Live-cell imaging:new avenues to investigate retinal regeneration

Sensing and responding to our environment requires functional neurons that act in concert. Neuronal cell loss resulting from degenerative diseases cannot be replaced in humans, causing a functional impairment to integrate and/or respond to sensory cues. In contrast, zebrafish（Danio rerio） possess an endogenous capacity to regenerate lost neurons. Here, we will focus on the processes that lead to neuronal regeneration in the zebrafish retina. Dying retinal neurons release a damage signal, tumor necrosis factor α, which induces the resident radial glia, the Müller glia, to reprogram and re-enter the cell cycle. The Müller glia divide asymmetrically to produce a Müller glia that exits the cell cycle and a neuronal progenitor cell. The arising neuronal progenitor cells undergo several rounds of cell divisions before they migrate to the site of damage to differentiate into the neuronal cell types that were lost. Molecular and immunohistochemical studies have predominantly provided insight into the mechanisms that regulate retinal regeneration. However, many processes during retinal regeneration are dynamic and require live-cell imaging to fully discern the underlying mechanisms. Recently, a multiphoton imaging approach of adult zebrafish retinal cultures was developed. We will discuss the use of live-cell imaging, the currently available tools and those that need to be developed to advance our knowledge on major open questions in the field of retinal regeneration.

Molecular engineering and live-cell imaging in mechanobiology

Cells in the body are exposed to physiological and pathophysiological stimuli that encompass both chemical and mechanical factors,which coordinately modulate cellular functions. Compared to the large amount of information on cellular re-

Single-cell analysis reveals microbial spore responses to microwave radiation

To determine the effects of microwave radiation at the molecular level as well as on the germination,growth and morphology of dry spores at the single-cell level.Dry Bacillus aryabhattai MCCC 1K02966 spores were microwave-treated at different powers and characterized using single-cell optical technology.As determined by laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy,the Ca^(2+)-dipicolinic acid content increased and nucleic acid denaturation occurred in response to microwave treatment.Livecell microscopy revealed that the germination and growth rates decreased as the microwave power increased.With respect to morphology,atomic force microscopy(AFM)demonstrated that spores became wrinkled and rough after microwave treatment.Furthermore,spores became smaller as the microwave power increased.Microwave treatment can damage DNA,and high-power microwaves can inhibit the germination of spores and reduce spore volumes.These results provide a new perspective on the responses of living single cells to microwave radiation and demonstrate the application of various new techniques for analyses of microorganisms at the single-cell level.

一种高效灵敏的DNA荧光探针的合成及应用

设计合成了一种新型噻唑橙二聚体荧光染料Bi-TO3,采用荧光发射光谱、圆二色光谱及活细胞荧光成像等方法研究了其与DNA的相互作用.在10 mmol/L Tris-HCl缓冲液(pH=7.4)中,Bi-TO3的固有荧光极弱,量子产率小于0.001%;与小牛胸腺DNA结合后,其荧光可显著增强约950倍,但对RNA和蛋白等生物大分子及黏度等环境因素则无明显响应.紫外吸收光谱及圆二色光谱滴定实验表明,Bi-TO3以小沟结合模式与DNA作用,且对AT序列有选择性.实验结果表明,在缓冲溶液中Bi-TO3的荧光增强信号与低浓度范围的poly(dA-dT)2仍呈良好的线性关系,检出限为13.3 ng/mL,灵敏较度高;且Bi-TO3可在较低浓度范围(6～12μmol/L)内应用于活细胞荧光成像.

殝近红外二区荧光探针在生物成像领域的研究进展

荧光技术具有操作简便、分辨率高且可实现实时成像等特点,已被广泛应用于生物医学检测和成像领域,其中,近红外二区荧光染料(NIR-Ⅱ,1000～1700 nm)由于其发射波长较长,光散射和组织自发荧光干扰较少,在生物组织成像中具有更高的时空分辨率和更深的成像深度。本文主要介绍了基于近红外二区荧光探针的设计原理及其在生物成像领域的研究现状,并对其发展作了进一步展望。

Re-evaluation of physical interaction between plant peroxisomes and other organelles using live-cell imaging techniques

The dynamic behavior of organelles is essential for plant survival under various environmental conditions. Plant organelles, with various functions,migrate along actin filaments and contact other types of organelles, leading to physical interactions at a specific site called the membrane contact site. Recent studies have revealed the importance of physical interactions in maintaining efficient metabolite flow between organelles.In this review, we first summarize peroxisome function under different environmental conditions and growth stages to understand organelle interactions. We then discuss current knowledge regarding the interactions between peroxisome and other organelles, i.e., the oil bodies, chloroplast, and mitochondria from the perspective of metabolic and physiological regulation, with reference to various organelle interactions and techniques for estimating organelle interactions occurring in plant cells.

Fluorescent antibiotics for real-time tracking of pathogenic bacteria

The harm of pathogenic bacteria to humans has promoted extensive research on physiological processes of pathogens,such as the mechanism of bacterial infection,antibiotic mode of action,and bacterial antimicrobial resistance.Most of these processes can be better investigated by timely tracking of fluorophore-derived antibiotics in living cells.In this paper,we will review the recent development of fluorescent antibiotics featuring the conjugation with various fluorophores,and focus on their applications in fluorescent imaging and real-time detection for various physiological processes of bacteria in vivo.

Live-Cell Imaging of Dual-Labeled Golgi Stacks in Tobacco BY-2 Cells Reveals Similar Behaviors for Different Cisternae during Movement and Brefeldin A Treatment

In plant cells, the Golgi apparatus consists of numerous stacks that, in turn, are composed of several flattened cisternae with a clear cis-to-trans polarity. During normal functioning within living cells, this unusual organelle displays a wide range of dynamic behaviors such as whole stack motility, constant membrane flux through the cisternae, and Golgi enzyme recycling through the ER. In order to further investigate various aspects of Golgi stack dynamics and integrity, we co-expressed pairs of established Golgi markers in tobacco BY-2 cells to distinguish sub-compartments of the Golgi during monensin treatments, movement, and brefeldin A （BFA）-induced disassembly. A combination of cis and trans markers revealed that Golgi stacks remain intact as they move through the cytoplasm. The Golgi stack orientation during these movements showed a slight preference for the cis side moving ahead, but trans cisternae were also found at the leading edge. During BFA treatments, the different sub-compartments of about half of the observed stacks fused with the ER sequentially; however, no consistent order could be detected. In contrast, the ionophore monensin resulted in swelling of trans cisternae while medial and particularly cis cisternae were mostly unaffected. Our results thus demonstrate a re- markable equivalence of the different cisternae with respect to movement and BFA-induced fusion with the ER. In addi- tion, we propose that a combination of dual-label fluorescence microscopy and drug treatments can provide a simple alternative approach to the determination of protein localization to specific Golgi sub-compartments.

Visualization of integrin molecules by fluorescence imaging and techniques

Integrin molecules are transmembraneαβheterodimers involved in cell adhesion,trafficking,and signaling.Upon activation,integrins undergo dynamic conformational changes that regulate their affinity to ligands.The physiological functions and activation mechanisms of integrins have been heavily discussed in previous studies and reviews,but the fluorescence imaging techniques-which are powerful tools for biological studies-have not.Here we review the fluorescence labeling methods,imaging techniques,as well as Förster resonance energy transfer assays used to study integrin expression,localization,activation,and functions.

High-speed image reconstruction for optically sectioned,super-resolution structured illumination microscopy

Super-resolution structured illumination microscopy(SR-SIM)is an outstanding method for visualizing the subcellular dynamics in living cells.To date,by using elaborately designed systems and algorithms,SR-SIM can achieve rapid,optically sectioned,SR observation with hundreds to thousands of time points.However,real-time observation is still out of reach for most SIM setups as conventional algorithms for image reconstruction involve a heavy computing burden.To address this limitation,an accelerated reconstruction algorithm was developed by implementing a simplified workflow for SR-SIM,termed joint space and frequency reconstruction.This algorithm results in an 80-fold improvement in reconstruction speed relative to the widely used Wiener-SIM.Critically,the increased processing speed does not come at the expense of spatial resolution or sectioning capability,as demonstrated by live imaging of microtubule dynamics and mitochondrial tubulation.

Near-infrared fluorescent amphiphilic polycation wrapped magnetite nanoparticles as multimodality probes

Construction of multifunctional/multimodality nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and therapy has become an attractive area of investigation. In this report, we designed a multimodality nanoprobe for cell labeling, and can be detectable by both magnetic resonance and near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging. Multiple hydrophobic superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanocrystals are self-assembled into nanocomposites in water phase with the help of partially alkylated hyperbranched polycation, polyethylenimine (PEI), which already conjugated with the indocyanine dye Cy5.5 and can be used for cell imaging under NIR fluorescence imaging. The amphiphilic PEI/SPIO nanocomposites have a strong T 2 relaxivity. The iron uptake process in MCF-7/Adr displays a time dependent behavior. Confocal laser scanning microscopy reveals that the nanoprobes are internalized into the cytoplasm of MCF-7/Adr after 24 h labeling. Both MR and NIR fluorescence imaging showed strong image contrast against unlabeled cells. Under a clinical MRI scanner, labeled cells in gelatin phantom present much darker images than controlled ones. The T2 relaxation rate of the labeled cells is 98.2 s 1 , significantly higher than that of the control ones of 2.3 s 1 . This study provides an important alternative to label MCF-7/Adr at optimized low dosages with high efficiency, and may be useful to label other biologically important cells and track their behaviors in vivo.

Peptide asparaginyl ligases——renegade peptide bond makers

Making peptide bonds is tightly controlled by genetic code and machinery which includes cofactors,ATP,and RNAs.In this regard,the stand-alone and genetic-code-independent peptide ligases constitute a new family of renegade peptide-bond makers.A prime example is butelase-1,an Asn/Asp(Asx)-specific ligase that structurally belongs to the asparaginyl endopeptidase family.Butelase-1 specifically recognizes a C-terminal Asx-containing tripeptide motif,Asn/Asp-Xaa-Yaa(Xaa and Yaa are any amino acids),to form a site-specific Asn-Xaa peptide bond either intramolecularly as cyclic proteins or intermolecularly as modified proteins.Our work in the past five years has validated that butelase-1 is a potent and versatile ligase.Here we review the advances in ligases,with a focus on butelase-1,and their applications in engineering bioactive peptides and precision protein modifications,antibody-drug conjugates,and live-cell labeling.

Rapid screening of SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors via ratiometric fluorescence of RBD–ACE2 complexes in living cells by competitive binding

To the Editor:The current coronavirus disease-19(COVID-19)pandemic spurs the development of antiviral drugs for SARS-CoV-2,as the number of patients with viral infections continues to rise globally in the context of widespread vaccination.Targeting the interaction between the receptor binding domain(RBD)of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the host cell ACE2 is a promising therapeutic strategy to effectively inhibit viral entry.

Generation of the genetic mutant population for the screening and characterization of the mutants in response to drought in maize

The autonomous Mutator(Mu)transposon in maize(Zea mays L.)lines 115F,330I,and 715D were crossed with inbred lines B73,Mo17,97108,and H9-21,M1were self-pollinated to establish the Mu insertion-mutagenized M2seeds pool and The M2plants encompassed a large amount of biological variation relevant to improving agronomy traits by observed in the field.Next we statistically analyzed these candidate mutants.Under drought stress,we screened seedlings at 3-leaf stage by using the infrared thermography,and successfully got 108 droughtinsensitive and 121 drought-sensitive candidate mutants from more than 38,000 lines,which temperature were significant different with others.These candidate mutants were primarily analyzed by infrared thermography,chlorophyll fluorescence,leaf water losing,photosynthetic characteristics,content of soluble sugars,soluble protein,and proline assay.The selected mutants were cloned by MuTAIL–PCR methods.Here we provide the better genetic materials for research on maize breeding for drought tolerance.

A general strategy for in situ assembly of light-up fluorophores via bioorthogonal Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling

Herein we presented a general strategy for in situ assembly of intramolecular charge-transfer(ICT)-based light-up fluorophores via bioorthogonal Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction.By introducing iodo group at the appropriate position,five fluorophores with different scaffolds including naphthalimide,coumarin,naphthalene sulfonate,nitrobenzoxadiazole,and acetonaphthone,were designed as bioorthogonal multicolor fluorogenic probes,which could produce significant fluorescence enhancement and high fluorescence quantum yield after Suzuki-Miyaura reaction with aryl boronic acid or boronate.Manipulating the substituents andπscaffold in the fluorophores allows fine-tuning of their photophysical properties.With this strategy,we succeeded in peptide conjugation,no-wash fluorogenic protein labeling,and mitochondria-selective bioorthogonal imaging in live cells.

Membrane dynamics of ATG4B and LC3 in autophagosome formation

The biogenesis of autophagosomes provides the basis for macroautophagy to capture and degrade intracellular cargoes.Binding of the autophagy-related protein ATG8/LC3 to autophagic membranes is essential to autophagosome formation,which involves the specific and dynamic processing of ATG8/LC3 by cysteine protease ATG4.However,to date,the mechanism whereby ATG4 is recruited to the membranes,the interaction of ATG4 and ATG8/LC3 on the membranes,and its role in the growth of phagophore are not completely understood.Here,we used fluorescence recovery after photobleaching to monitor the turnover of GFP-tagged ATG4B and LC3B in living animal cells.The data show that ATG4B localizes to early autophagic membranes in an LC3B-dependent manner.During autophagy,ATG4B and LC3B undergo rapid cytosol/isolation membrane exchange but not at the cytosol/completed autophagosome.In addition,ATG4B activity controls the efficiency of autophagosome formation by impacting the membrane binding/dissociation of LC3B.These data suggest that ATG4 and LC3 play interdependent roles in the formation of autophagosomes.

Tumor heterogeneity and therapy resistance-implications for future treatments of prostate cancer

Aim:To develop new therapies for prostate cancer,disease heterogeneity must be addressed.This includes patient variation,multi-focal disease,cellular heterogeneity,genomic changes and epigenetic modification.This requires more representative models to be used in more innovative ways.Methods:This study used a panel of cell lines and primary prostate epithelial cell cultures derived from patient tissue.Several assays were used;alamar blue,colony forming assays,γH2AX and Ki67 immunofluorescence and comet assays.Ptychographic quantitative phase imaging(QPI),a label-free imaging technique,combined with Cell Analysis Toolbox software,was implemented to carry out real-time analysis of cells and to retrieve morphological,kinetic and population data.Results:A combination of radiation and Vorinostat may be more effective than radiation alone.Primary prostate cancer stem-like cells are more resistant to etoposide than more differentiated cells.Analysis of QPI images showed that cell lines and primary cells differ in their size,motility and proliferation rate.A QPI signature was developed in order to identify two subpopulations of cells within a heterogeneous primary culture.Conclusion:Use of primary prostate epithelial cultures allows assessment of therapies whilst taking into account cellular heterogeneity.Analysis of rare cell populations and embracing novel techniques may ultimately lead to identifying and overcoming treatment resistance.

Computerized cell tracking:Current methods,tools and challenges

In developmental biology,knowledge of cell structure and their(morpho)dynamic behavior,leads to a comprehensive understanding of their conducts and the mechanisms in which they participate.This knowledge is a decisive factor in biological research and also in all drug development steps,medicinal or preventive therapies.Experimental cell analysis is hard,expensive,and time-consuming.To overcome these difficulties,in recent years,several computational object tracking methods,software system and packages have been developed in cell sciences that bring together different disciplines and branches of technologies.Object tracking is the process of locating and monitoring specific object and its behavior in sequential images.In this paper,a comprehensive review on object tracking stages and computational methods that are utilized in terms of cell tracking has been organized.Besides,the available software packages and toolkits,challenges,and their solution in time lapse microscopy images in this scope were reviewed.The aim of describing computational cell tracking methods and tools is that biologist and cell scientists might take advantage of these computational techniques to find another method to gain complementary information for their question of interest.