Dual-color Images Research Articles

Machine-Learning-Based Analysis in Genome-Edited Cells Reveals the Efficiency of Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis.

Cells internalize various molecules through clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME). Previous live-cell imaging studies suggested that CME is inefficient, with about half of the events terminated. These CME efficiency estimates may have been confounded by overexpression of fluorescently tagged proteins and inability to filter out false CME sites. Here, we employed genome editing and machine learning to identify and analyze authentic CME sites. We examined CME dynamics in cells that express fluorescent fusions of two defining CME proteins, AP2 and clathrin. Support vector machine classifiers were built to identify and analyze authentic CME sites. From inception until disappearance, authentic CME sites contain both AP2 and clathrin, have the same degree of limited mobility, continue to accumulate AP2 and clathrin over lifetimes >∼20 s, and almost always form vesicles as assessed by dynamin2 recruitment. Sites that contain only clathrin or AP2 show distinct dynamics, suggesting they are not part of the CME pathway.

Dual-Color 3D Superresolution Microscopy by Combined Spectral-Demixing and Biplane Imaging

Multicolor three-dimensional (3D) superresolution techniques allow important insight into the relative organization of cellular structures. While a number of innovative solutions have emerged, multicolor 3D techniques still face significant technical challenges. In this Letter we provide a straightforward approach to single-molecule localization microscopy imaging in three dimensions and two colors. We combine biplane imaging and spectral-demixing, which eliminates a number of problems, including color cross-talk, chromatic aberration effects, and problems with color registration. We present 3D dual-color images of nanoscopic structures in hippocampal neurons with a 3D compound resolution routinely achieved only in a single color.

Synthesis and characterization of water-soluble polythiophene derivatives for cell imaging.

In this work, four water-soluble polythiophene derivatives (PT, PT-DDA, PT-ADA, and PT-ADA-PPR) with different pendant moieties were synthesized via oxidative copolymerization by FeCl3. By increasing the hydrophobic ability of side chain moieties, there is a gradually blue shift for the maximum absorption wavelength and red shift for the maximum emission wavelength, a reducing trend for fluorescence quantum yields, a growing trend for Stokes shift, and an increasing trend for the mean sizes in the order of PT, PT-ADA, and PT-DDA. All the synthesized polymers show low toxicity and good photostability and accumulate in the lysosomes of A549 cells. Furthermore, the introduction of porphyrin group to PT-ADA side chain (PT-ADA-PPR) broadens the absorption and emission ranges of PT-ADA. PT-ADA-PPR could be excited at two different excitation wavelengths (488 nm and 559 nm) and exhibits two emission pathways, and dual-color fluorescence images (orange and red) of PT-ADA-PPR accumulated in A549 cells are observed. Thus, PT-ADA-PPR could be used as an excellent dual-color fluorescent and lysosome-specific imaging material.

Coincidence Measurements in Dual-Color Confocal Microscopy: A Combined Single-Particle and Fluorescence Correlation Approach

In this paper we discuss how the coincident detection of mobile particles in dual-color confocal images can be improved. Optimal coincidence detection requires a careful choice of experimental conditions and image acquisition parameters in order to maximize the overlap between the two detection volumes. By measuring this overlap with fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy, we show in particular that a small confocal field of view is necessary in order to maintain good coincidence. Most importantly, coincidence detection also requires a dedicated image analysis strategy. Traditionally, two approaches have been adopted to assess coincidence of mobile particles: fluorescence fluctuation measurements, notably cross-correlation spectroscopy, and single particle detection. Here we propose to combine these two approaches by calculating a cross-correlation coefficient for each of the detected single particles. We show that this allows to remove accidental coincidence events from a data set, and thus to unambiguously identify particles that instead carry two different fluorophores. This strategy can help increase the available concentration range for confocal coincidence measurements and detect rare binding events. [Formula: see text]Special Issue Comments: This article about coincident detection of mobile particle in two-color confocal images is thematically related to several articles in this Special Issue, namely the review of FRET-based single-molecule fluorescence techniques by Ruedas-Rama et al.,1 the single particle detection work presented by de Keersmaecker et al.2 and the general considerations on the mathematical treatment of single molecule trajectories presented by Flomenbom3. Our study of single liposomes is also relevant to experiments involving proteins and liposomes, such as the enzyme experiments described in the review by Jørgensen and Hatzakis.4

Shadowless-illuminated variable-angle TIRF (siva-TIRF) microscopy for the observation of spatial-temporal dynamics in live cells.

Total-internal-reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy provides high optical-sectioning capability and a good signal-contrast ratio for structures near the surfaces of cells. In recent years, several improvements have been developed, such as variable-angle TIRF (VA-TIRF) and spinning TIRF (sp-TIRF), which permit quantitative image analysis and address non-uniform scattering fringes, respectively. Here, we present a dual-color DMD-based shadowless-illuminated variable-angle TIRF (siva-TIRF) system that provides a uniform illumination field. By adjusting the incidence angle of the illuminating laser on the back focal plane (BFP) of the objective, we can rapidly illuminate biological samples in layers of various thicknesses in TIRF or hollow-cone epi-fluorescence mode. Compared with other methods of accomplishing VA-TIRF/sp-TIRF illumination, our system is simple to build and cost-effective, and it provides optimal multi-plane dual-color images. By showing spatiotemporal correlated movement of clathrin-coated structures with microtubule filaments from various layers of live cells, we demonstrate that cortical microtubules are important spatial regulators of clathrin-coated structures. Moreover, our system can be used to prove superb axial information of three-dimensional movement of structures near the plasma membrane within live cells.

Image correlation spectroscopy for measurements of particle densities and colocalization.

Cells interact with their environment through receptor proteins expressed at their plasma membrane, and protein-protein interactions govern the transduction of signals across the membrane into the cell. Therefore, the ability to measure receptor densities and protein colocalization within the membrane of intact cells is of paramount importance. This unit describes a technique to extract these parameters from fluorescence microscopy images obtained using a commercial confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and other similar types of microscopes. It is based on the analysis of spatial fluorescence intensity fluctuations in the images, which can then be related to particle density and aggregation state via calculation of a spatial autocorrelation function, or used to measure particle colocalization via calculation of a spatial cross-correlation function from dual-color images of proteins tagged with two different fluorophores and imaged in two detection channels. These parameters offer key insights on the interaction of the cell with its environment.

A blind dual color images watermarking based on singular value decomposition

In this paper, a blind watermarking scheme based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is proposed. By analyzing the orthogonal matrix U via SVD, it is found that there exists a strong similarity correlation between the second row first column element and the third row first column element. Hence, this work will utilize this property for image watermarking. Firstly, the 4×4 non-overlapping pixels block of each component in color host image is processed by SVD. And then, the color watermark is embedded by slightly modifying the value of the second row first column element and the third row first column one of U matrix, and the modified relation can be utilized to extract watermark. Hence, without resorting to the original watermark image and original host image, the embedded watermark can be easily extracted. The experiment results show that the proposed watermarking algorithm can ensure the invisibility and stronger robustness for the common image processing operations and geometric attacks, and the performance of this proposed method outperforms that of other proposed methods considered in this work.

A dual color images watermarking scheme based on the optimized compensation of singular value decomposition

This paper proposes a novel watermarking algorithm based on the improved compensation of SVD for embedding the color image watermark into the color host image. Firstly, the watermark bit is embedded into 4×4 block by modifying the second row first column and the third row first column elements of U component after SVD. Then, the embedded block is compensated by the improved optimization operation for obtaining higher PSNR and larger threshold T. The embedded watermark is extracted from various attacked images by using the relation between the modified elements of U component without resorting to the original data. Moreover, the proposed algorithm overcomes the problem of false positive detection. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm not only guarantees the invisibility and robustness of the watermark, but also has better performance than other methods mentioned in this paper.

A novel blind digital watermarking algorithm for embedding color image into color image

A robust and blind watermarking technique for dual color images is proposed in this paper. According to the energy concentrating feature of DCT, the two-level DCT is introduced and used to embed color watermark image into color host image, which is completely different with the traditional DCT. For reducing the redundancy of watermark information, the original color watermark image is compressed by the proposed compression method. After two-level DCT, nine AC coefficients in different positions of each sub-block are selected and quantified to embed watermark information. Moreover, only the extraction rules are used to extract watermark from the watermarked image without resorting to the original host image or watermark image. Experimental results show that the proposed watermarking algorithm can effectively improve the quality of the watermarked image and the robustness of the embedded watermark against various attacks.

Critical evaluation of quantitative colocalization analysis in confocal fluorescence microscopy

Spatial colocalization of fluorescently labeled proteins can reveal valuable information about proteinprotein interactions. Compared to qualitative visual interpretation of dual color images, quantitative colocalization analysis (QCA) provides more objective evaluations to the degree of colocalization. However, the finite resolution power of microscopes and the spatial patterns of intracellular structures may compromise the reliability of many classical QCA methods. In this paper, we discuss the strength and weakness of some mostly used QCA methods. By studying their applications on computer-simulated images and biological images, we show that classical pixel intensity based QCA methods are often vulnerable to coincidental overlapping among resolution elements (resel) distributions and thus not suitable to images with high molecular density or with low resolution. Also, many QCA methods can mistakenly regard long range correlation as colocalization due to protein localization in intracellular structures. The newly developed protein-protein index (PPI) approach is able to reduce the influence from resel overlapping and spatial intracellular pattern compared to previous methods, significantly improving the reliability of QCA.

A blind dual color images watermarking based on IWT and state coding

In this paper, a state-coding based blind watermarking algorithm is proposed to embed color image watermark to color host image. The technique of state coding, which makes the state code of data set be equal to the hiding watermark information, is introduced in this paper. When embedding watermark, using Integer Wavelet Transform (IWT) and the rules of state coding, these components, R, G and B, of color image watermark are embedded to these components, Y, Cr and Cb, of color host image. Moreover, the rules of state coding are also used to extract watermark from the watermarked image without resorting to the original watermark or original host image. Experimental results show that the proposed watermarking algorithm cannot only meet the demand on invisibility and robustness of the watermark, but also have well performance compared with other proposed methods considered in this work.

Real‐Time Nanomicroscopy via Three‐Dimensional Single‐Particle Tracking

We developed a new method for real-time, three-dimensional tracking of fluorescent particles. The instrument is based on a laser-scanning confocal microscope where the focus of the laser beam is scanned or orbited around the particle. Two confocal pinholes are used to simultaneously monitor regions immediately above and below the particle and a feedback loop is used to keep the orbit centered on the particle. For moderate count rates, this system can track particles with 15 nm spatial resolution in the lateral dimensions and 50 nm in the axial dimension at a temporal resolution of 32 ms. To investigate the interaction of the tracked particles with cellular components, we have combined our orbital tracking microscope with a dual-color, wide-field setup. Dual-color fluorescence wide-field images are recorded simultaneously in the same image plane as the particle being tracked. The functionality of the system was demonstrated by tracking fluorescent-labeled artificial viruses in tubulin-eGFP expressing HUH7 cells. The resulting trajectories can be used to investigate the microtubule network with super resolution.

Hadamard transform spectral microscopy for single cell imaging using organic and quantum dotfluorescent probes

We report the development of Hadamard transform fluorescence spectral imaging microscopy by using a movable one-dimensional Hadamard mask to encode the image signals and a linear charge-coupled device (CCD) to detect the encoded spectral image signal. The technique has the ability of multi-spectral imaging and images with four dimensions: location coordinate (X and Y), fluorescence intensity (Z) and wavelength (lambda) (or time (t)) can be obtained. The results show that the system has high spectral resolving power (0.3 nm) and imaging capability, where image resolution up to 511 x 512 can be easily obtained for analysis of tiny samples. Multicolor imaging of acridine orange/ethidium bromide double-stained fibroblast treated with glyoxal shows that 1.5 mM glyoxal obviously causes apoptosis, thus demonstrating that identification of apoptotic cells can be realized using the Hadamard system not only through morphologic changes but also by the spectral evidences of the fluorescently stained cells. In addition, based on immunostaining with quantum dots (QDs) emitting at 550 and 610 nm to tag and trace two breast cancer biomarkers human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) and estrogen receptor (ER) in human breast cancer tissue with in situ dual-color fluorescence imaging, sensitive spectra and images were obtained and show that the system can be applied to visualize and quantitatively measure the subcellular proteins inside the tumor tissues, especially when a single laser line is used as the illuminating source for multi-components with different emission peaks. The preliminary biomedical applications indicate the great potential of the Hadamard imaging system as a useful tool in biomedicine.

Fluorescence nanoscopy by ground-state depletion and single-molecule return

We introduce far-field fluorescence nanoscopy with ordinary fluorophores based on switching the majority of them to a metastable dark state, such as the triplet, and calculating the position of those left or those that spontaneously returned to the ground state. Continuous widefield illumination by a single laser and a continuously operating camera yielded dual-color images of rhodamine- and fluorescent protein-labeled (living) samples, proving a simple yet powerful super-resolution approach.

Systematic Colocalization Errors between Acridine Orange and EGFP in Astrocyte Vesicular Organelles

Dual-color imaging of acridine orange (AO) and EGFP fused to a vesicular glutamate transporter or the vesicle-associated membrane proteins 2 or 3 has been used to visualize a supposedly well-defined subpopulation of glutamatergic astrocytic secretory vesicles undergoing regulated exocytosis. However, AO metachromasy results in the concomitant emission of green and red fluorescence from AO-stained tissue. Therefore, the question arises whether AO and EGFP fluorescence can be distinguished reliably. We used evanescent-field imaging with spectral fluorescence detection as well as fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy to demonstrate that green fluorescent AO monomers inevitably coexist with red fluorescing AO dimers, at the level of single astroglial vesicles. The green monomer emission spectrally overlaps with that of EGFP and produces a false apparent colocalization on dual-color images. On fluorophore abundance maps calculated from spectrally resolved and unmixed single-vesicle spectral image stacks, EGFP is obscured by the strong green monomer fluorescence, precluding the detection of EGFP. Hence, extreme caution is required when deriving quantitative colocalization information from images of dim fluorescing EGFP-tagged organelles colabeled with bright and broadly emitting dyes like AO. We finally introduce FM4-64/EGFP dual-color imaging as a remedy for imaging a distinct population of astroglial fusion-competent secretory vesicles.

Distinct Uptake Mechanisms but Similar Intracellular Processing of Two Different Toll-like Receptor Ligand-Peptide Conjugates in Dendritic Cells

Covalent conjugation of Toll-like receptor ligands (TLR-L) to synthetic antigenic peptides strongly improves antigen presentation in vitro and T lymphocyte priming in vivo. These molecularly well defined TLR-L-peptide conjugates, constitute an attractive vaccination modality, sharing the peptide antigen and a defined adjuvant in one single molecule. We have analyzed the intracellular trafficking and processing of two TLR-L conjugates in dendritic cells (DCs). Long synthetic peptides containing an ovalbumin cytotoxic T-cell epitope were chemically conjugated to two different TLR-Ls the TLR2 ligand, Pam(3)CysSK(4) (Pam) or the TLR9 ligand CpG. Rapid and enhanced uptake of both types of TLR-L-conjugated peptide occurred in DCs. Moreover, TLR-L conjugation greatly enhanced antigen presentation, a process that was dependent on endosomal acidification, proteasomal cleavage, and TAP translocation. The uptake of the CpG approximately conjugate was independent of endosomally-expressed TLR9 as reported previously. Unexpectedly, we found that Pam approximately conjugated peptides were likewise internalized independently of the expression of cell surface-expressed TLR2. Further characterization of the uptake mechanisms revealed that TLR2-L employed a different uptake route than TLR9-L. Inhibition of clathrin- or caveolin-dependent endocytosis greatly reduced uptake and antigen presentation of the Pam-conjugate. In contrast, internalization and antigen presentation of CpG approximately conjugates was independent of clathrin-coated pits but partly dependent on caveolae formation. Importantly, in contrast to the TLR-independent uptake of the conjugates, TLR expression and downstream TLR signaling was required for dendritic cell maturation and for priming of naïve CD8(+) T-cells. Together, our data show that targeting to two distinct TLRs requires distinct uptake mechanism but follows similar trafficking and intracellular processing pathways leading to optimal antigen presentation and T-cell priming.

4Pi microscopy of type A with 1-photon excitation in biological fluorescence imaging

We demonstrate that oil immersion lenses with a semi-aperture angle >/= 74 degrees enable 4Pi confocal fluorescence microscopy of type A with 1 photon excitation. The axial sidelobes amount to < 50 % of the main diffraction maximum, implying that lobe induced artifacts can be removed from the image data. The advancement reported herein enables a relative inexpensive implementation of 4Pi microscopy, providing axially superresolved 3D-imaging in transparent samples. As an example, we show dual-color 4Pi images of double stained Golgi stacks in a mammalian cell with 110 nm axial resolution. The resolution can be further enhanced to values slightly below 100 nm by image deconvolution.

Both Cleavage Products of the mCLCA3 Protein Are Secreted Soluble Proteins

Members of the chloride channels, calcium-activated (CLCA) family of proteins and in particular the murine mCLCA3 (alias gob-5) and its human ortholog hCLCA1 have been identified as clinically relevant molecules in diseases with secretory dysfunctions including asthma and cystic fibrosis. Initial studies have indicated that these proteins evoke a calcium-activated chloride conductance when transfected into human embryonic kidney cells 293 cells. However, it is not yet clear whether the CLCA proteins form chloride channels per se or function as mediators of other, yet unknown chloride channels. Here, we present a systematic biochemical analysis of the posttranslational processing and intracellular trafficking of the mCLCA3 protein. Pulse-chase experiments after metabolic protein labeling of mCLCA3-transfected COS-1 or human embryonic kidney 293 cells revealed cleavage of a primary 110-kDa mCLCA3 translation product in the endoplasmic reticulum into a 75-kDa amino-terminal and a 35-kDa carboxyl-terminal protein that were glycosylated and remained physically associated with each other. Confocal fluorescent analyses identified both cleavage products in vesicles of the secretory pathway. Neither cleavage product was associated with the cell membrane at any time. Instead, both subunits were fully secreted into the extracellular environment as a soluble complex of two glycoproteins. These results suggest that the two mCLCA3 cleavage products cannot form an anion channel on their own but may instead act as extracellular signaling molecules. Furthermore, our results point toward significant structural differences between mCLCA3 and its human ortholog, hCLCA1, which is thought to be a single, non-integral membrane protein.

Quantitative analysis of the factors that affect the determination of colocalization coefficients in dual-color confocal images

Colocalization analysis is a subject of great interest that allows us to determine those locations at which two or more types of molecules or structures are found simultaneously. In confocal dual-color images, in order to consider a given position as colocalized, the following two conditions must be satisfied: 1) the colors emitted by the molecules labeled with different fluorophores must occupy the same pixel in the image and 2) the intensities of each component of the image must be within a certain range. Since it is not straightforward to assess these two conditions without ambiguity, this can lead to either considering false colocalizations as positive, or, conversely, leaving out positive locations. In fact, at present, there is not a general procedure to determine the area of colocalization that contains those pixels that can be considered as really colocalized (i.e., the pixels for which the above conditions are fulfilled). As a result, it is the user who must decide on the appropriate selection which introduces personal bias. These issues and the guides for a computational procedure independent of the user that allows us to quantify the degree of colocalization in a dual-color system are discussed.

Connexin-specific distribution within gap junctions revealed in living cells

To study the organization of gap junctions in living cells, the connexin isotypes alpha(1)(Cx43), beta(1)(Cx32) and beta(2)(Cx26) were tagged with the autofluorescent tracer green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its cyan (CFP) and yellow (YFP) color variants. The cellular fate of the tagged connexins was followed by high-resolution fluorescence deconvolution microscopy and time-lapse imaging. Comprehensive analyses demonstrated that the tagged channels were functional as monitored by dye transfer, even under conditions where the channels were assembled solely from tagged connexins. High-resolution images revealed a detailed structural organization, and volume reconstructions provided a three-dimensional view of entire gap junction plaques. Specifically, deconvolved dual-color images of gap junction plaques assembled from CFP- and YFP-tagged connexins revealed that different connexin isotypes gathered within the same plaques. Connexins either codistributed homogeneously throughout the plaque, or each connexin isotype segregated into well-separated domains. The studies demonstrate that the mode of channel distribution strictly depends on the connexin isotypes. Based on previous studies on the synthesis and assembly of connexins I suggest that channel distribution is regulated by intrinsic connexin isotype specific signals.