In situ localization of mRNAs and proteins with both light and Electron Microscopy

Author(s):  
J. A. Pollock ◽  
Seymour Benzer ◽  
T. Deerinck ◽  
M. Martone ◽  
M. H. Ellisman

Cell biological analysis through direct microscopic observation has adopted molecular biological techniques to study the expression of particular genes. With antibodies and other molecular probes, the specific subcellular localization of a given type of protein can readily be visualized using conventional light microscopes, Confocal microscopes and electron microscopes. A tremendous amount of information has been reported on the synthesis, processing and transport of many classes of proteins resulting from the direct visualization of protein expression in the tissue. Recently, the specific subcellular localization of mRNA transcripts has been reported in several systems relating the localization of the RNA to the localization and function of the proteins they encode (Garner, et al., 1988; Macdonald and Struhl, 1988; Singer, et al., 1989; Yisraeli and Melton, 1988, 1990; Pollock et al., 1990). The success of these studies have relied on the large physical dimensions of the cells used so that the non-isotopic, light microscopic techniques employed could resolve distinct regional differences in the RNA signal.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Sawaguchi ◽  
Takeshi Kamimura ◽  
Nobuyasu Takahashi ◽  
Atsushi Yamashita ◽  
Yujiro Asada ◽  
...  

AbstractImmunocytochemistry visualizes the exact spatial location of target molecules. The most common strategy for ultrastructural immunocytochemistry is the conjugation of nanogold particles to antibodies as probes. However, conventional nanogold labelling requires time-consuming nanogold probe preparation and ultrathin sectioning of cell/tissue samples. Here, we introduce an in situ strategy involving nanogold nucleation in immunoenzymatic products on universal paraffin/cryostat sections and provide unique insight into nanogold development under hot-humid air conditions. Nanogold particles were specifically localized on kidney podocytes to target synaptopodin. Transmission electron microscopy revealed secondary growth and self-assembly that could be experimentally controlled by bovine serum albumin stabilization and phosphate-buffered saline acceleration. Valuable retrospective nanogold labelling for gastric H+/K+-ATPase was achieved on vintage immunoenzymatic deposits after a long lapse of 15 years (i.e., 15-year-old deposits). The present in situ nanogold labelling is anticipated to fill the gap between light and electron microscopy to correlate cell/tissue structure and function.


Author(s):  
J. A. Pollock ◽  
M. Martone ◽  
T. Deerinck ◽  
M. H. Ellisman

Localization of specific proteins in cells by both light and electron microscopy has been facilitate by the availability of antibodies that recognize unique features of these proteins. High resolution localization studies conducted over the last 25 years have allowed biologists to study the synthesis, translocation and ultimate functional sites for many important classes of proteins. Recently, recombinant DNA techniques in molecular biology have allowed the production of specific probes for localization of nucleic acids by “in situ” hybridization. The availability of these probes potentially opens a new set of questions to experimental investigation regarding the subcellular distribution of specific DNA's and RNA's. Nucleic acids have a much lower “copy number” per cell than a typical protein, ranging from one copy to perhaps several thousand. Therefore, sensitive, high resolution techniques are required. There are several reasons why Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscopy (IVEM) and High Voltage Electron Microscopy (HVEM) are most useful for localization of nucleic acids in situ.


Author(s):  
M.A. O’Keefe ◽  
J. Taylor ◽  
D. Owen ◽  
B. Crowley ◽  
K.H. Westmacott ◽  
...  

Remote on-line electron microscopy is rapidly becoming more available as improvements continue to be developed in the software and hardware of interfaces and networks. Scanning electron microscopes have been driven remotely across both wide and local area networks. Initial implementations with transmission electron microscopes have targeted unique facilities like an advanced analytical electron microscope, a biological 3-D IVEM and a HVEM capable of in situ materials science applications. As implementations of on-line transmission electron microscopy become more widespread, it is essential that suitable standards be developed and followed. Two such standards have been proposed for a high-level protocol language for on-line access, and we have proposed a rational graphical user interface. The user interface we present here is based on experience gained with a full-function materials science application providing users of the National Center for Electron Microscopy with remote on-line access to a 1.5MeV Kratos EM-1500 in situ high-voltage transmission electron microscope via existing wide area networks. We have developed and implemented, and are continuing to refine, a set of tools, protocols, and interfaces to run the Kratos EM-1500 on-line for collaborative research. Computer tools for capturing and manipulating real-time video signals are integrated into a standardized user interface that may be used for remote access to any transmission electron microscope equipped with a suitable control computer.


Author(s):  
Kenneth S. Vecchio ◽  
John A. Hunt

In-situ experiments conducted within a transmission electron microscope provide the operator a unique opportunity to directly observe microstructural phenomena, such as phase transformations and dislocation-precipitate interactions, “as they happen”. However, in-situ experiments usually require a tremendous amount of experimental preparation beforehand, as well as, during the actual experiment. In most cases the researcher must operate and control several pieces of equipment simultaneously. For example, in in-situ deformation experiments, the researcher may have to not only operate the TEM, but also control the straining holder and possibly some recording system such as a video tape machine. When it comes to in-situ fatigue deformation, the experiments became even more complicated with having to control numerous loading cycles while following the slow crack growth. In this paper we will describe a new method for conducting in-situ fatigue experiments using a camputer-controlled tensile straining holder.The tensile straining holder used with computer-control system was manufactured by Philips for the Philips 300 series microscopes. It was necessary to modify the specimen stage area of this holder to work in the Philips 400 series microscopes because the distance between the optic axis and holder airlock is different than in the Philips 300 series microscopes. However, the program and interfacing can easily be modified to work with any goniometer type straining holder which uses a penrmanent magnet motor.


Author(s):  
Wilfried Sigle ◽  
Matthias Hohenstein ◽  
Alfred Seeger

Prolonged electron irradiation of metals at elevated temperatures usually leads to the formation of large interstitial-type dislocation loops. The growth rate of the loops is proportional to the total cross-section for atom displacement,which is implicitly connected with the threshold energy for atom displacement, Ed . Thus, by measuring the growth rate as a function of the electron energy and the orientation of the specimen with respect to the electron beam, the anisotropy of Ed can be determined rather precisely. We have performed such experiments in situ in high-voltage electron microscopes on Ag and Au at 473K as a function of the orientation and on Au as a function of temperature at several fixed orientations.Whereas in Ag minima of Ed are found close to <100>,<110>, and <210> (13-18eV), (Fig.1) atom displacement in Au requires least energy along <100>(15-19eV) (Fig.2). Au is thus the first fcc metal in which the absolute minimum of the threshold energy has been established not to lie in or close to the <110> direction.


BMC Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Gabarre ◽  
Frank Vernaillen ◽  
Pieter Baatsen ◽  
Katlijn Vints ◽  
Christopher Cawthorne ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Array tomography (AT) is a high-resolution imaging method to resolve fine details at the organelle level and has the advantage that it can provide 3D volumes to show the tissue context. AT can be carried out in a correlative way, combing light and electron microscopy (LM, EM) techniques. However, the correlation between modalities can be a challenge and delineating specific regions of interest in consecutive sections can be time-consuming. Integrated light and electron microscopes (iLEMs) offer the possibility to provide well-correlated images and may pose an ideal solution for correlative AT. Here, we report a workflow to automate navigation between regions of interest. Results We use a targeted approach that allows imaging specific tissue features, like organelles, cell processes, and nuclei at different scales to enable fast, directly correlated in situ AT using an integrated light and electron microscope (iLEM-AT). Our workflow is based on the detection of section boundaries on an initial transmitted light acquisition that serves as a reference space to compensate for changes in shape between sections, and we apply a stepwise refinement of localizations as the magnification increases from LM to EM. With minimal user interaction, this enables autonomous and speedy acquisition of regions containing cells and cellular organelles of interest correlated across different magnifications for LM and EM modalities, providing a more efficient way to obtain 3D images. We provide a proof of concept of our approach and the developed software tools using both Golgi neuronal impregnation staining and fluorescently labeled protein condensates in cells. Conclusions Our method facilitates tracing and reconstructing cellular structures over multiple sections, is targeted at high resolution ILEMs, and can be integrated into existing devices, both commercial and custom-built systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna Török ◽  
Petra Merkely ◽  
Anna Monori-Kiss ◽  
Eszter Mária Horváth ◽  
Réka Eszter Sziva ◽  
...  

Abstract Background We aimed to identify sex differences in the network properties and to recognize the geometric alteration effects of long-term swim training in a rat model of exercise-induced left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. Methods Thirty-eight Wistar rats were divided into four groups: male sedentary, female sedentary, male exercised and female exercised. After training sessions, LV morphology and function were checked by echocardiography. The geometry of the left coronary artery system was analysed on pressure-perfused, microsurgically prepared resistance artery networks using in situ video microscopy. All segments over > 80 μm in diameter were studied using divided 50-μm-long cylindrical ring units of the networks. Oxidative-nitrative (O-N) stress markers, adenosine A2A and estrogen receptor (ER) were investigated by immunohistochemistry. Results The LV mass index, ejection fraction and fractional shortening significantly increased in exercised animals. We found substantial sex differences in the coronary network in the control groups and in the swim-trained animals. Ring frequency spectra were significantly different between male and female animals in both the sedentary and trained groups. The thickness of the wall was higher in males as a result of training. There were elevations in the populations of 200- and 400-μm vessel units in males; the thinner ones developed farther and the thicker ones closer to the orifice. In females, a new population of 200- to 250-μm vessels appeared unusually close to the orifice. Conclusions Physical activity and LV hypertrophy were accompanied by a remodelling of coronary resistance artery network geometry that was different in both sexes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 977-984
Author(s):  
Mayya V. Kulikova ◽  
Albert B. Kulikov ◽  
Alexey E. Kuz’min ◽  
Anton L. Maximov

AbstractFor previously studied Fischer–Tropsch nanosized Fe catalyst slurries, polymer compounds with or without polyconjugating structures are used as precursors to form the catalyst nanomatrix in situ, and several catalytic experiments and X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy measurements are performed. The important and different roles of the paraffin molecules in the slurry medium in the formation and function of composite catalysts with the two types of aforementioned polymer matrices are revealed. In the case of the polyconjugated polymers, the alkanes in the medium are “weakly” coordinated with the metal-polymer composites, which does not affect the effectiveness of the polyconjugated polymers. Otherwise, alkane molecules form a “tight” surface layer around the composite particles, which create transport complications for the reagents and products of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and, in some cases, can change the course of the in situ catalyst formation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 514
Author(s):  
Mariangela Dionysopoulou ◽  
George Diallinas

Recent biochemical and biophysical evidence have established that membrane lipids, namely phospholipids, sphingolipids and sterols, are critical for the function of eukaryotic plasma membrane transporters. Here, we study the effect of selected membrane lipid biosynthesis mutations and of the ergosterol-related antifungal itraconazole on the subcellular localization, stability and transport kinetics of two well-studied purine transporters, UapA and AzgA, in Aspergillus nidulans. We show that genetic reduction in biosynthesis of ergosterol, sphingolipids or phosphoinositides arrest A. nidulans growth after germling formation, but solely blocks in early steps of ergosterol (Erg11) or sphingolipid (BasA) synthesis have a negative effect on plasma membrane (PM) localization and stability of transporters before growth arrest. Surprisingly, the fraction of UapA or AzgA that reaches the PM in lipid biosynthesis mutants is shown to conserve normal apparent transport kinetics. We further show that turnover of UapA, which is the transporter mostly sensitive to membrane lipid content modification, occurs during its trafficking and by enhanced endocytosis, and is partly dependent on autophagy and Hect-type HulARsp5 ubiquitination. Our results point out that the role of specific membrane lipids on transporter biogenesis and function in vivo is complex, combinatorial and transporter-dependent.


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