Microscopy - Exploring the nano-world of folding proteins and living cells

Chemical microscope

The animation shows a measurement of water influx into living cells by changing the buffer medium from HBSS (Hanks balanced salt solution) to a mixture of 1:1 HBSS and bidestilled water. The image was constructed from fluorescence microscopic images in a confocal microscope using calcein AM as a fluorophor. We have deviced a method by using a near-infrared laser microscope to quantify the water concentration by absorption measurements. The results are published in The Analyst. Look also for the cover image of this issue showing some of the rendering shown in this animation here. 3D-reconstruction of data was rendered using freeware POVRAY (POV-Ray, Persistence of Vision Raytracer, version 3.5 (www.povray.org)).

COVER-Article: E. Bründermann et al., Fast quantification of water in single living cells by near-infrared microscopy, Analyst129, 893 (2004) - also selected as "Hot Article" and featured in Chemical Science and Chemistry World News of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Chemical nanoscope

Hepatocyte (red) on a glass substrate (blue) studied with an atomic force microscope. The liver cell has a diameter of approximately 25 µm and a height of 1.2 µm. On the right and lower right of the image two round depressions of the lipid membrane with a diameter of 5 µm and a depth of 150 nm are visible corresponding to the positions of two cell nuclei. A chemical nanoscope can identify each molecule within this membrane giving a much more informative picture.