Membrane Biology

Sane in the membrane

Membrane biology is a field of research that addresses several questions around the composition, separation, dynamics, and adaptation of membranes and membranous compartments. Besides artificial membrane systems in various compositions and layouts, cultured cells are model systems for membrane sciences. Typically, dynamic ‘living’ systems are investigated. Because of this, light dosage and light toxicity are important topics for the microscopic investigation of membranes, and care has to be taken to lower both as much as possible.

For membrane biology, exact and accurate instruments are frequently required.

Abberior offers several microscope features which facilitate research in membrane biology at several levels of resolution:

• MINFLUX imaging mode for resolutions down to 2 nm

• MINFLUX single particle tracking with up to 10 kHz, i.e., 1 data point every 100 µs

• Adaptive Illumination for super-resolution STED nanoscopy at minimal light dosages

• Lifetime imaging and advanced time-gating

• Pulsed high-power STED lasers for best resolutions with 2D and 3D super-resolution imaging

• Detectors with superior detection efficiency (up to 65%)

• FLIM, PLIM

• Customization of the instrument’s hard- and software

Year	Journal	Author	Title
2010	PHYSIOLOGY	Thorsten Lang et al.	Membrane Protein Clusters at Nanoscale Resolution: More Than Pretty Pictures
2013	Journal of Neurochemistry	Christian Eggeling et al.	STED microscopy of living cells new frontiers in membrane and neurobiology
2017	Methods	Riccardo Maraspini et al.	Circle scanning STED fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to quantify membrane dynamics and compartmentalization