Oral Presentation 2014 International Biophysics Congress

Nanoscale chemical and structrual imaging of single cells with ion and electron beams (#200)

Jing Fu 1
  1. Faculty of Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Understanding the inner structure of cells, as well the as cell-matrix structures, offers the promise of advances and connections between both engineering and biology. We present recent advances in structural and chemical mapping of single cells with a set of nanoengineering tools including Focused Ion Beam (FIB), Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Synchrotron-based X-ray Microscopy. Key studies include: 

(1) 3D FIB based tomography of single mammalian [1, 2] and bacterial cells [3]. Unique 3D cellular architectures can be reconstructed under different physiological conditions, and even in novel tissue scaffolds [4]. 

(2) Atomic and molecular imaging of single cells [2, 5-7]. We have been actively translating analytical methods from material science towards unique biological applications. The aim is to develop correlative approaches combining light, electron and Synchrotron radiation sources to investigate the atomic and molecular signatures in different cellular systems. 

  1. Felts, R.L., et al., 3D visualization of HIV transfer at the virological synapse between dendritic cells and T cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010. 107(30): p. 13336-13341.
  2. Murphy, G.E., et al., Correlative 3D imaging of whole mammalian cells with light and electron microscopy. Journal of Structural Biology, 2011. 176(3): p. 268-278.
  3. Liu, B., et al., Nanoscale focused ion beam tomography of single bacterial cells for assessment of antibiotic effects. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2014. 20(02): p. 537-547.
  4. Al-Abboodi, A., et al., Three-dimensional nanocharacterization of porous hydrogel with ion and electron beams. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2013. 110(1): p. 318-326.
  5. James, S.A., et al., Quantification of ZnO nanoparticle uptake, distribution, and dissolution within individual human macrophages. ACS Nano, 2013. 7(12): p. 10621-10635
  6. Narayan, K., et al., Chemical mapping of mammalian cells by atom probe tomography. Journal of Structural Biology, 2012. 178(2): p. 98-107.
  7. Szakal, C., et al., Compositional mapping of the surface and interior of mammalian cells at submicrometer resolution. Analytical Chemistry, 2011. 83(4): p. 1207-1213.