Expansion microscopy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · IIT@MIT · +3 more institutions
Abstract
In optical microscopy, fine structural details are resolved by using refraction to magnify images of a specimen. We discovered that by synthesizing a swellable polymer network within a specimen, it can be physically expanded, resulting in physical magnification. By covalently anchoring specific labels located within the specimen directly to the polymer network, labels spaced closer than the optical diffraction limit can be isotropically separated and optically resolved, a process we call expansion microscopy (ExM). Thus, this process can be used to perform scalable superresolution microscopy with diffraction-limited microscopes. We demonstrate ExM with apparent ~70-nanometer lateral resolution in both cultured…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 100.12
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 28
Authors
3Topics & keywords
- Microscope
- Resolution (logic)
- Microscopy
- High resolution
- Electron microscope
- Materials science
- Optics
- Nanotechnology