Researchers magnify hidden biological structures with MAGNIFIERS: Combination of expansion microscopy and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy allow for nanoscale vibrational imaging of biomolecules
A research team has combined two emerging imaging technologies to better view a wide range of biomolecules, including proteins, lipids and DNA, at the nanoscale. Their technique brings together expansion microscopy and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.
A research team from Carnegie Mellon University and Columbia have combined two emerging imaging technologies to better view a wide range of biomolecules, including proteins, lipids and DNA, at the nanoscale. Their technique, which brings together expansion microscopy and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy, is detailed in Advanced Science. Biomolecules are traditionally imaged using fluorescent microscopy, but that technique has its limitations. Fluorescent microscopy relies on fluorophore-carrying tags to bind to and label molecules of interest. These tags emit fluorescent light with a broad range of wavelengths, thus researchers can only use 3-4 fluorescent colors in the visible spectrum at a time to label molecules of interest. Unlike fluorescent microscopy, stimulated Raman scattering microscopy (SRS) visualizes the chemical bonds of biomolecules by capturing their vibrational fingerprints. In this sense, SRS doesn't need labels to see the different types of biomolecules, or even different isotopes, within a sample. In addition, a rainbow of dyes with unique vibrational spectra can be used to image multiple targets. However, SRS has a diffraction limit of about 300 nanometers,…