Nanoscopic subcellular imaging enabled by ion beam tomography

Nat Commun. 2021 Feb 4;12(1):789. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20753-5.

Abstract

Multiplexed ion beam imaging (MIBI) has been previously used to profile multiple parameters in two dimensions in single cells within tissue slices. Here, a mathematical and technical framework for three-dimensional (3D) subcellular MIBI is presented. Ion-beam tomography (IBT) compiles ion beam images that are acquired iteratively across successive, multiple scans, and later assembled into a 3D format without loss of depth resolution. Algorithmic deconvolution, tailored for ion beams, is then applied to the transformed ion image series, yielding 4-fold enhanced ion beam data cubes. To further generate 3D sub-ion-beam-width precision visuals, isolated ion molecules are localized in the raw ion beam images, creating an approach coined as SILM, secondary ion beam localization microscopy, providing sub-25 nm accuracy in original ion images. Using deep learning, a parameter-free reconstruction method for ion beam tomograms with high accuracy is developed for low-density targets. In cultured cancer cells and tissues, IBT enables accessible visualization of 3D volumetric distributions of genomic regions, RNA transcripts, and protein factors with 5 nm axial resolution using isotope-enrichments and label-free elemental analyses. Multiparameter imaging of subcellular features at near macromolecular resolution is implemented by the IBT tools as a general biocomputation pipeline for imaging mass spectrometry.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Chromatin / metabolism
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Deep Learning
  • Electron Microscope Tomography / methods*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional*
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Neoplasms / genetics
  • Neoplasms / pathology
  • Single-Cell Analysis / methods*
  • Transcription, Genetic

Substances

  • Chromatin