Login / Signup

Click-ExM enables expansion microscopy for all biomolecules.

De-En SunXinqi FanYujie ShiHao ZhangZhimin HuangBo ChengQi TangWei LiYuntao ZhuJinyi BaiWei LiuYuan LiXiaoting WangXiaoguang LeiXing Chen
Published in: Nature methods (2020)
Expansion microscopy (ExM) allows super-resolution imaging on conventional fluorescence microscopes, but has been limited to proteins and nucleic acids. Here we develop click-ExM, which integrates click labeling into ExM to enable a 'one-stop-shop' method for nanoscale imaging of various types of biomolecule. By click labeling with biotin and staining with fluorescently labeled streptavidin, a large range of biomolecules can be imaged by the standard ExM procedure normally used for proteins. Using 18 clickable labels, we demonstrate click-ExM on lipids, glycans, proteins, DNA, RNA and small molecules. We demonstrate that click-ExM is applicable in cell culture systems and for tissue imaging. We further show that click-ExM is compatible with signal-amplification techniques and two-color imaging. Click-ExM thus provides a convenient and versatile method for super-resolution imaging, which may be routinely used for cell and tissue samples.
Keyphrases
  • high resolution
  • single molecule
  • stem cells
  • high throughput
  • high speed
  • bone marrow
  • minimally invasive
  • fatty acid
  • circulating tumor cells