Imaging cellular ultrastructures using expansion microscopy (U-ExM)

• DOI: 10.1038/s41592-018-0238-1
• Publication Date: 2018-12-05T21:21:18Z
• Authors: Davide Gambarotto; Fabian U. Zwettler; Maeva Le Guennec; Marketa Schmidt-C...; Denis Fortun; Susanne Borgers; Jörn Heine; Jan-Gero Schloetel; Matthias Reuss; Michael Unser; Edward S. Boyden; Markus Sauer; Virginie Hamel; Paul Guichard
• Keywords: STED microscopy

Determining the structure and composition of macromolecular assemblies is a major challenge in biology. Here we describe ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM), an extension of expansion microscopy that allows the visualization of preserved ultrastructures by optical microscopy. This method allows for near-native expansion of diverse structures in vitro and in cells; when combined with super-resolution microscopy, it unveiled details of ultrastructural organization, such as centriolar chirality, that could otherwise be observed only by electron microscopy.