MicroPoint 4 - Photostimulation & Optogenetics Tool

Ablate, bleach, uncage and more with the new MicroPoint 4! Andor’s field-proven MicroPoint tool for photo-stimulation is now faster and offers greater flexibility. The patented compact, pulsed nitrogen pumped tunable dye laser is supplemented by new CW laser options. Refined optics and new electronics allow significantly faster and more precise control of illumination delivery. MicroPoint 4 can be integrated with Andor sCMOS and EMCCD cameras and Dragonfly confocal systems to create highly effective solutions for optogenetics and photostimulation in neuroscience, cancer studies, developmental and cell biology.

Simultaneous laser delivery and viewing: interactive targeting of microsurgery, damage, marking or activation
Smart and fast: new micro-controller manages galvo calibration, lasers, triggering and multi-region scanning.
Exceptional flexibility: N2-pumped, liquid dye-lasers and CW lasers for full-spectrum coverage 365-730 nm
Intuitive: autodetect manual head and control via new LCD touchscreen.

Specifications

Within the EU MicroPoint is only available for research purposes and not for commercial use

Features and Benefits of MicroPoint 4

The flexibility and precise control of illumination delivery provided by the MicroPoint 4 makes it easy to expand your research with a broad range of photostimulation based techniques.

Click the hotspots below to explore the key features and benefits of MicroPoint 4

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Applications

Photobleaching

The precise controlled delivery of illumination via MicroPoint is ideal for photobleaching sub-regions within the cell such as of endosomal tubules. This can serve as a basis for many FRAP style experiments e.g. to study protein turnover rates and trafficking processes in live cells.

MicroPoint 4 provides significantly higher scanning speeds than the previous MicroPoint, allowing for more effective photobleaching, and FRAP over larger areas.

Ablation and Axotomy

MicroPoint is a proven tool of choice for many researchers for studying the vital mechanisms of cellular repair. The updated MicroPoint 4 model brings even greater speed, control and precision in ablation and axotomy applications. Target specific components of the cell with UV pulses to induce damage e.g.:

Double strand breaks to DNA
Protein recruitment and distribution of repair proteins in DNA repair
Repurposed roles of vesicle trafficking in the repair or cell membranes

In this example MicroPoint is being used to cut the cell junction and study mechanical heterogeneity in Xenopus. (Data courtesy of the Wallingford Lab, University of Texas at Austin).

Photoswitching

MicroPoint 4 can be used for photoactivation, photoswitching and other optical stimulation or activation experiments. A choice of CW lasers allow precise control over illumination power, while the patented dye-cell based laser offers a highly cost effective way to add laser wavelengths to suit different applications.

MicroPoint 4 is thus an excellent tool for studies of cell dynamics, signalling pathways and the growing number of studies that are exploiting photoswitching and activation methods.

Right: Activation of EOS in drosophila embryo

Dr. Felix Rivera-Molina, Research Associate, Department of Cell Biology, Yale University

We use MicroPoint 4 to quickly bleach and activate fusion proteins in multiple areas of living cells. Precise targeting and fast bleaching is required to study dynamics in cilia, cytoskeleton and the plasma membrane. MicroPoint 4 helps us to explore deeper and with high throughput.

Dr. Felix Rivera-Molina, Research Associate, Manager Cinema Lab, Department of Cell Biology, Yale University.

MicroPoint is used in our research for precisely targeted uncaging in single cells. This capability allowed us to design new experiments to identify the functional role of calcium signalling in the NF-kB signalling pathway and cell division. MicroPoint is a valuable tool for targeted photostimulation.

Professor Mike White, Professor of Systems Biology, Manchester University, UK.

Learning Resources

Andor Virtual Camera – A Versatile Tool for Photostimulation Targeting

Photostimulation techniques (PS) are important tools for the study of materials and live biological specimens. Typically, PS uses targeted optical radiation to induce some kind ...

Targeted Illumination Based Ablation for Cell Repair Studies

From the first stages of cell division through to the maintenance processes of the fully developed organism, repair processes are continually responding to various forms of dama...

Microscopy School Lesson 12 - An Introduction to Photostimulation

Photostimulation is a general term for a range of techniques in which a specimen is stimulated with optical radiation. When coupled to a microscope the wavelength range is typic...

Introducing MicroPoint 4 - A Powerful Tool for Photostimulation

In this webinar, Dr Mark Browne, Microscopy Systems Director at Andor will introduce MicroPoint 4, with all-new smart controller, millisecond beam positioning and new solid stat...

Illumination solutions for Uncaging Experiments

Caged compounds act as light-sensitive probes that functionally encapsulate biomolecules rendering them inactive. By applying targeted illumination, it is possible to “unc...

Spatiotemporal Control of Cell Signaling using a Light-Switchable Protein Pair

Much has been learned about cells and their proteins using optical reporters such as GFP, but scientists want to know more. An ever-increasing number of researchers are using li...

Uncaging Reveals Calcium’s Role In the Progression of the Cell Cycle

Calcium ions are known to play a role in many aspects of cell function. One of the functions of intracellular Calcium is a role in cell development, as the cell passes through t...

Illumination Solutions for Photoactivatable Fluorescent Proteins

Photoactivatable fluorescent proteins (PA-FPs) can undergo dramatic changes in their properties in response to illumination of a specific wavelength. In basic terms they can be ...

Best Illumination Options for Optophysiology and Optogenetics

The development of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its wide application in biological imaging has provided a rich legacy of tools for transfection of genes across species. T...

Micropoint Dye Laser System

MicroPoint provides a flexible and field-proven tool for photo-stimulation techniques such as bleaching, ablation and uncaging. The MicroPoint pulsed photo-stimulation system us...

Optogenetics – Bringing the Inner Processes of the Brain into the Light

Optogenetics combines optics and genetic manipulation techniques to allow for very precise control of processes within cells using light. With an interconnected network of billi...

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