PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Stealthy microscopy method visualizes E. coli sub-cellular structure in 3-D

New technique enables fast imaging without fluorescence or contrast agents

2012-06-30
(Press-News.org) URBANA, Ill. — A sub-cellular world has been opened up for scientists to study E. coli and other tissues in new ways, thanks to a microscopy method that stealthily provides three-dimensional, high-quality images of the internal structure of cells without disturbing the specimen.

By combining a novel algorithm with a recently-developed add-on technique for commercial microscopes, researchers at the University of Illinois have created a fast, non-invasive 3D method for visualizing, quantifying, and studying cells without the use of fluorescence or contrast agents.

In a paper published online today in the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers who developed the technique reported that they were able to use it to visualize the E. coli bacteria with a combination of speed, scale, and resolution unparalleled for a label-free method.

The method is based on a broadband interferometric technique known as Spatial Light Interference Microscopy (SLIM) that was designed by Beckman Institute researcher Gabriel Popescu as an add-on module to a commercial phase contrast microscope. SLIM is extremely fast and sensitive at multiple scales (from 200 nm and up) but, as a linear optical system, its resolution is limited by diffraction.

By applying a novel deconvolution algorithm to retrieve sub-diffraction limited resolution information from the fields measured by SLIM, Popescu and his fellow researchers were able to render tomographic images with a resolution beyond SLIM's diffraction limits. They used the sparse reconstruction method to render 3D reconstructed images of E. coli cells, enabling label-free visualization of the specimens at sub-cellular scales.

Last year the researchers successfully demonstrated a new optical technique that provides 3D measures of complex fields called Spatial Light Interference Tomography (SLIT) on live neurons and photonic crystal structures. In this project they developed a novel algorithm to further extend the three-dimensional capabilities by performing deconvolution on the measured 3D field, based on modeling the image using sparsity principles. This microscopy capability, called dSLIT, was used to visualize coiled sub-cellular structures in E. coli cells.

The researchers said that these structures have only been observed using specialized strains and plasmids and fluorescence techniques, and usually on non-living cells. These new methods provide a practical way for non-invasive study of such structures.

Mustafa Mir is first author on the paper and member of Popescu's Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory at Beckman. Mir said that studying and understanding the three-dimensional internal structure of living cells is essential for furthering our understanding of biological function.

"Visualizing them is extremely challenging due to their small size and transparent nature," Mir said. "This new method, however, provides a way to take advantage of the intrinsic properties of these very small, transparent cells non-invasively and without the use of fluorescence techniques and contrast agents.

"Previous studies have thus used extrinsic contrast such as fluorescence and specialized strains in combination with complex superresolution techniques for such studies. This will allow biologists to study sub-cellular structures while minimally perturbing the cell from its natural state."

The researchers wrote that the method addresses two major issues in cell microscopy: lack of contrast, due to the thin and optically transparent nature of cells, and diffraction limited resolution.

"Although several such structures have been previously identified, little is known about their function and behavior due to the practical difficulties involved in imaging them," they concluded. "The results presented here indicate that dSLIT can be used to characterize and study such sub-cellular structure in a practical and non-invasive manner, opening the door for a more in depth understanding of the biology."

INFORMATION:

The paper is titled Visualizing Escherichia coli sub-cellular structure using sparse deconvolution spatial light interference tomography. Along with Mir and Popescu, authors include Beckman faculty member Minh Do and Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow S. Derin Babacan, as well as faculty member Ido Golding and graduate student Michael Bednarz from the Department of Physics.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study identifies pathway to enhance usefulness of EGFR inhibitors in lung cancer treatment

2012-06-30
Many lung cancers are driven by mutations in the epidermal growth-factor receptor (EGFR), and so it makes sense that many successful modern treatments block EGFR activity. Unfortunately, cancers inevitably evolve around EGFR inhibition, and patients with lung cancers eventually relapse. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal Cancer Research details a signaling pathway, known as 'the canonical Wnt pathway', that lung cancer cells use to escape from EGFR-targeted therapy – and suggests that by disrupting this pathway, we could lengthen ...

Epilepsy drugs increase risk of fractures and falls

2012-06-30
New research has shed light on the high risk of fractures, falls, and osteoporosis among epilepsy patients using antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) with most patients unaware of the risks associated with taking the drugs. The study led by the University of Melbourne and published in the prestigious Neurology journal, found that people taking antiepileptic drugs are up to four times more likely to suffer spine, collarbone and ankle fractures and are more likely to have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. The study also revealed that these patients are more than four times as likely ...

BGI demonstrated genomic data transfer at nearly 10 gigabits per second between US and China

2012-06-30
June 29, 2012, Cambridge, Mass., and Shenzhen, China – BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, announced today that a group of scientists and researchers successfully demonstrated genomic data transfer at a sustained rate of almost 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) over a new link connecting US and China research and education networks. This data rate is equivalent to moving more than 100 million megabytes -- over 5,400 full Blu-ray discs -- in a single day. The data transfer demonstration was part of a June 22nd event in Beijing celebrating a new 10 Gigabit US ...

Colorful light at the end of the tunnel for radiation detection

2012-06-30
LIVERMORE, Calif.—A team of nanomaterials researchers at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new technique for radiation detection that could make radiation detection in cargo and baggage more effective and less costly for homeland security inspectors. Known as spectral shape discrimination (SSD), the method takes advantage of a new class of nanoporous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Researchers discovered that adding a doping agent to an MOF leads to the emission of red and blue light when the MOF interacts with high-energy particles emanated ...

Falling lizards use tail for mid-air twist, inspiring lizard-like 'RightingBot'

2012-06-30
Lizards, just like cats, have a knack for turning right side up and landing on their feet when they fall. But how do they do it? Unlike cats, which twist and bend their torsos to turn upright, lizards swing their large tails one way to rotate their body the other, according to a recent study that will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 29th June in Salzburg, Austria. A lizard-inspired robot, called 'RightingBot', replicates the feat. This work, carried out by Ardian Jusufi, Robert Full and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, ...

SACLA draws acclaim for unique XFEL design

2012-06-30
A detailed technical introduction to the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free-electron Laser (SACLA) appeared online in Nature Photonics. The attention on the world's second XFEL facility comes in response to its record-breaking size and performance: SACLA boasts the shortest wavelength in the world (0.63 Angstroms), an extremely broad wavelength range (0.63 - 3 Angstroms) and a very high peak output of 10 GW. SACLA achieves this performance despite having an overall length of only 700 meters, a fraction of the 2 - 4 km taken up by XFEL facilities in the United States and Europe. The ...

Preventing the immune system from going haywire during sepsis

2012-06-30
Septic shock is the most severe outcome associated with pathogen infection in the bloodstream. It is a life-threatening condition invariably leading to multiple organ dysfunctions. Currently, septic shock is one of the most frequent causes of death in intensive care units worldwide. However, it is already known that sepsis-induced multiple organ dysfunction is not a direct effect of the pathogen invasion itself but rather an overreaction of the host immune system against the infection. Many strategies aiming at holding back the extreme response of the immune system have ...

Britain's urban rivers bounce back

2012-06-30
Urban rivers throughout England and Wales have improved dramatically in water quality and wildlife over the last 20 years. That's the conclusion of one the largest studies of national trends in river health ever undertaken. After decades of pollution, typically from poorly treated sewage and industrial waste, rivers in or near Britain's major urban areas are regaining insects such as mayflies and stoneflies that are typical of fast-flowing, oxygen-rich waters. The range of invertebrates found has also increased, on average, by around 20%. Researchers from Cardiff ...

New technique could reduce number of animals needed to test chemical safety

2012-06-30
A new way of testing the safety of natural and synthetic chemicals has been developed by scientists with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Their research, published today in the journal Ecotoxicology, could reduce the number of fish needed to test the toxicity of a range of chemicals including pharmaceuticals and environmental pollutants. The researchers, led by Professor Awadhesh Jha of Plymouth University, have managed to coax cells from the liver of a rainbow trout to form a ball-shaped structure called a spheroid in a ...

U-series dating suggests Welsh reindeer is Britain's oldest rock art

2012-06-30
A reindeer engraved on the wall of a cave in South Wales has been found to date from at least 14,505 years ago – making it the oldest known rock art in the British Isles. The engraving was discovered in September 2010 by Dr George Nash from the University of Bristol's Department of Archaeology and Anthropology while he was exploring the rear section of Cathole Cave, a limestone cave on the eastern side of an inland valley on the Gower Peninsula, South Wales. Found to the rear of the cave on a small vertical limestone niche, the engraved cervid – probably a stylised ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Osteoporosis treatment benefits people older than 80

Consuming more protein may protect patients taking anti-obesity drug from muscle loss

Thyroid treatment may improve gut health in people with hypothyroidism

Combination of obesity medication tirzepatide and menopause hormone therapy fuels weight loss

High blood sugar may have a negative impact on men’s sexual health

Emotional health of parents tied to well-being of children with growth hormone deficiency

Oxytocin may reduce mood changes in women with disrupted sleep

Mouse study finds tirzepatide slowed obesity-associated breast cancer growth

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

[Press-News.org] Stealthy microscopy method visualizes E. coli sub-cellular structure in 3-D
New technique enables fast imaging without fluorescence or contrast agents