Because of their non-invasive effect on living systems, light microscopy and spectroscopy have been the workhorses for studies of structures and functions at the cellular, sub-cellular and molecular levels for almost a century.
However, many challenging questions of molecular and cellular biology remain beyond their conventional capabilities. The temporal and spatial resolutions, the labeling and contrast methods of conventional microscopy and spectroscopy pose fundamental limits for investigating the smallest and fastest puzzling mysteries of life.
The core research of our group is the design, development and validation of novel optical and analytical tools that allow the modern biologists to peer inside living cells and organisms with unprecedented temporal-spatial resolutions and minimal invasivity.
This goal can be achieved only working across many disciplines, from physics to engineering, from computer science to biology. Our projects want to synergicaly integrate novel contrast imaging mechanisms, labeling probes, optical architectures and computational approaches that can be readily adopted by IIT's biologists and researchers all over the world.
Molecular Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Laboratories
Time-Resolved STED Microscope: a beam scanning system able to tune spatial resolution from diffraction-limit (confocal microscopy) to few tens of nanometers (STED and gated-STED microscopy). Both the confocal and STED modalities can be combined with fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLIM) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS).
Carma Microscope: a beam scanning system with open optical architecture, FPGA-based data-acquisition and instrument control card and open data-visualization and -processing software. The system is ideal for prototyping novel optical tools.
The laboratories are located at the Nikon Center@IIT.
Collaborations
- Visual Geometry and Modelling Laboratory, IIT (Dr. Alessio del Bue);
- Nanoscopy and NIC@IIT, IIT (Prof. Alberto Diaspro);
- Nano-Immunology, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford University (Prof. Christian Eggeling)
- Dipartment of Electronics and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano (Prof. Alberto Tosi)
People
Principal Investigator
Molecular Microscopy and Spectroscopy
- Openings
- No openings...
Last Publications
2023
Perego E., Zappone S., Slenders E., Castagnetti F., Vitiello E., Mariani D., Mecarelli S. L., Bozzoni I., Vicidomini G.
Comprehensive Fluorescence Lifetime Fluctuation Spectroscopy to investigate protein mobility during aggregation processes in living cells
67th Biophysical Society annual meeting
2023
Nepita I., Piazza S., Ruglioni M., Cristiani S., Bosurgi E., Salvadori T., Vicidomini G., Diaspro A., Castello M., Bianchini P., Storti B., Bizzarri R.
Image Scanning Microscopy to Investigate Polycomb Protein Colocalization onto Chromatin
Applied Sciences, vol. 13, (no. 3)
2023
Sheppard C.J.R., Castello M., Tortarolo G., Zunino A., Slenders E., Bianchini P., Vicidomini G., Diaspro A.
Signal strength and integrated intensity in confocal and image scanning microscopy
Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics and Image Science, and Vision, vol. 40, (no. 1), pp. 138-148