Product Adoption Case No. 14: Real-time Observation of Fluorescence in Living Cells

Real-time observation of live cell fluorescence imaging - University of Tokyo, Ozawa Laboratory

At the Yoshimura Laboratory of the University of Tokyo, fluorescent single-molecule imaging is being conducted. In fluorescent single-molecule imaging, the fading of fluorescent molecules is a problem. To observe weak single-molecule fluorescence in real-time, strong excitation light is required, which inevitably leads to faster fluorescence fading. One method to reduce fluorescence fading is to conduct observations in an environment that mimics the reduced state and low oxygen concentration found in biological tissues. A low-oxygen environment can be achieved using commercially available microscope stage top incubators, but when administering reagents to the sample, it is necessary to maintain the reagents in the same low-oxygen environment. [Challenges and Solutions] Takasago Electric Industry, tasked with solving this problem, developed the device "CEIM-C001," which maintains a low-oxygen environment on the microscope stage while administering reagents to the observation sample. This was achieved by installing an observation sample and a reagent reservoir within the low-oxygen stage top incubator, and incorporating a flow path that includes a pump inside the incubator. As a result, continuous observation, which was previously limited to a maximum of several tens of seconds under conventional observation conditions, can now be extended to several minutes, allowing for longer-duration fluorescence imaging of living cells.

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