Resolved Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy Research Articles

A Comparative Study on DMSO-Induced Modulation of the Structural and Dynamical Properties of Model Bilayer Membranes

Modulating the structures and properties of biomembranes via permeation of small amphiphilic molecules is immensely important, having diverse applications in cell biology, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals, because their physiochemical and biological interactions lead to new pathways for transdermal drug delivery and administration. In this work, we have elucidated the role of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), broadly used as a penetration-enhancing agent and cryoprotective agent on model lipid membranes, using a combination of fluorescence microscopy and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Spatially resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) has been employed to unravel how the fluidity of the DMSO-induced bilayer regulates the structural alteration of the vesicles. Moreover, we have also shown that the dehydration effect of DMSO leads to weakening of the hydrogen bond between lipid headgroups and water molecules and results in faster solvation dynamics as demonstrated by femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. It has been gleaned that the water dynamics becomes faster because bilayer rigidity decreases in the presence of DMSO, which is also supported by time-resolved rotational anisotropy measurements. The enhanced diffusivity and increased membrane fluidity in the presence of DMSO are further ratified at the single-molecule level through fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) measurements. Our results indicate that while the presence of DMSO significantly affects the 1,2-dimyristoyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers, it has a weak effect on 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-rac-glycerol (DMPG) vesicles, which might explain the preferential interaction of DMSO with the positively charged choline group present in DMPC and DPPC vesicles. The experimental findings have also been further verified with molecular dynamics simulation studies. Moreover, it has been observed that DMSO is likely to have a differential effect on heterogeneous bilayer membranes depending on the structure and composition of their headgroups. Our results illuminate the importance of probing the lipid structure and composition of cellular membranes in determining the effects of cryoprotective agents.

Single-shot ultrafast imaging attaining 70 trillion frames per second

Real-time imaging of countless femtosecond dynamics requires extreme speeds orders of magnitude beyond the limits of electronic sensors. Existing femtosecond imaging modalities either require event repetition or provide single-shot acquisition with no more than 1013 frames per second (fps) and 3 × 102 frames. Here, we report compressed ultrafast spectral photography (CUSP), which attains several new records in single-shot multi-dimensional imaging speeds. In active mode, CUSP achieves both 7 × 1013 fps and 103 frames simultaneously by synergizing spectral encoding, pulse splitting, temporal shearing, and compressed sensing—enabling unprecedented quantitative imaging of rapid nonlinear light-matter interaction. In passive mode, CUSP provides four-dimensional (4D) spectral imaging at 0.5 × 1012 fps, allowing the first single-shot spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (SR-FLIM). As a real-time multi-dimensional imaging technology with the highest speeds and most frames, CUSP is envisioned to play instrumental roles in numerous pivotal scientific studies without the need for event repetition.

Modulation of Membrane Fluidity Performed on Model Phospholipid Membrane and Live Cell Membrane: Revealing through Spatiotemporal Approaches of FLIM, FAIM, and TRFS.

We have elucidated the role of unsaturated fatty acid in the in vitro model phospholipid membrane and in vivo live cell membrane. Fluorescence microscopy and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy have been employed to uncover how modulation of vesicle bilayer fluidity persuades structural transformation. This unsaturation induced structural transformation due to packing disorder in bilayer has been delineated through spatially resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and fluorescence polarization or anisotropy imaging microscopy (FPIM/FAIM). Structure-function relationship of phospholipid vesicle is also investigated by monitoring intervesicular water dynamics behavior, which has been demonstrated by temporally resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TRFS) techniques. Nevertheless, it has also been manifested from this study that loss of rigidity in bilayer breaks down the strong hydrogen bond (H-bond) network around the charged lipid head groups. The disruption of this H-bond network increases the bilayer elasticity, which helps to evolve various kinds of vesicular structure. Furthermore, the significant influence of unsaturated fatty acid on membrane bilayer has been ratified through in vivo live cell imaging.

Multi-target spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy.

We introduce a pattern-matching technique for efficient identification of fluorophore ratios in complex multidimensional fluorescence signals using reference fluorescence decay and spectral signature patterns of individual fluorescent probes. Alternating pulsed laser excitation at three different wavelengths and time-resolved detection on 32 spectrally separated detection channels ensures efficient excitation of fluorophores and a maximum gain of fluorescence information. Using spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (sFLIM), we were able to visualize up to nine different target molecules simultaneously in mouse C2C12 cells. By exploiting the sensitivity of fluorescence emission spectra and the lifetime of organic fluorophores on environmental factors, we carried out fluorescence imaging of three different target molecules in human U2OS cells with the same fluorophore. Our results demonstrate that sFLIM can be used for super-resolution multi-target imaging by stimulated emission depletion (STED).

Spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging of Nile red for measurements of intracellular polarity.

Spectrally resolved confocal microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging have been used to measure the polarity of lipid-rich regions in living HeLa cells stained with Nile red. The emission peak from the solvatochromic dye in lipid droplets is at a shorter wavelength than other, more polar, stained internal membranes, and this is indicative of a low polarity environment. We estimate that the dielectric constant, ϵ , is around 5 in lipid droplets and 25<ϵ<40 in other lipid-rich regions. Our spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) data show that intracellular Nile red exhibits complex, multiexponential fluorescence decays due to emission from a short lifetime locally excited state and a longer lifetime intramolecular charge transfer state. We measure an increase in the average fluorescence lifetime of the dye with increasing emission wavelength, as shown using phasor plots of the FLIM data. We also show using these phasor plots that the shortest lifetime decay components arise from lipid droplets. Thus, fluorescence lifetime is a viable contrast parameter for distinguishing lipid droplets from other stained lipid-rich regions. Finally, we discuss the FLIM of Nile red as a method for simultaneously mapping both polarity and relative viscosity based on fluorescence lifetime measurements.

Spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy: Förster resonant energy transfer global analysis with a one- and two-exponential donor model

In many fields of life science, visualization of spatial proximity, as an indicator of protein interactions in living cells, is of outstanding interest. A method to accomplish this is the measurement of Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) by means of spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. The fluorescence lifetime is calculated using a multiple-wavelength fitting routine. The donor profile is assumed first to have a monoexponential time-dependent behavior, and the acceptor decay profile is solved analytically. Later, the donor profile is assumed to have a two-exponential time-dependent behavior and the acceptor decay profile is derived analytically. We develop and apply a multispectral fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy analysis system for FRET global analysis with time-resolved and spectrally resolved techniques, including information from donor and acceptor channels in contrast to using just a limited spectral data set from one detector only and a model accounting only for the donor signal. This analysis is used to demonstrate close vicinity of β-secretase (BACE) and GGA1, two proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease pathology. We attempt to verify if an improvement in calculating the donor lifetimes could be achieved when time-resolved and spectrally resolved techniques are simultaneously incorporated.

Spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (SFLIM)—an appropriate method for imaging single molecules in living cells

Ever since the first examination of cellular structures, scientists have been fascinated by investigations of single cells. Over the last decade, many methods (e.g., capillary electrophoresis, electrochemical detection, mass spectroscopy, and optical spectroscopy) have been proposed for analyzing single cells [1]. Many of these methods are appropriate for in vitro experiments, which provide only a snapshot view of cells. However, some optical methods, like fluorescence spectroscopy, are also advanced enough for investigations of living cells. This is due to their simple application without the need for fixation or lysis of the respective cell. A variety of light microscopy techniques for imaging living cells, such as widefield excitation, confocal scanning and total internal reflection excitation, have been reviewed by D. J. Stephens and V. J. Allan [2]. The fluorescently labeled components required (e.g., proteins or DNA) can be added to the cell culture medium, from where they are taken up by the cells if the components are able to pass through the cell membrane. Alternatively, they can be directly injected into living cells via micropipets. Due to their toxicity, the concentration of the fluorescent dye should be as low as possible. This can be achieved by using single-molecule detection techniques that enable the measurement of low concentrations (approximately 10 M) of chromophores in homogeneous solutions and of individual immobilized molecules. In 2001, Sauer at al. established spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (SFLIM) [3], which uses a standard confocal microscope set-up (Fig. 1a). For this technique, a pulsed laser diode with a wavelength of usually 635 nm and a repetition rate of 40–80 MHz is used. The laser beam is coupled into an oil immersion objective and focused onto the sample surface on a scanning table. Generally, the average excitation power is adjusted to 0.25–5 kW/cm. The fluorescence light emitted by the sample is collected by the same objective and focused onto a pinhole with a diameter of 50–100 μm. Fluorescence light passing through the pinhole is spectrally separated by a dichroic beam splitter and detected by two avalanche photodiodes. To generate fluorescence lifetime images, the signals from the two avalanche photodiodes are recorded by a timecorrelated single-photon counting interface card and the data are analyzed by applying a maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) algorithm, which is an appropriate method of determining monoexponential fluorescence lifetimes from low photon count statistics. Figures 1b–d show images of an untreated living cell (3T3 mouse fibroblast) in RPMI 1640 medium recorded by SFLIM [4]. The first image (Fig. 1b) shows the overall fluorescence intensity. The cell culture medium exhibits a constant background with a count rate of approximately 4 kHz, which is due to autofluorescence of the fetal calf serum (which is in the medium), whereas the cell itself shows lower autofluorescence. Some more intense signals occur in the cytoplasm arising from the Anal Bioanal Chem (2007) 387:37–40 DOI 10.1007/s00216-006-0762-1

High‐Resolution Colocalization of Single Molecules within the Resolution Gap of Far‐Field Microscopy

To obtain detailed information about the three-dimensional (3D) organization of small biomolecular assemblies with a size of less than 100 nanometers, advanced techniques are required that enable the determination of absolute 3D positions and distances between individual fluorophores well below the resolution limit of conventional light microscopy. We show how spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (SFLIM) can provide significant contributions and allow us to determine distances between conventional individual fluorophores (Bodipy 630/650 and Cy5.5) that are less than 20 nm apart. We take advantage of fluorescent dyes (here Cy5.5 and Bodipy 630/650) that can be efficiently excited by a single pulsed diode laser emitting at 635 nm but differ in their fluorescence lifetime and emission maxima. The potential of the method for ultrahigh colocalization studies is demonstrated by measuring the end-to-end distance between single fluorophores separated by double-stranded DNA of various lengths. Combining SFLIM with polarization-modulated excitation allows us to obtain, simultaneously, information about the relative orientation of fluorophores. Furthermore, we show that the environment-dependent photophysics of conventional fluorophores, that is, photostability, blinking pattern, and the tendency to enter irreversible nonfluorescent states, sets certain limitations to their in vitro and in vivo applications.

Detection and identification of single molecules in living cells using spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy.

The detection of single mRNA molecules tagged by microinjected, singly fluorescently labeled oligo(dT) 43-mer molecules in living cells in quasi-natural surrounding, that is, cell culture medium, is demonstrated. Single-stranded oligonucleotides were labeled at the 5'-end with a red-absorbing oxazine derivative (MR121) and excited by a pulsed laser diode emitting at 635 nm with a repetition rate of 64 MHz. Spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (SFLIM) on untreated living 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells reveals autofluorescence signals found predominately in the cytoplasm with fluorescence lifetimes of approximately 1.3 ns and emission maximums of approximately 665-670 nm. Hence, fluorescence signals of single MR121-labeled oligonucleotide molecules that exhibit a fluorescence lifetime of 2.8 ns and a fluorescence emission maximum of 685 nm can be easily discriminated against autofluorescence. MR121-labeled oligonucleotides were microinjected into the cytoplasm or nucleus of living 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells using a micropipet. Since the micropipet exhibits an inner diameter of 500 +/- 200 nm at the very end of the tip-comparable to the diameter of the detection volume applied-the number of molecules delivered into the cell via the micropipet can be counted. Furthermore, the presented technique enables the quantitative detection and time-resolved identification of single molecules in living cells as a result of their characteristic emission maximums and fluorescence lifetime. The results obtained from single-molecule studies demonstrate for the first time that 10-30% of the microinjected oligo(dT) 43-mer molecules cannot diffuse freely inside of the nucleus but, rather, are tethered to immobile elements of the transcriptional, splicing, or polyadenylation machinery.

Spectrally Resolved Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy

We report a system for collecting spectrally resolved fluorescent lifetime images. Frequency domain fluorescence lifetime detection was combined with two-dimensional spectral imaging in a programmable array microscope. The spectroscopic fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (sFLIM) system has a resolution of ∼50 (λ/Δλ) in the current arrangement and a wavelength range of ∼430–750 nm. With the sFLIM system, we recorded the lifetime spectra of rhodamine 6G, rhodamine B, and the DNA intercalation dye propidium iodide (PI) in cuvettes and an EGFP-fusion of the histone 2A variant D protein in Drosophila salivary gland explants in the presence and absence of PI. In the absence of PI, the EGFP-fusion exhibited a lifetime of 2.7 ns with little variation in wavelength. The lifetime of PI alone ranged from ∼1 ns in buffer to ∼18 ns when intercalated in the nuclei of intact cells. The combination of EGFP and PI in the Drosophila salivary gland explants exhibited strong fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), a result consistent with the known nucleosomal structure of eukaryotic chromatin.

Photophysical Dynamics of Single Molecules Studied by Spectrally-Resolved Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (SFLIM)

A new scanning technique for simultaneous recording of intensity, fluorescence lifetime, and spectral information with single molecule sensitivity is presented. We investigated and compared the photophysical parameters of single oxazine (JA242), rhodamine (JF9), and carbocyanine (Cy5) derivatives adsorbed on glass surfaces under air-equilibrated conditions. The obtained results demonstrate that spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (SFLIM) is ideally suited to reveal subpopulations in inhomogeneous samples and mixtures. To obtain a more detailed insight into the underlying fluorescence dynamics of single molecules, the fluorescence characteristics of the three different chromophores were studied positioning isolated molecules in the laser focus. Two detectors with two PC plug-in cards for time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) were utilized to monitor fluorescence intensity, lifetime, and spectral information simultaneously with single-molecule sensitivity and microseconds t...