Self-blinking 'fairy lights' allow DNA to be imaged at almost double-helix-width resolution
Researchers have developed fluorescent molecules that permit imaging of how DNA is packaged inside living cells at unprecedented resolution and, in preserved cells, at a resolution close to the width of the double helix itself.
Researchers in Spain, Hong Kong and China have developed fluorescent molecules that can be used to image DNA within living cells at an unprecedented resolution. In preserved cells, the resolution is close to the width of the double helix itself. The fluorescent probes, called HoTs, are designed to blink intermittently so that they can be detected individually by an advanced microscope.
When used in live human skin cells and laboratory-grown HeLa cancer cells, the probes allowed researchers to see DNA at a resolution of 20 nanometers - 10 times sharper than conventional microscopes. Using a technique called MINFLUX on preserved laboratory cells, the researchers were able to pinpoint single dye molecules to within three billionths of a meter, or 3 nanometers, bringing them remarkably close to the width of the DNA strand itself.
The probes were also successful in nonhuman tissues, such as slices of zebrafish eye, and the researchers were able to train an artificial intelligence program to distinguish between skin cells and stem cells based on the super-resolution images. This new technology could potentially be used to diagnose and treat cancer more effectively by providing a detailed view of DNA folding within cells.
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