Expanding its 3D microscopy portfolio, Zeiss has introduced super-resolution photo activated localisation microscopy (PALM) in 3D. With a new module, Elyra P.1 now enables PALM in 3D for endogenously expressed photo-switchable fluorescent proteins. Users can capture resolved structures in 3D, while leaving the sample fit for long-term observation.
In PALM, photo-switchable fluorescent molecules are sparsely activated so that only one out of many will be in its on-state within a single point spread function (PSF). In 3D, the PSF shapes codes for the z-position. The localisations are plotted in a new image to create the super-resolved image. Elyra P.1 achieves resolutions in the range of 20-30nm laterally and 50-80nm axially.
With Elyra, researchers can investigate the structural arrangement of one or multiple proteins, reveal the ultra structure of cell organelles in 2D and 3D as well as map and count molecules within a structure. Sophisticated algorithms relate photon statistics to precision information in all directions, so researchers can display their structures fully rendered in 3D.
Elyra PS.1 combines both super-resolution structured illumination microscopy (SR-SIM) and PALM in one system. The Elyra system can be integrated with the Zeiss laser scanning microscopes LSM 710 or LSM 780. Elyra also works with Zeiss scanning electron microscopes in a correlative workflow allowing scientists to navigate between information from different imaging modes.