Next generation single-molecule, super-resolution microscope
Beyond imaging cell ultrastructure with 20 nm resolution, as an optimized single-molecule microscope the Nanoimager can track single molecules simultaneously in two emission channels. Consequently, multiple exosomal markers can be detected and colocalized on a single exosome, both inside the cell and in purified samples.
In addition, because exosomes can be tracked in purified samples, size and concentration measurements of exosomes can be studied with two fluorescent markers (from a choice of four colors in a single instrument, and a wide range of laser lines available), even with only one fluorophore in each color per exosome.
The Nanoimager is a desktop super-resolution instrument with a range of capabilities relevant to exosome researchers:
- Super-resolution imaging, better than 20 nm resolution - image cell ultrastructure, understand cellular uptake and mechanisms of vesicle transport within the cell
- 3D single-vesicle tracking (NTA) - overcoming peak broadening limitations with 2D tracking in traditional NTA
- Single-molecule sensitivity - overcoming sensitivity limitations with NTA and Flow Cytometry
- Dual color fNTA - image and track vesicles simultaneously in two channels for absolute specificity, determine colocalization with single-molecule sensitivity
- Track vesicles inside of cells to understand transport mechanisms, and track in free solution to measure vesicle size and concentration
- Image both organic dyes and fluorescent proteins, so that the genesis of exosomes within cells can be measured
- The potential to understand nucleic acid content in vesicles using Fluorescence In Situ H
- Hybridisation (FISH)
- Multicolor super-resolution imaging for vesicle structure in fixed cells
The Nanoimager delivers super-resolution imaging through direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM). Furthermore, the Nanoimager offers dSTORM imaging in multiple colors, meaning that colocalization of different molecular species can be determined with greater accuracy than standard fluorescence data.
Through its bottom-up design and streamlined optics, the cost of the microscope has been dramatically reduced relative to a typical super-resolution microscope. Super-resolution imaging is no longer the reserve of the few, but is affordable for the wider scientific community.
