Multi-camera Simultaneous Total Internal Reflection and Interference Reflection Microscopy

Several techniques have been employed for the direct visualization of cytoskeletal filaments and their associated proteins. Total-internal-reflection-fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy has a high signal-to-background ratio, but it suffers from photobleaching and photodamage of the fluorescent proteins. Label-free techniques such as interference reflection microscopy (IRM) and interferometric scattering microscopy (iSCAT) circumvent the problem of photobleaching but cannot readily visualize single molecules. This paper presents a protocol for combining IRM with a commercial TIRF microscope for the simultaneous imaging of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) and dynamic microtubules in vitro. This protocol allows for high-speed observation of MAPs interacting with dynamic microtubules. This improves on existing two-color TIRF setups by eliminating both the need for microtubule labeling and the need for several additional optical components, such as a second excitation laser. Both channels are imaged on the same camera chip to avoid image registration and frame synchronization problems. This setup is demonstrated by visualizing single kinesin molecules walking on dynamic microtubules.

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy has gained popularity in recent years among cell biologists due to its ability to clearly visualize events that occur at the adherent plasma membrane of cells. TIRF microscopy systems are now commercially available from nearly all microscope suppliers. This review aims to give the reader an introduction to the physical basis of TIRF and considerations that need to be made when purchasing a commercial system. We explain how TIRF can be combined with other microscopy modalities and describe how to use TIRF to study processes such as endocytosis, exocytosis, and focal adhesion dynamics. Finally, we provide a step-by-step guide to imaging and analyzing focal adhesion dynamics in a migrating cell using TIRF microscopy.

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy (TIRFM) is an elegant optical technique that provides for the excitation of fluorophores in an extremely thin axial region ("optical section"). The method is based on the principle that when excitation light is totally internally reflected in a transparent solid (e.g., coverglass) at its interface with liquid, an electromagnetic field, called the evanescent wave, is generated in the liquid at the solid-liquid interface and is the same frequency as the excitation light. Since the intensity of the evanescent wave exponentially decays with distance from the surface of the solid, only fluorescent molecules within a few hundred nanometers of the solid are efficiently excited. This unit will briefly review the history, optical theory, and different hardware configurations used in TIRFM. In addition, it will provide experimental details and methodological considerations for studying receptors at the plasma membrane in neurons.

In a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope, there is a 3D anisotropy in intensity of the excitation light. Using a mirror in a prism-based total internal reflection fluorescence microscope, we propose a very low-cost method to decrease the anisotropic property of the excitation light. Theoretically, we obtained the electric field of the transmitted light inside the sample as a function of the rotational angle of the mirror, polarization degree of the incident beam, and the refractive indices of the prism, immersion oil, cover glass, and sample. By using the refractive indices that are commercially available, proper practical combinations of the angle of mirror and polarization degree of the incident light are suggested to provide a merely 2D isotropic excitation light at the sample plane of a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope.

This paper investigates plasmonic amplification in two commonly used optical configurations for fluorescence readout of bioassays – epifluorescence (EPF) and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF). The plasmonic amplification in the EPF configuration was implemented by using crossed gold diffraction grating and Kretschmann geometry of attenuated total reflection method (ATR) was employed in the TIRF configuration. Identical assay, surface architecture for analyte capture, and optics for the excitation, collection and detection of emitted fluorescence light intensity were used in both TIRF and EPF configurations. Simulations predict that the crossed gold diffraction grating (EPF) can amplify the fluorescence signal by a factor of 102 by the combination of surface plasmon-enhanced excitation and directional surface plasmon-coupled emission in the red part of spectrum. This factor is about order of magnitude higher than that predicted for the Kretschmann geometry (TIRF) which only took advantage of the surface plasmon-enhanced excitation. When applied for the readout of sandwich interleukin 6 (IL-6) immunoassay, the plasmonically amplified EPF geometry designed for Alexa Fluor 647 labels offered 4-times higher fluorescence signal intensity compared to TIRF. Interestingly, both geometries allowed reaching the same detection limit of 0.4pM despite of the difference in the fluorescence signal enhancement. This is attributed to inherently lower background of fluorescence signal for TIRF geometry compared to that for EPF which compensates for the weaker fluorescence signal enhancement. The analysis of the inflammation biomarker IL-6 in serum at medically relevant concentrations and the utilization of plasmonic amplification for the fluorescence measurement of kinetics of surface affinity reactions are demonstrated for both EPF and TIRF readout.

A major waste byproduct of oil sands in situ extraction is oil sands tailings, which are a mixture of water, clay, and residual bitumen. These tailings represent a huge ecological footprint in the form of tailings ponds, which not only render large land areas unusable but also prevent reuse of water. The slow dewatering of the tailings ponds poses a major challenge to the industry. The presence of complex inorganic–organic bitumen–clay mixtures in these tailings contributes to this problem. Hence, understanding the nature of the bitumen–clay association and the effect of bitumen on clay particle–particle interactions is important for the development of more effective chemicals or processes to accelerate particle aggregation and sedimentation during dewatering. Previous studies that investigate these interactions used techniques that are sensitive only toward inorganic clay but not sensitive towards organic bitumen. Here, we use a high-resolution total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to ...

1] Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy in cell biology

Imaging GPCRs trafficking and signaling with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy in cultured neurons.

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, used in conjunction with flash photolysis, provides a useful way of investigating the kinetics of macromolecular interactions. We compare different TIRF optical geometries to establish an optimal combination. Excitation light was introduced via four different arrangements: (1) a prism positioned on the microscope optical axis, (2) an offset prism with propagation through a silica slide trans to the objective lens, (3) an offset prism with propagation through a silica coverslip cis to a water-immersion objective lens and (4) a prismless arrangement using a high NA oil-immersion objective lens. Photolysis was achieved using a Xe flash lamp and a customised silica condenser lens. Single myosin molecules labelled with a Cy3 fluorophore were used as a test sample. Although the offset trans prism gave the best signal-to-background ratio, a customised thin rhombic prism incorporated, on axis, into the flash condenser assembly was almost as good and was more practical for scanning multiple fields. An oil-immersion lens gave the brightest image for sample depths < 30 micrometer but above this limit, a water-immersion lens was better. The prismless arrangement may offer advantages in other situations but it is important to check the actual numerical aperture of the objective lens.

The selective microscopic imaging of the plasma membrane and adjacent structures by total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is a versatile and frequently used technique in cell biology. A reduction of imaging artifacts in objective-type TIRF microscopy can be achieved by circular or multi-spot laser illumination or by using noncoherent light sources that are projected into the back focal plane as a light annulus. Light-emitting diode (LED)-based TIRF excitation is a recent advancement of the latter strategy. While some basic principles of LED-TIRF remain the same as in laser-based methods, the calculation of penetration depth, the flatness of illumination and the amount of available illumination power differ. This study provides the theoretical framework for the construction and adjustment of LED-TIRF. Using state-of-the art high power LED emitters, LED-TIRF achieves excitation efficiencies that are comparable to laser-based systems and homogenously illuminate the entire field of view, thus, allowing variation of the penetration depth or quantitative photobleaching-assisted imaging protocols. Using autofluorescent transmembrane, soluble and membrane-attached fusion proteins, we provide examples for a photobleaching-based assessment of the exchange kinetics of proteins within living human endothelial cells.

Alexa Fluor 647 is a widely used fluorescent probe for cell bioimaging and super-resolution microscopy. Herein, the reversible fluorescence switching of Alexa Fluor 647 conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and adsorbed onto indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes under electrochemical potential control at the level of single protein molecules is reported. The modulation of the fluorescence as a function of potential was observed using total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. The fluorescence intensity of the Alexa Fluor 647 decreased, or reached background levels, at reducing potentials but returned to normal levels at oxidizing potentials. These electrochemically induced changes in fluorescence were sensitive to pH despite that BSA-Alexa Fluor 647 fluorescence without applied potential is insensitive to pH between values of 4-10. The observed pH dependence indicated the involvement of electron and proton transfer in the fluorescence switching mechanism.

Total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is a technique that allows the study of events happening at the cell membrane, by selective imaging of fluorescent molecules that are closest to a high refractive index substance such as glass1. In this article, we apply this technique to image exocytosis of synaptic vesicles in retinal bipolar cells isolated from the goldfish retina. These neurons are very suitable for this kind of study due to their large axon terminals. By simultaneously patch clamping the bipolar cells, it is possible to investigate the relationship between pre-synaptic voltage and synaptic release2,3. Synaptic vesicles inside the bipolar cell terminals are loaded with a fluorescent dye (FM 1-43®) by co-puffing the dye and a ringer solution containing a high K+ concentration onto the synaptic terminals. This depolarizes the cells and stimulates endocytosis and consequent dye uptake into the glutamatergic vesicles. After washing the excess dye away for around 30 minutes, cells are ready for being patch clamped and imaged simultaneously with a 488 nm laser. The patch pipette solution contains a rhodamine-based peptide that binds selectively to the synaptic ribbon protein RIBEYE4, thereby labeling ribbons specifically when terminals are imaged with a 561 nm laser. This allows the precise localization of active zones and the separation of synaptic from extra-synaptic events.

Single molecule detection and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy on surfaces

Quantifying submillimeter flows using optical diagnostic techniques is often limited by a lack of spatial resolution and optical access. This review discusses two super-resolution imaging techniques, structured illumination microscopy and total internal reflection fluorescence or microscopy, which can visualize bulk and interfacial flows, respectively, at spatial resolutions below the classic diffraction limits. First, we discuss the theory and applications of structured illumination for optical sectioning, i.e., imaging a thin slice of a flow illuminated over its entire volume. Structured illumination can be used to visualize the interior of multiphase flows such as sprays by greatly reducing secondary scattering. Second, the theory underlying evanescent waves is introduced, followed by a review of how total internal reflection microscopy has been used to visualize interfacial flows over the last 15 years. Both techniques, which are starting to be used in fluid mechanics, could significantly improve quantitative imaging of microscale and macroscale flows.

Contributions of the lower dimer to supramolecular actin patterning revealed by TIRF microscopy.