Research Team Developing a Nano-Sized Force Sensor and Improving High-Precision Microscopy Technology
Published:26 Nov.2023 Source:Tampere University
Together with the scientists from The Ohio State University OSU, cell biology researchers at Tampere University have developed a force sensor that can be attached to the side of a mechanically responding protein, allowing it to sense forces and strain on the protein within the cell. "The power-sensing part is like a rubber band that changes colour when stretched. This part is attached to the antibodies at both ends of the rubber band, which bind to the cellular target protein under study. The force or elongation of the studied protein can then be detected under a microscope by following the elongation of the rubber band, i.e. the colour it produces," says Teemu Ihalainen
According to Ihalainen, the force sensor, which is only about twenty nanometres in size, can be easily generalised to a wide range of cell biology research and various target proteins. With the help of the protein biosensor, forces can be measured, for example, in the nuclear membrane, between different proteins, or generally in the cytoskeleton of the cell. It allows the mechanics of the cell to be transformed into visible form for the first time. Another recent study refined expansion microscopy by combining cell biology and signal processing expertise. The resolution of light microscopy is limited since the details of small structures in the sample are blurred due to lens-light interactions.
However, different techniques of super-resolution microscopy allow for the separation of very small details. However, the problem has been that the smaller the details of the cell are examined, the fewer molecules are visible. This means that less signal i.e., information, have been acquired from the sample, and usually there is a lot of noise. The research group found that the solution to the problem could be repeated fluorescent labelling of the cells. Unlike many super-resolution microscopy techniques, expansion microscopy does not require expensive instruments and is easy to implement. The technique developed by the researchers is particularly useful for studying really small details.