Microscopy articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effect of aliovalent doping on grain boundary is not yet fully understood at the atomic level. Here, the authors report grain boundary structural transformation in α-Al2O3 is induced by co-segregation of multiple dopants using atomic-resolution electron microscopy and theoretical calculations.

    • Toshihiro Futazuka
    • , Ryo Ishikawa
    •  & Yuichi Ikuhara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A major challenge of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays is discriminating true signal from non-specific binding. Here the authors present a Single-Molecule Colocalization Assay (SiMCA) which eliminates such effects, enabling reproducible detection of picomolar protein concentrations.

    • Amani A. Hariri
    • , Sharon S. Newman
    •  & H. Tom Soh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical binding enables light-induced assembly of many particles within a focus area. Here, the authors demonstrate that optical binding can occur outside the irradiated area by scattered light interacting with the particles outside the focus, generating arc-shape potential wells for particle trapping.

    • Chih-Hao Huang
    • , Boris Louis
    •  & Hiroshi Masuhara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) is the main enzyme used by methanotrophs. Here, the authors determined the native structure of pMMO by cryo-electron tomography, revealing lipid-stabilized features and a higher-order hexagonal array arrangement in intact cells.

    • Yanan Zhu
    • , Christopher W. Koo
    •  & Peijun Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Obtaining information about the structure of metal-organic layers (MOLs) using standard electron microscopy methods is challenging due to damage under electron beam irradiation. Here, the authors reveal a multistep formation process of MOLs and identify missing clusters, dislocations, loop and flat surface terminations and ligand connector of MOLs via complementary electron microscopy techniques.

    • Xinxing Peng
    • , Philipp M. Pelz
    •  & Mary C. Scott

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA-PAINT image acquisition is limited by speed. Here the authors use the neural network DeepSTORM to predict fluorophore positions from high emitter density DNA-PAINT data in order to achieve image acquisition in one minute; they demonstrate multi-colour and large-area imaging of semi-thin neuronal tissue.

    • Kaarjel K. Narayanasamy
    • , Johanna V. Rahm
    •  & Mike Heilemann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microtubules are built from GDP-tubulin lattices with small GTP caps at their plus-ends. Here, the authors reveal that microtubules that attach to kinetochores in mitosis contain, in addition to the GTP-cap and the GDP-lattices, a dynamic micron-sized mixed-nucleotide zone.

    • Cédric Castrogiovanni
    • , Alessio V. Inchingolo
    •  & Patrick Meraldi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light sheet microscopes reduce phototoxicity and background while improving imaging speed compared to widefield and confocal microscopes. Here the authors quantify the differences between Gaussian and lattice light sheets using simulations and experimental data in fixed and live cells.

    • Yu Shi
    • , Timothy A. Daugird
    •  & Wesley R. Legant

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-throughput electron tomography has been challenging due to time-consuming alignment and reconstruction. Here, the authors demonstrate real-time tomography with dynamic 3D tomographic visualization integrated in tomviz, an open-source 3D data analysis tool.

    • Jonathan Schwartz
    • , Chris Harris
    •  & Robert Hovden

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors develop a UV-compatible photonic integrated circuit for structured illumination microscopy on a conventional wide-field microscope. Operating at a wavelength of 360 nm, they generate switchable far-field fringe patterns, and demonstrate autofluorescence imaging of yeast cells.

    • Chupao Lin
    • , Juan Santo Domingo Peñaranda
    •  & Nicolas Le Thomas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Podosomes are actin structures important in multiple cell functions. Here, the authors use iPALM microscopy to reveal an “hourglass” shape of the podosome actin core, a protruding “knob” at the bottom of the core, and two actin networks extending from it.

    • J. Cody Herron
    • , Shiqiong Hu
    •  & Klaus M. Hahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Planar growth of nanowire arrays involves interactions between materials that affect the electronic behavior of the effective heterojunction. Here, authors show how core curvature and cross-section morphology affect shell growth, demonstrating how strain at the core-shell interface induces electronic band modulations in ZnSe@ZnTe nanowires.

    • Sara Martí-Sánchez
    • , Marc Botifoll
    •  & Jordi Arbiol

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scanning NV center magnetometry enables imaging of weak magnetic fields at the nanoscale. Huxter et al. achieve an order-of-magnitude improvement in sensitivity by converting a spatial field gradient into an AC field by mechanical oscillations of the sensor, and image stray fields from atomic steps in an antiferromagnet.

    • W. S. Huxter
    • , M. L. Palm
    •  & C. L. Degen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyperbolic phonon polaritons – mixed states of photons and anisotropic lattice vibrations – offer appealing properties for nanophotonic applications. Here, the authors show that the plasmon-phonon hybridization upon electronic doping in graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructures can induce topological transitions of the polariton wavefront.

    • Francesco L. Ruta
    • , Brian S. Y. Kim
    •  & D. N. Basov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A subset of uropathogenic Escherichia coli are able to halt division and grow into highly filamentous cells during infection of bladder epithelial cells. Here, authors aim to determine the mechanism, and understand the dynamics of cell division machinery during infection-related filamentation.

    • Bill Söderström
    • , Matthew J. Pittorino
    •  & Iain G. Duggin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors generated an artificial RNA molecule, or aptamer, specific for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis protein TDP-43. By interacting avidly with its target, the aptamer can be exploited to track TDP-43 phase transition in vitro and in cells.

    • Elsa Zacco
    • , Owen Kantelberg
    •  & Gian Gaetano Tartaglia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The venomous stinging cells of jellyfish, anemones, and corals contain an organelle, the nematocyst, which explosively discharges a venom-laden thread. Here, the authors describe the nematocyst thread and its sub-structures in the sea anemone N. vectensis, revealing a complexity and sophistication underpinning this cellular weapon.

    • Ahmet Karabulut
    • , Melainia McClain
    •  & Matthew C. Gibson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors introduce photonic force optical coherence elastography that uses a light-sheet for parallelised and localised mechanical loading. They demonstrate the combination of 3D imaging of extracellular matrix mechanics with cellular-scale resolution and dynamic monitoring of cell-mediated changes.

    • Yuechuan Lin
    • , Nichaluk Leartprapun
    •  & Steven G. Adie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Drosophila mesoderm invagination begins with the formation of a furrow. Here they show that a long-range mechanism, powered by actomyosin contraction between the embryo polar caps, works like a ‘cheese-cutter wire’ indenting the tissue surface and folding it into a propagating furrow.

    • Julien Fierling
    • , Alphy John
    •  & Matteo Rauzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electron beam manipulation is important for their application in microscopes, lithography instruments, and colliders. Here the authors report a wafer scale, self-assembled, microcoil electrically-driven magnetic charge particle optic device that can be implemented into different configurations for controlling of electron beams.

    • R. Huber
    • , F. Kern
    •  & A. Lubk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-channel SMLM imaging is powerful. Here the authors report globLoc, a GPU-based global fitting algorithm, to extract maximum information from multichannel single molecule data; this gives improved localisation precision for biplane and 4Pi-SMLM and colour assignment in multi-colour astigmatic SMLM.

    • Yiming Li
    • , Wei Shi
    •  & Jonas Ries

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precise control of charge transfer between catalyst nanoparticles and supports presents a unique opportunity to enhance catalytic performance. Here the authors demonstrate a scanning transmission electron microscopy method to visualize atomic-scale structure and sub-nanometer-scale charge distribution in heterogeneous catalysts, shedding light on the atomic-scale mechanisms behind their highly active perimeter sites.

    • Michael J. Zachman
    • , Victor Fung
    •  & Miaofang Chi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the Bloch or Neel domain walls in ferromagnets, the magnetization rotates smoothly from up to down, preserving its magnitude. Here, Lee et al show that Co3Sn2S2 exhibits a phase transition within its domain walls to a state in which the magnetization passes through zero rather than rotating as the wall is traversed.

    • Changmin Lee
    • , Praveen Vir
    •  & Joseph Orenstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The acid sites are important local structures to determine catalytic performances of zeolites. Here, the authors expand the interface engineering to the field of porous zeolites through the lattice mismatch of the intergrown zeolite to enrich the inherent Lewis acid sites at the interface of a mortise-tenon ZSM-5 catalyst.

    • Huiqiu Wang
    • , Boyuan Shen
    •  & Weizhong Qian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying organic molecular nanocrystals with electron microscopy has been challenging due to complex structures and radiation sensitivity. Here, the authors present 4D-scanning confocal electron diffraction, and demonstrate direct in situ observation of structural evolution of bulk heterojunction thin films.

    • Mingjian Wu
    • , Christina Harreiß
    •  & Erdmann Spiecker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors introduce stimulated-emission induced excitation depletion (STExD) nanoscopy using a single pair of low-power, near-infrared, continue-wave lasers. Emission of multichromatic probes is inhibited by cascade amplified depletion in lanthanide upconversion systems induced by manipulating their common sensitizer.

    • Xin Guo
    • , Rui Pu
    •  & Qiuqiang Zhan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In E. coli, FtsA and FtsZ control the place and time of cell division. Here, the authors use in vitro experiments to show how FtsA can follow FtsZ treadmilling and that downstream proteins form dynamic copolymers with FtsA to initiate division.

    • Philipp Radler
    • , Natalia Baranova
    •  & Martin Loose

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gasdermin-A3 pore formation propagates along diverse pathways. It begins with membrane attachment and oligomeric pre-assembly. Once inserted in the membrane, the oligomers re-assemble into various shapes and sizes, which open their lytic pores.

    • Stefania A. Mari
    • , Kristyna Pluhackova
    •  & Daniel J. Müller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultra-multiplexed fluorescence imaging is currently difficult. Here the authors report PICASSO which enables 15-colour imaging of spatially overlapping proteins in a single-round of imaging; they combine it with cyclic immunofluorescence to achieve 45-colour imaging of the mouse brain in 3 cycles.

    • Junyoung Seo
    • , Yeonbo Sim
    •  & Jae-Byum Chang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Mre11-Rad50 (MR) complex has key functions in the detection, signaling and repair of DNA breaks. Here the authors use transmission electron microscopy to show MR oligomerization is governed by a small beta-sheet protruding from the head domain of Rad50 at the base of the MR structure, and reveal MR head domain oligomerization is required for efficient DNA end resection.

    • Vera M. Kissling
    • , Giordano Reginato
    •  & Matthias Peter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single molecule detection based on evanescent illumination usually require specially designed nanomaterials. Here, the authors show that single molecule detection can be realised on a plain glass surface via interference between the evanescent lights scattered by molecules and the natural roughness of the glass.

    • Pengfei Zhang
    • , Lei Zhou
    •  & Shaopeng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In microscopy, applications in which reactiveness is needed are multifarious. Here the authors report MicroMator, a Python software package for reactive experiments, which they use for applications requiring real-time tracking and light-targeting at the single-cell level.

    • Zachary R. Fox
    • , Steven Fletcher
    •  & Gregory Batt

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