Simultaneous spatiotemporal super-resolution and multi-parametric fluorescence microscopy

Nat Commun. 2021 Mar 19;12(1):1748. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22002-9.

Abstract

Super-resolution microscopy and single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy require mutually exclusive experimental strategies optimizing either temporal or spatial resolution. To achieve both, we implement a GPU-supported, camera-based measurement strategy that highly resolves spatial structures (~100 nm), temporal dynamics (~2 ms), and molecular brightness from the exact same data set. Simultaneous super-resolution of spatial and temporal details leads to an improved precision in estimating the diffusion coefficient of the actin binding polypeptide Lifeact and corrects structural artefacts. Multi-parametric analysis of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Lifeact suggests that the domain partitioning of EGFR is primarily determined by EGFR-membrane interactions, possibly sub-resolution clustering and inter-EGFR interactions but is largely independent of EGFR-actin interactions. These results demonstrate that pixel-wise cross-correlation of parameters obtained from different techniques on the same data set enables robust physicochemical parameter estimation and provides biological knowledge that cannot be obtained from sequential measurements.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actins / metabolism
  • Animals
  • CHO Cells
  • Cell Membrane
  • Cricetulus
  • Diffusion
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism
  • Fluorescence
  • Humans
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods*
  • Single Molecule Imaging / methods*
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence / methods

Substances

  • Actins
  • EGFR protein, human
  • ErbB Receptors