Super-Resolution Imaging System Using SIM and SMLM Techniques

The subject of the investment is the purchase of an imaging system that combines two complementary super-resolution microscopy techniques: SIM (Structured Illumination Microscopy) and SMLM (Single-Molecule Localization Microscopy).

This dual system enables two independent approaches to imaging subcellular structures and individual proteins separated by no more than 60 nm (SIM) or even 20 nm (SMLM) in the XY plane, and approximately 50–80 nm along the Z-axis. The super-resolution SIM and SMLM technologies allow for low-toxicity imaging of live biological samples, covering large 3D fields of view and much longer time scales than the imaging technologies currently available at Łukasiewicz – PORT.

Imaging using such technologies is also significantly faster, allowing researchers to capture transient protein complexes and cellular processes, thereby enabling a much more accurate understanding of the biological phenomena under observation. Modern SIM and SMLM imaging systems are highly automated, which translates into greater time and cost efficiency.

Both techniques are widely used in structural studies of multiprotein complexes, where the spatial arrangement in 3D is crucial for their function and for understanding essential cellular processes.

The newly acquired super-resolution imaging system will be utilized in research projects and R&D services conducted by scientists from multiple research teams across two research centers at Łukasiewicz – PORT: the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Center and the Population Diagnostics Center.