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Expansion microscopy: enabling single cell analysis in intact biological systems
Author(s) -
Alon Shahar,
Huynh Grace H.,
Boyden Edward S.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the febs journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.981
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1742-4658
pISSN - 1742-464X
DOI - 10.1111/febs.14597
Subject(s) - microscopy , single cell analysis , nanotechnology , materials science , biophysics , cell , chemistry , biology , physics , optics , biochemistry
There is a need for single cell analysis methods that enable the identification and localization of different kinds of biomolecules throughout cells and intact tissues, thereby allowing characterization and classification of individual cells and their relationships to each other within intact systems. Expansion microscopy (ExM) is a technology that physically magnifies tissues in an isotropic way, thereby achieving super‐resolution microscopy on diffraction‐limited microscopes, enabling rapid image acquisition and large field of view. As a result, ExM is well‐positioned to integrate molecular content and cellular morphology, with the spatial precision sufficient to resolve individual biological building blocks, and the scale and accessibility required to deploy over extended 3‐D objects like tissues and organs.