Aix-Marseille University

Nikon and the Neurophysiopathology Institute at Aix-Marseille University have partnered to create the Nikon Center of Excellence for Neuro-NanoImaging within its cellular imaging facility, focusing on how the latest super-resolutive technique can help in understanding brain cells and their dysfunctions.

The Center uniquely offers three different super-resolution microscopy techniques that are tailored for the subcellular investigation of neuronal function:

• Super-resolved spinning disk (Nikon SoRa) that provides fast, gentle imaging with optical sectioning at ~150 nm resolution, ideal for live-cell imaging.
• Structured Illumination Microscopy (Nikon N-SIM) that allows for robust, multicolor imaging with a 2x gain (~120 nm laterally) compared to diffraction-limited fluorescence microscopy.
• Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (Nikon N-STORM) that reaches for ~20 nm detail to dissect the nanoscale organization of macromolecular complexes directly in cells.

The Nikon Center of Excellence at INP brings these cutting-edge techniques to all neurobiology researchers at INP, in Marseille and beyond, with expert advice on how to choose the best technique for a given question and project. New sample preparation, imaging procedures, and processing methods are developed based on the Center of Excellence microscopes within the facility.