Uday K. Tirlapur

FRET Measurements by TCSPC Laser Scanning Microscopy

We use a two-photon laser scanning microscope with a new Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) imaging technique to obtain combined intensity-lifetime images for FRET measurements in living cells. Single photon pulses from a photomultiplier and signals from the scanning head are used to record the three-dimensional photon density over the time- and image coordinates. Double exponential decay analysis delivers the lifetime components of the quenched and the unquenched molecules in all pixels of the image. We use the ratio of the intensity coefficients of the fast and slow decay component to create images that show the size of the FRET effects in different parts of the cell.

Characterization of the activity of a plastid-targeted green fluorescent protein in Arabidopsis

In Arabidopsis thaliana the PALE CRESS (PAC) gene product is required for both chloroplast and cell differentiation. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing a translational fusion of the N-terminal part of the PAC protein harboring the complete plastid-targeting sequence and the green fluorescent protein (GFP) exhibit high GFP fluorescence. Detailed analyses based on confocal imaging of various tissues and cell types revealed that the PAC-GFP fusion protein accumulates in chloroplasts of mature stomatal guard cells. The GFP fluorescence within the guard cell chloroplasts is not evenly distributed and appears to be concentrated in suborganellar regions. GFP localization studies demonstrate that thin tubular projections emanating from chloroplasts and etioplasts often connect the organelles with each other. Furthermore, imaging of non-green and etiolated tissue further revealed that GFP fluorescence is present in proplastids, etioplasts, chromoplasts, and amyloplasts. Even photobleaching of carotenoid-free plastids does not affect PAC-GFP accumulation in the organelles of the guard cells indicating that the protein translocation machinery is functional in all types of plastids. The specific accumulation of GFP in guard cell chloroplasts, their tubular connections, the translocation of the precursor polypeptide into the different types of organelles, as well as the use of a plastid-targeted GFP protein as a versatile marker is discussed in the context of previously described observations.

Picosecond fluorescence lifetime microscopy by TCSPC imaging

A new Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) imaging technique delivers combined intensity-lifetime images in a two-photon laser scanning microscope. The sample is excited by laser pulses of 150 fs duration and 80 MHz repetition rate. The microscope scans the sample with a pixel dwell time in the +s range. The fluorescence is detected with a fast PMT at the non-descanned port of the laser scanning microscope. The single photon pulses from the PMT and the scan control signals from the scanning head are used to build up a three-dimensional histogram of the photon density over the time within the decay function and the image coordinates x and y. Analysis of the recorded data delivers images containing the intensity as brightness and the lifetime as colour, images within selected time windows or decay curves in selected pixels. The performance of the system is shown for typical applications such as FRET measurements, Ca imaging and discrimination of endogenous fluorophores or different dyes in living cells and tissues.

Phytochrome-regulated Starch Degradation in Germinating Turions of Spirodela polyrhiza

Abstract— Turions of the duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza contain about 70% starch on the dry weight basis. The rate of starch degradation in nondormant turions was highest in continuous red light (cR) followed by continuous blue light (cB), whereas continuous far red light (cFR) is almost ineffective. Continuous R could be substituted by repeated R pulses; this effect was not photoreversible by FR pulses applied after hourly R pulses. This suggested that R‐dependent high irradiance response is the mode of phytochrome action in mediating starch degradation. Comparing the mode of phytochrome action with that of phytochrome mutants of other plants it can be assumed that phytochrome B is the photoreceptor involved. Application of the translation inhibitor cycloheximide immediately stopped the phytochrome‐dependent starch degradation demonstrating the involvement of de novo synthesis of proteins.

Optical gene transfer by femtosecond laser pulses

Targeted transfection of cells is an important technique for gene therapy and related biomedical applications. We delineate how high-intensity (1012 W/cm2) near-infrared (NIR) 80 MHz nanojoule femtosecond laser pulses can create highly localised membrane perforations within a minute focal volume, enabling non-invasive direct transfection of mammalian cells with DNA. We suspended Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO), rat kangaroo kidney epithelial (PtK2) and rat fibroblast cells in 0.5 ml culture medium in a sterile miniaturized cell chamber (JenLab GmbH, Jena, Germany) containing 0.2 μg plasmid DNA vector pEGFP-N1 (4.7 kb), which codes for green fluorescent protein (GFP). The NIR laser beam was introduced into a femtosecond laser scanning microscope (JenLab GmbH, Jena, Germany) and focussed on the edge of the cell membrane of a target cell for 16 ms. The integration and expression efficiency of EGFP were assessed in situ by two-photon fluorescence-lifetime imaging using time-correlated single photon counting. The unique capability to transfer foreign DNA safely and efficiently into specific cell types (including stem cells), circumventing mechanical, electrical or chemical means, will have many applications, such as targeted gene therapy and DNA vaccination.