Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

A critique of methods for temperature imaging in single cells

Nature Methods volume 11, pages 899–901 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

We argue that standard thermodynamic considerations and scaling laws show that a single cell cannot substantially raise its temperature by endogenous thermogenesis. This statement seriously questions the interpretations of recent work reporting temperature heterogeneities measured in single living cells.

Life on Earth has managed to adapt to a wide range of temperatures: most living organisms blossom around 15 °C, but psychrophiles and thermophiles can thrive at temperatures as extreme as −15 °C and 122 °C. Cellular compositions are tightly thermoregulated, in particular in microorganisms1 and in plants2, which may be exposed to large temperature variations. Much research has been recently devoted to uncover the mechanisms of temperature-controlled processes in biology.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Temperature mapping in living cells.

References

  1. Kortmann, J. & Narberhaus, F. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 10, 255–265 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Knight, M.R. & Knight, H. New Phytol. 195, 737–751 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Zohar, O. et al. Biophys. J. 74, 82–89 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Zeeb, V., Suzuki, M. & Ishiwata, S. Neurosci. Methods 139, 69–77 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Suzuki, M., Tseeb, V., Oyama, K. & Ishiwatwa, S. Biophys. J. 92, L46–L48 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gota, C., Okabe, K., Funatsu, T., Harada, Y. & Uchiyama, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 2766–2767 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Martinez Maestro, L. et al. Nano Lett. 10, 5109–5115 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Vetrone, F. et al. ACS Nano 4, 3254–3258 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. McCabe, K.M., Lacherndo, E.J., Albino-Flores, I., Sheehan, E. & Hernandez, M. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 77, 2863–2868 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Yang, J., Yang, H. & Lin, L. ACS Nano 5, 5067–5071 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Wang, C. et al. Cell Res. 21, 1517–1519 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Okabe, K. et al. Nat. Commun. 3, 705 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Donner, J., Thompson, S.A., Kreuzer, M.P., Baffou, G. & Quidant, R. Nano Lett. 12, 2107–2111 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kucsko, G. et al. Nature 500, 54–58 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Shang, L., Stockmar, F., Azadfar, N. & Nienhaus, G.U. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 11154–11157 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Tsuji, T., Yoshida, S., Yoshida, A. & Uchiyama, S. Anal. Chem. 85, 9815–9823 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Kiyonaka, S. et al. Nat. Methods 10, 1232–1238 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Takei, Y. et al. ACS Nano 8, 198–206 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Yang, L. et al. Mikrochim. Acta 181, 743–749 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Lowell, B.B. Nature 404, 652–660 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Loesberg, C., van Miltenburg, J.C. & van Wijk, R.J. Therm. Biol. 7, 209–213 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Johnson, M.D. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106, 6696–6699 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Zamorano, F., van de Wouwer, A. & Bastin, G.J. Biotech. 150, 497–508 (2010).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Ahn, W.S. & Antoniewicz, M.R. Metab. Eng. 13, 598–609 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Ponomarev, V.V. & Migarskaya, L.B. J. Phys. Chem. 34, 1182–1183 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Inomata, N., Toda, M., Sato, M., Ishijima, A. & Ono, T. Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 154104 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Behjousiar, A., Kontoravdi, C. & Polizzi, K.M. PLoS ONE 7, e34512 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Baffou, G. & Rigneault, H. Phys. Rev. B 84, 035415 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Nakano, T., Kikugawa, G. & Ohara, T. J. Chem. Phys. 133, 154705 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Baffou, G. et al. ACS Nano 7, 6478–6488 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Bianconi, E. et al. Ann. Hum. Biol. 40, 463–471 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Aix-Marseille University A*Midex (ANR-2011-IDEX-0001-02) and Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) grants Tkinet (ANR-2011-BSV5-019-05), France Bio Imaging (ANR-2010-INSB-04-01) and France Life Imaging (ANR-2011-INSB-0006).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guillaume Baffou and Hervé Rigneault are at the Institut Fresnel, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Aix-Marseille Université, Centrale Marseille, Marseille, France.,

    Guillaume Baffou & Hervé Rigneault

  2. Didier Marguet is at the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, Aix-Marseille Université, INSERM, CNRS, Marseille, France.,

    Didier Marguet

  3. Ludovic Jullien is at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris 06, CNRS, Paris, France.,

    Ludovic Jullien

Authors
  1. Guillaume Baffou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hervé Rigneault
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Didier Marguet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ludovic Jullien
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guillaume Baffou.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Baffou, G., Rigneault, H., Marguet, D. et al. A critique of methods for temperature imaging in single cells. Nat Methods 11, 899–901 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.3073

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.3073

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing