Super resolution imaging of protein dynamics and functions in physiology and disease

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A major challenge in biomedical research is to be able to see inside a cell with enough detail to be able to understand how proteins interact with each other, and what goes wrong in disease. Typically, to see where a protein is inside a cell, a researcher will use a microscope that illuminates the cells with visible light together with dyes to label the proteins. This type of microscope can see detail to about 200nm (1/5000th of a millimetre), but cellular organelles are commonly at least 4 fold smaller than this, and proteins at least 10 fold smaller. Imaging these organelles and proteins with a normal light microscope does not reveal enough detail about the organisation of proteins and organelles within a cell, or help us understand the normal cellular functions of the proteins, and how they are affected by disease. To overcome this problem, several new types of microscopy have been recently invented to help see the detailed organisation of proteins inside cells. The goal of our research is to build a new microscope and develop new dyes that will help us achieve this, and solve important biomedical questions that are impossible to solve with our existing microscopes.