Imaging nuclear and mitochondrial DNA

© 2012 EPFL

Live-Cell dSTORM of Cellular DNA Based on Direct DNA Labeling.

Super-resolution (SR) fluorescence imaging relies on specially adapted microscopes and analysis software, but equally important are the fluorescent probes used to label biological proteins and molecules of interest. In particular, most DNA-associating dyes are not compatible with live cell imaging, due to their cell-impermeance and cytotoxicity. Thus, live-cell SR imaging of DNA structure has never been demonstrated. The lab of Suliana Manley (LEB - Laboratory of Experimental Biophysics ) presents the SR imaging of DNA in living cells based on direct labeling with Picogreen, and use it to resolve nuclear and mitochondrial DNA structure at the nanoscale directly, as well as performing time-lapse SR imaging of chromatin rearrangements.

Alexander Benke and Suliana Manley, ChemBioChem, DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201100679 (2012)