Developmental Biology

Imaging has been instrumental for following the entire lifespan of organisms to track fates of developing cells, tissues and organs. Whole-embryo and whole-body imaging of well-established model organisms including the zebrafish and C. elegans let us understand various interconnected functional networks that shed light on nerve impulse propagation in neural circuits or ventricular pacemakers in heart models.

Many experiments in this field will demand high performance sCMOS cameras to augment complex optical systems with seamless imaging. 

Andor sCMOS cameras provide solutions to the rapid frame rates and large fields of view that are inherent to study of developmental specimens using the Light Sheet Microscopy technique, also lending themselves equally well to rapid ion flux fluorescence measurements in embryo signalling.

Plasma Membrane

Analysis of phenomena associated with the plasma membrane is crucial for a large number of biological models involving cell adhesion, cell-to-cell communication, signal transduction as well as cell fate differentiation.

The plasma membrane can be imaged in many ways, some of which can involve direct membrane labelling with lipophilic or voltage sensitive dyes. Imaging of this busy and very delicate part of the cell is not a mean feat and requires highly sophisticated imaging solutions to unravel the cell membrane’s multi-fold functionality without damaging it in the process.

Rapid remodelling of the plasma membrane can be imaged with one of the sensitive Andor sCMOS cameras boasting from 2.0 to 4.2 megapixel resolution and up to 95% peak QE, perfectly suited to the low light conditions inherent to TIRF Microscopy.

Intracellular Trafficking

Without mechanisms to allow ongoing traffic of molecules, the cell’s finely tuned machinery would immediately grind to a halt. Therefore, fast and sensitive imaging is crucial for studies of endosome cycling, Golgi vesicles pathways, axonal transport, hormone release or synaptic vesicle pool replenishment.

Andor sCMOS cameras have for many years been the detector of choice for experiments involving imaging of cellular traffic. With their large FOV, resolution and speed, these cameras are ideal for tracking intricate events and dependencies occurring within the cell’s transport and communications networks.

Organoids

Three-dimensional (3D) organoids may be derived from live patient induced pluripotent stem cells to create a model system that can be used to test multiple hypotheses in a much simpler environment than a natural organ. 

For example, certain critical mutations known to initiate cancer development can be introduced by gene editing and trialled with regard to their overall impact in the carcinogenic pathway. Imaging of such gene edits within organoids can provide insight into the number of genetic mutations required for cancer development.

Using Andor sCMOS cameras, ideally complimented by the spinning disk confocal technique, you can achieve superb image quality of your organoid samples across 3D + time dimensions.

Gene Editing

Recent years have seen a gradual increase in the number of studies related to Crispr-CAS9 system where this novel and versatile tool has been used with great precision for DNA editing and a multitude of applications that can benefit from this. Depending on the type of sample and labels used, this type of imaging may require iXon EMCCD cameras with their unrivalled sensitivity for extremely low-light signals. 

However, for more brightly labelled Crispr-Cas9 constructs, the arrival of low noise, high QE Andor sCMOS cameras makes them ideal tools for fast and sensitive detection of light emitted by labelled DNA/RNA or related proteins involved in strand cleavage and modification of the existing genetic code.

Neurophysiology

Imaging of neural correlations has been well established from studies done in model organisms including C. elegans and Drosophila. Experiments performed in these animals and the combination of whole cell labelling and whole organism imaging yielded valuable insights linking certain molecular circuits to stereotypical behaviours of the whole animal.

By combining techniques of optogenetics, photo-stimulation and classical fluorescent labelling we have now gained access to cells and tissues previously rendered invisible. Fast and sensitive sCMOS cameras provide images of large groups of firing of neurons in rapidly moving animals, helping you decode the circuitry behind behaviours.