Membrane probes for expansion microscopy
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsEdward Stuart Boyden, Jeong Seuk Kang, Emmanouil D. Karagiannis
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Abstract
The present invention provides compositions and methods that allow lipid membranes to be imaged optically at nanoscale resolution via a lipid-optimized form of expansion microscopy, also referred to as membrane expansion microscopy (mExM). mExM, via a post-expansion antibody labeling protocol, enables protein-lipid relationships to be imaged in organelles such as mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum, the nuclear membrane, and the Golgi apparatus. mExM may be of use in a variety of biological contexts, including the study of cell-cell interactions, intracellular transport, and neural connectomics.
Claims22
A membrane labeling probe comprising the Formula A-B-C-D, wherein A is a hydrophobic group, Bis a linker, Cis a polymer anchorable group, and D is a label binder, wherein the linker is glycine, the polymer anchorable group comprises 2 or more amino acids, and the 2 or more amino acids are the same.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.