Direct Detection of ER-mitochondrial Contacts with Fully Quantified Fluorescence Microscopy

Abstract

Inter-organelle contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria are tightly regulated in cells. ER-mitochondrial contact sites have been painstakingly characterized through biochemical means, and yet much remains to be understood due to their small physical extent. As a result, even with super-resolution imaging, these inter-organelle contact sites are difficult to study through fluorescence colocalization measurements. Here, we have developed Fully Quantified Fluorescence Microscopy for use with nearly any fluorescence microscope. With this, we are working to characterize the spatial and temporal properties of ER-mitochondrial contact sites in live cells.