Revealing sub-cellular complexity (of the Golgi) with super-resolution microscopy

Jörg Bewersdorf

Yale School of Medicine, Cell Biology, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8002, USA, joerg.bewersdorf@yale.edu

Super-resolution optical microscopy has become as a powerful tool to study the spatial distribution of specific molecules of interest in cells and tissues at the nanoscale (1-100 nm). To elucidate their function, additionally to the molecules themselves, their interaction partners and local environment need to be visualized. I will present my lab’s progress on technology developments that tackle this challenge: multicolor single-molecule localization microscopy (4Pi-SMS and FLASH-PAINT) and pan-Expansion Microscopy (pan-ExM). As an example of how these technologies can inform cell biological research, I will show recent data on a new proposed physical model of the Golgi stack. Our Golgin Organizer Hypothesis, in which the Golgi stack of cisternae and its overall ribbon morphology directly result from bending circumferential bands of rim golgin filaments that are organized in four discrete layers, explains stack formation without the need for special stacking proteins.

Financial Interest Disclosure: J.B. is co-founder of panluminate, Inc., a startup company in the super-resolution microscopy space.

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