Application of High-speed Super-resolution SPEED Microscopy in Live Primary Cilium

The primary cilium is a microtubule-based protrusion on the surface of many eukaryotic cells and contains a unique complement of proteins that function critically in cell motility and signaling. Since cilia are incapable of synthesizing their own protein, nearly 200 unique ciliary proteins need to be trafficked between the cytosol and primary cilia. However, it is still a technical challenge to map three-dimensional (3D) locations of transport pathways for these proteins in live primary cilia due to the limitations of currently existing techniques. To conquer the challenge, recently we have developed and employed a high-speed virtual 3D super-resolution microscopy, termed single-point edge-excitation sub-diffraction (SPEED) microscopy, to determine the 3D spatial location of transport pathways for both cytosolic and membrane proteins in primary cilia of live cells. In this article, we will demonstrate the detailed setup of SPEED microscopy, the preparation of cells expressing fluorescence-protein-labeled ciliary proteins, the real-time single-molecule tracking of individual proteins in live cilium and the achievement of 3D spatial probability density maps of transport routes for ciliary proteins.