TIRF Microscopy Showing Calcium Conductance (IMAGE)

Rockefeller University Press

TIRF Microscopy Showing Calcium Conductance

Caption

A new study in the Journal of Cell Biology uses a high-resolution imaging technique called optical patch-clamping to monitor calcium influx through pores formed by the Alzheimer's disease–related peptide A-beta. The approach allows the properties of every channel in a population to be measured simultaneously -- individual flashes of a calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye (left) are detected by TIRF microscopy and converted into traces of calcium conductance (right). The imaging reveals that A-beta oligomers elevate calcium in cells by forming calcium-permeable pores in the cell's outer membrane.

Credit

Demuro, A., et al. 2011. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb.201104133

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