunity | 2009
Dongfang Liu; Yenan T. Bryceson; Tobias Meckel; Gaia Vasiliver-Shamis; Michael L. Dustin; Eric O. Long
Cytotoxic lymphocytes kill target cells by releasing the content of secretory lysosomes at the immune synapse. To understand the dynamics and control of cytotoxic immune synapses, we imaged human primary, live natural killer cells on lipid bilayers carrying ligands of activation receptors. Formation of an organized synapse was dependent on the presence of the beta2 integrin ligand ICAM-1. Ligands of coactivation receptors 2B4 and NKG2D segregated into central and peripheral regions, respectively. Lysosomal protein LAMP-1 that was exocytosed during degranulation accumulated in a large and spatially stable cluster, which overlapped with a site of membrane internalization. Lysosomal compartments reached the plasma membrane at focal points adjacent to centrally accumulated LAMP-1. Imaging of fixed cells revealed that perforin-containing granules were juxtaposed to an intracellular compartment where exocytosed LAMP-1 was retrieved. Thus, cytotoxic immune synapses include a central region of bidirectional vesicular traffic, which is controlled by integrin signaling.
Journal of Experimental Medicine | 2010
Wanli Liu; Tobias Meckel; Pavel Tolar; Hae Won Sohn; Susan K. Pierce
Antibody affinity maturation, a hallmark of adaptive immune responses, results from the selection of B cells expressing somatically hypermutated B cell receptors (BCRs) with increased affinity for antigens. Despite the central role of affinity maturation in antibody responses, the molecular mechanisms by which the increased affinity of a B cell for antigen is translated into a selective advantage for that B cell in immune responses is incompletely understood. We use high resolution live-cell imaging to provide evidence that the earliest BCR-intrinsic events that follow within seconds of BCR–antigen binding are highly sensitive to the affinity of the BCR for antigen. High affinity BCRs readily form oligomers and the resulting microclusters grow rapidly, resulting in enhanced recruitment of Syk kinase and calcium fluxes. Thus, B cells are able to read the affinity of antigen by BCR-intrinsic mechanisms during the earliest phases of BCR clustering, leading to the initiation of B cell responses.
Nucleic Acids Research | 2007
Beatrice I. Lindhout; Paul F. Fransz; Federico Tessadori; Tobias Meckel; Paul J.J. Hooykaas; Bert J. van der Zaal
Several techniques are available to study chromosomes or chromosomal domains in nuclei of chemically fixed or living cells. Current methods to detect DNA sequences in vivo are limited to trans interactions between a DNA sequence and a transcription factor from natural systems. Here, we expand live cell imaging tools using a novel approach based on zinc finger-DNA recognition codes. We constructed several polydactyl zinc finger (PZF) DNA-binding domains aimed to recognize specific DNA sequences in Arabidopsis and mouse and fused these with GFP. Plants and mouse cells expressing PZF:GFP proteins were subsequently analyzed by confocal microscopy. For Arabidopsis, we designed a PZF:GFP protein aimed to specifically recognize a 9-bp sequence within centromeric 180-bp repeat and monitored centromeres in living roots. Similarly, in mouse cells a PZF:GFP protein was targeted to a 9-bp sequence in the major satellite repeat. Both PZF:GFP proteins localized in chromocenters which represent heterochromatin domains containing centromere and other tandem repeats. The number of PZF:GFP molecules per centromere in Arabidopsis, quantified with near single-molecule precision, approximated the number of expected binding sites. Our data demonstrate that live cell imaging of specific DNA sequences can be achieved with artificial zinc finger proteins in different organisms.
Acta Biomaterialia | 2014
Elke Kaemmerer; Ferry P.W. Melchels; Boris Michael Holzapfel; Tobias Meckel; Dietmar W. Hutmacher; Daniela Loessner
Modern cancer research requires physiological, three-dimensional (3-D) cell culture platforms, wherein the physical and chemical characteristics of the extracellular matrix (ECM) can be modified. In this study, gelatine methacrylamide (GelMA)-based hydrogels were characterized and established as in vitro and in vivo spheroid-based models for ovarian cancer, reflecting the advanced disease stage of patients, with accumulation of multicellular spheroids in the tumour fluid (ascites). Polymer concentration (2.5-7% w/v) strongly influenced hydrogel stiffness (0.5±0.2kPa to 9.0±1.8kPa) but had little effect on solute diffusion. The diffusion coefficient of 70kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled dextran in 7% GelMA-based hydrogels was only 2.3 times slower compared to water. Hydrogels of medium concentration (5% w/v GelMA) and stiffness (3.4kPa) allowed spheroid formation and high proliferation and metabolic rates. The inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases and consequently ECM degradability reduced spheroid formation and proliferation rates. The incorporation of the ECM components laminin-411 and hyaluronic acid further stimulated spheroid growth within GelMA-based hydrogels. The feasibility of pre-cultured GelMA-based hydrogels as spheroid carriers within an ovarian cancer animal model was proven and led to tumour development and metastasis. These tumours were sensitive to treatment with the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel, but not the integrin antagonist ATN-161. While paclitaxel and its combination with ATN-161 resulted in a treatment response of 33-37.8%, ATN-161 alone had no effect on tumour growth and peritoneal spread. The semi-synthetic biomaterial GelMA combines relevant natural cues with tunable properties, providing an alternative, bioengineered 3-D cancer cell culture in in vitro and in vivo model systems.
Journal of Immunology | 2010
Wanli Liu; Hae Won Sohn; Pavel Tolar; Tobias Meckel; Susan K. Pierce
The FcγRIIB is a potent inhibitory coreceptor that blocks BCR signaling in response to immune complexes and, as such, plays a decisive role in regulating Ab responses. The recent application of high-resolution live cell imaging to B cell studies is providing new molecular details of the earliest events in the initiation BCR signaling that follow within seconds of Ag binding. In this study, we report that when colligated to the BCR through immune complexes, the FcγRIIB colocalizes with the BCR in microscopic clusters and blocks the earliest events that initiate BCR signaling, including the oligomerization of the BCR within these clusters, the active recruitment of BCRs to these clusters, and the resulting spreading and contraction response. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer analyses indicate that blocking these early events may not require molecular proximity of the cytoplasmic domains of the BCR and FcγRIIB, but relies on the rapid and sustained association of FcγRIIB with raft lipids in the membrane. These results may provide novel early targets for therapies aimed at regulating the FcγRIIB to control Ab responses in autoimmune disease.
Biophysical Journal | 2009
Marcel J. M. Schaaf; Wiepke J.A. Koopmans; Tobias Meckel; John van Noort; B. Ewa Snaar-Jagalska; Thomas Schmidt; Herman P. Spaink
It has been possible for several years to study the dynamics of fluorescently labeled proteins by single-molecule microscopy, but until now this technology has been applied only to individual cells in culture. In this study, it was extended to stem cells and living vertebrate organisms. As a molecule of interest we used yellow fluorescent protein fused to the human H-Ras membrane anchor, which has been shown to serve as a model for proteins anchored in the plasma membrane. We used a wide-field fluorescence microscopy setup to visualize individual molecules in a zebrafish cell line (ZF4) and in primary embryonic stem cells. A total-internal-reflection microscopy setup was used for imaging in living organisms, in particular in epidermal cells in the skin of 2-day-old zebrafish embryos. Our results demonstrate the occurrence of membrane microdomains in which the diffusion of membrane proteins in a living organism is confined. This membrane organization differed significantly from that observed in cultured cells, illustrating the relevance of performing single-molecule microscopy in living organisms.
FEBS Letters | 2002
Anna Moroni; Carlo Viscomi; Vanessa Sangiorgio; Cinzia Pagliuca; Tobias Meckel; Ferenc Horváth; Sabrina Gazzarrini; Paola Valbuzzi; James L. Van Etten; Dario DiFrancesco; Gerhard Thiel
Kcv (K+ Chlorella virus) is a miniature virus‐encoded K+ channel. Its predicted membrane–pore–membrane structure lacks a cytoplasmic C‐terminus and it has a short 12 amino acid (aa) cytoplasmic N‐terminus. Kcv forms a functional channel when expressed in human HEK 293 cells. Deletion of the 14 N‐terminal aa results in no apparent differences in the subcellular location and expression level of the Kcv protein. However, the truncated protein does not induce a measurable current in transfected HEK 293 cells or Xenopus oocytes. We conclude that the N‐terminus controls functional properties of the Kcv channel, but does not influence protein expression.
Protoplasma | 2005
Tobias Meckel; Annette Christine Hurst; Gerhard Thiel; Ulrike Homann
Summary.During stomatal movement, guard cells undergo large and reversible changes in cell volume and consequently surface area. These alterations in surface area require addition and removal of plasma membrane material. How this is achieved is largely unknown. Here we summarize recent studies of membrane turnover in guard cells using electrophysiology and fluorescent imaging techniques. The results implicate that membrane turnover in guard cells and most likely in plant cells in general is sensitive to changes in membrane tension. We suggest that this provides a mechanism for the adaptation of surface area of guard cells to osmotically driven changes in cell volume. In addition, guard cells also exhibit constitutive membrane turnover. Constitutive and pressure-driven membrane turnover were found to be associated with addition and removal of K+ channels. This implies that some of the exo- and endocytic vesicles carry K+ channels. Together the results demonstrate that exo- and endocytosis is an essential process in guard cell functioning.
PLOS ONE | 2010
Dongfang Liu; Tobias Meckel; Eric O. Long
Protocols were developed to automate image analysis and to track the movement of thousands of vesicular compartments in live cells. Algorithms were used to discriminate among different types of movement (e.g. random, caged, and directed). We applied these tools to investigate the steady-state distribution and movement of lytic granules (LG) in live natural killer (NK) cells by high-speed 3-dimensional (3D) spinning disc confocal and 2-dimensional total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. Both mouse NK cells and a human NK cell line deficient in the small GTPase Rab27a were examined. The unbiased analysis of large datasets led to the following observations and conclusions. The majority of LG in the cytosol and at the plasma membrane of unstimulated NK cells are mobile. The use of inhibitors indicated that movement in the cytosol required microtubules but not actin, whereas movement at the plasma membrane required both. Rab27a deficiency resulted in fewer LG, and in a reduced fraction of mobile LG, at the plasma membrane. In contrast, loss of Rab27a increased the fraction of mobile LG and the extent of their movement in the cytosol. Therefore, in addition to its documented role in LG delivery to the plasma membrane, Rab27a may restrict LG movement in the cytosol.