Virtual nanoscopy: Like 'Google Earth' for cell biologists

JCB unveils image presentation at an unprecedented scale

2012-08-06

(Press-News.org) Just as users of Google Earth can zoom in from space to a view of their own backyard, researchers can now navigate biological tissues from a whole embryo down to its subcellular structures thanks to recent advances in electron microscopy and image processing, as described in The Journal of Cell Biology (JCB). An upgrade to the JCB DataViewer (http://jcb-dataviewer.rupress.org), JCB's browser-based image presentation tool, now also makes these data publicly accessible for exploration and discovery.

Since the early days of cell biology, electron microscopy has revealed cellular structures in exquisite detail. The technique has always been limited, however, by the fact that it can only capture a tiny portion of the cell in a single image at high resolution, making it difficult for researchers to relate the structures they see to the cell as a whole, let alone to the tissue or organ in which the cell is located. Viewing samples at lower resolution, on the other hand, can reveal the larger picture of a cell or tissue, but researchers then lose the benefit of seeing fine details.

A team of scientists from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands has addressed this problem by developing new tools for stitching together thousands of electron microscopy images into single, high-resolution images of biological tissues—a "Google Earth" for cell biologists—which can be explored using the newly enhanced JCB DataViewer.

Faas et al. describe their recent advances to a technique called "virtual nanoscopy" in the August 6th issue of JCB. The researchers were able to stitch together over 26,000 individual images to generate an almost complete electron micrograph of a zebrafish embryo encompassing 281 gigapixels in total at a resolution of 16 million pixels per inch. Using the JCB DataViewer, anyone can navigate the zebrafish image from the level of the whole, 1.5 millimeter-long embryo down to subcellular structures.

The ability to integrate information across cells and tissues will provide researchers with exceptional opportunities for future discoveries. But the image's large size and complexity meant that providing access to Faas et al.'s data necessitated a major upgrade to the JCB DataViewer, a browser-based image hosting platform originally launched in 2008 to promote the sharing of original data associated with JCB publications.

"If you can image it, you should be able to publish it," says JCB Executive Editor Liz Williams. As a journal, "JCB remains committed to developing cutting-edge tools for the presentation of the data that drive progress in the field of cell biology."

INFORMATION:

About The Journal of Cell Biology

Founded in 1955, The Journal of Cell Biology (JCB) is published by The Rockefeller University Press. All editorial decisions on manuscripts submitted are made by active scientists in conjunction with our in-house scientific editors. JCB content is posted to PubMed Central, where it is available to the public for free six months after publication. Authors retain copyright of their published works and third parties may reuse the content for non-commercial purposes under a creative commons license. For more information, please visit www.jcb.org.

About the JCB DataViewer

The JCB DataViewer is an image hosting and presentation platform for original image data associated with articles published in JCB. Developed in a collaboration between Glencoe Software, Inc. (www.glencoesoftware.com) and the Rockefeller University Press (www.rupress.org), the JCB DataViewer was the first browser-based viewer for multidimensional microscopy image data. It is based on open source software built by the Open Microscopy Environment (OME; http://openmicroscopy.org).

Faas, F.G.A., et al. 2012. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb.201201140

Williams, E.H., et al. 2012. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb.201207117

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers discover blood biomarker for Lou Gehrig's disease, could lead to new treatments

2012-08-06

BOSTON, MA—Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) are the first to discover that changes in monocytes (a type of white blood cell) are a biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. This finding also brings the medical community a step closer toward a new treatment for the debilitating neurological disease that affects approximately 30,000 Americans. The study will be published online in The Journal of Clinical Investigation on August 6, 2012. In pre-clinical studies involving mice with an ALS gene mutation, the researchers ...

The genetic cause of a severe skeletal disease in Brazilian Terrier puppies revealed

2012-08-06

The genetics research group led by Professor Hannes Lohi, based at the University of Helsinki and the Folkhälsan Research Center, has, in collaboration with Adjunct Professor Kirsi Sainio's research group, discovered the cause of a life-threatening skeletal disorder affecting Brazilian Terriers. The disease is caused by a mutation in the GUSB gene. Malfunction of the GUSB gene has previously been linked to a severe skeletal disorder in humans, called type VII mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS VII). The gene discovery is yet another example of a shared disease heritage between ...

Anti-angina drug shows protective effects from carbon monoxide

2012-08-06

An international research team, led from the University of Leeds, has found that a common anti-angina drug could help protect the heart against carbon monoxide poisoning. Animal studies have shown that the anti-angina drug ranolazine can significantly reduce the number of deaths from arrhythmias – irregular or abnormally paced heartbeats – that have been triggered by carbon monoxide. The findings could have important implications for the development of a protective treatment for adults and children who have been exposed to toxic levels of the gas. "When patients are ...

Researchers gain information advantage from surprising quantum source

2012-08-06

New research lends hope that a phenomenon called quantum discord could be harnessed to bring quantum technologies within easier reach than expected. The work, by an international team, is published 5 August in Nature Physics. Up until a few years ago, researchers thought that realising quantum technologies would mean harnessing the most difficult-to-tame properties of the quantum world. For example, 'entanglement', the phenomenon referred to by Einstein as spooky-action-at-a-distance, was thought to be a resource required to run a quantum computer. This presents a challenge. ...

Taking a hit or 2

2012-08-06

Despite a huge amount of research effort, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the transition from a "normal" cell to a cancerous cell are only poorly understood. After the discovery of the first cancer-causing genes or oncogenes and the finding that they are mutated forms of normal cellular genes, it was widely believed that a single mutation was enough to cause cancer. Subsequent research, however, has revealed that most cancers only develop as a result of several mutations. A bewildering variety of combinations of mutations have been shown to have the potential ...

A KAIST research team has developed a high performance flexible solid state battery

2012-08-06

The team of Professor Keon Jae Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, KAIST has developed a high performance flexible all-solid-state battery, an essential energy source for flexible displays (see paper in Nano Letters: "Bendable Inorganic Thin-Film Battery for Fully Flexible Electronic Systems"). The technological advance of thin and light flexible display has encouraged the development of flexible batteries with a high power density and thermal stability. Although rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have been regarded as a strong candidate ...

Too many Facebook friends bad news for charities

2012-08-06

New research suggests the more friends we have on Facebook, the less likely we are to share information about charitable causes. Economist Professor Kimberley Scharf, from the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) at the University of Warwick, claims when we have larger online social networks, we rely on other people to pass on information about opportunities to give. This phenomenon is called 'free riding'. Professor Scharf also suggests we may even rely on others to donate. She will present her research paper 'Private Provision of Public Goods ...

Quantum physics: New insights into the remote control of quantum systems

2012-08-06

A fundamental characteristic of quantum physics is the fact that two or more particles can exhibit correlations stronger than classically allowed. This unique characteristic applies particularly to quantum entanglement: as soon as the quantum state of a particle is measured the state of its entangled partner changes accordingly, regardless of how far apart the two entangled particles might be. This feature allows for the remote quantum state preparation, which is an essential ingredient for applications in quantum communication, quantum cryptography, and quantum computation. The ...

UNC team describes novel inflammatory protein function

2012-08-06

A UNC-led team of scientists describes the function of a previously uncharacterized protein that dramatically influences inflammation. A majority of the NLR family of proteins function as activators of inflammation. However, scientists at UNC report that a newly identified NLR protein, NLRC3, was able to inhibit a major inflammatory pathway that is controlled by a protein called NF-Kappa B. NF-Kappa B activation has been long associated with inflammation and cancer promotion. Their article appears in the August 5,2012 online publication of the journal Nature Immunology. ...

Research links extreme summer heat events to global warming

2012-08-06

VIDEO: This visualization shows a flat map of the Earth with summertime temperature anomalies for the Northern Hemisphere. This analysis compares observed seasonal mean temperatures (June-July-August) to the seasonal mean temperatures... Click here for more information. A new statistical analysis by NASA scientists has found that Earth's land areas have become much more likely to experience an extreme summer heat wave than they were in the middle of the 20th century. The research ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Scientists design solar-responsive biochar that accelerates environmental cleanup

Construction of a localized immune niche via supramolecular hydrogel vaccine to elicit durable and enhanced immunity against infectious diseases

Deep learning-based discovery of tetrahydrocarbazoles as broad-spectrum antitumor agents and click-activated strategy for targeted cancer therapy

DHL-11, a novel prieurianin-type limonoid isolated from Munronia henryi, targeting IMPDH2 to inhibit triple-negative breast cancer

Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors and RIPK1 inhibitors with synergistic antiviral efficacy in a mouse COVID-19 model

Neg-entropy is the true drug target for chronic diseases

Oxygen-boosted dual-section microneedle patch for enhanced drug penetration and improved photodynamic and anti-inflammatory therapy in psoriasis

Around the world, children’s cooperative behaviors and norms converge toward community-specific norms in middle childhood, Boston College researchers report