Advancing fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy for the benefit of cell science and drug delivery

Abstract

Here we report on two recent advances we made applying advanced fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy to further the study of cell biology and drug delivery. At first, we detail a new instrumental set-up combining atomic force microscopy in liquid and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy in novel configuration such that long-term simultaneous and co-localized observation with both techniques becomes feasible. We believe this will contribute to the study of fast membrane activated cell-signalling processes in the years to come. Furthermore, we report on a novel application of fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (FCCS) for the characterization of lipid-nucleic acid complexes. We could determine the number of nucleic acid particles incorporated in each liposome, a parameter not readily accessible on ensemble basis with other methods. This parameter is crucial for co-delivery applications, and we believe FCCS can play an important role in the future development of new drug delivery systems.