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SYLS: Life Sciences on the Nanometer Scale - Physics Meets Biology
SYLS 3: Symposium "Life Sciences on the Nanometer Scale - Physics Meets Biology"
SYLS 3.16: Poster
Mittwoch, 10. März 2004, 16:00–18:30, B
Towards a near-field optical observation of single particle transport through an unsupported cell membrane — •Simone Johnas1, Christiane Höppener2, and Andreas Naber1 — 1Institut für Angewandte Physik, Wolfgang-Gaede-Str. 1, Universität Karlsruhe (TH), 76131 Karlsruhe — 2Physikalisches Institut, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, Universität Münster, 48149 Münster
Highly differentiated macromolecular protein assemblies, so-called nuclear pore complexes (NPC), are embedded in the nuclear envelope (NE) of a eukaryotic cell and tightly control the exchange of all kinds of molecules between cytoplasm and nucleus. Since the NPCs are densely packed in the membrane, conventional optical microscopy is not able to distinguish between neighboring NPCs. By means of scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) we have recently attained an optically resolved fluorescence image of dye-labeled NPCs in a functionally intact NE for the first time [1, 2]. Since SNOM enables us to address single NPCs, we are now aiming at a time-resolved observation of single transport events. A major obstacle towards this goal is the need of two compartments below and above the NE that mimics its natural environment. We will discuss possible preparation techniques and ways to image a free-standing membrane in a buffer solution with a SNOM. [1] C. Höppener, D. Molenda, H. Fuchs, and A. Naber, J. Microsc. 210, 288 (2002). [2] Contribution of C. Höppener et al. in this symposium.