Multimodal nonlinear-optical imaging of nucleoli

Opt Lett. 2021 Aug 1;46(15):3608-3611. doi: 10.1364/OL.416300.

Abstract

Multimodal nonlinear microscopy combining third-harmonic generation (THG) with two- and three-photon-excited fluorescence (2PEF and 3PEF) is shown to provide a powerful resource for high-fidelity imaging of nucleoli and nucleolar proteins. We demonstrate that, with a suitably tailored genetically encoded fluorescent stain, the 2PEF/3PEF readout from specific nucleolar proteins can be reliably detected against the extranucleolar 2PEF/3PEF signal, enabling high-contrast imaging of the key nucleolar ribosome biogenesis components, such as fibrillarin. THG is shown to provide a versatile readout for unstained nucleolus imaging in a vast class of biological systems as different as neurons in brain slices and cultured HeLa cells.

MeSH terms

  • Brain
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Microscopy*
  • Optical Imaging
  • Photons*