Combined ion conductance and fluorescence confocal microscopy for biological cell membrane transport studies

Shevchuk, Andriy, Novak, P., Velazquez, M.A., Fleming, T.P. and Korchev, Y.E. (2013) Combined ion conductance and fluorescence confocal microscopy for biological cell membrane transport studies. Journal of Optics, 15 (9), 1-11, [94005]. (doi:10.1088/2040-8978/15/9/094005).

Abstract

Optical visualization of nanoscale morphological changes taking place in living biological cells during such important processes as endo- and exocytosis is challenging due to the low refractive index of lipid membranes. In this paper we summarize and discuss advances in the powerful combination of two complementary live imaging techniques, ion conductance and fluorescence confocal microscopy, that allows cell membrane topography to be related with molecular-specific fluorescence at high spatial and temporal resolution. We demonstrate the feasibility of the use of ion conductance microscopy to image apical plasma membrane of mouse embryo trophoblast outgrowth cells at a resolution sufficient to depict single endocytic pits. This opens the possibility to study individual endocytic events in embryo trophoblast outgrowth cells where endocytosis plays a crucial role during early stages of embryo development.

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