Cost-efficient nanoscopy reveals nanoscale architecture of liver cells and platelets

Abstract

Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) provides a powerful toolkit to specifically resolve intracellular structures on the nanometer scale, even approaching resolution classically reserved for electron microscopy (EM). Although instruments for SMLM are technically simple to implement, researchers tend to stick to commercial microscopes for SMLM implementations. Here we report the construction and use of a “custom-built” multi-color channel SMLM system to study liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) and platelets, which costs significantly less than a commercial system. This microscope allows the introduction of highly affordable and low-maintenance SMLM hardware and methods to laboratories that, for example, lack access to core facilities housing high-end commercial microscopes for SMLM and EM. Using our custom-built microscope and freely available software from image acquisition to analysis, we image LSECs and platelets with lateral resolution down to about 50 nm. Furthermore, we use this microscope to examine the effect of drugs and toxins on cellular morphology.