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EMCCDs Article Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Devices (EMCCDs)

By incorporating on-chip multiplication gain, the electron multiplying CCD achieves, in an all solid-state sensor, the single-photon detection sensitivity typical of intensified or electron-bombarded CCDs at much lower cost and without compromising the quantum efficiency and resolution characteristics of the conventional CCD structure.

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Visualizing Tubulin Dynamics


Objective: UPlanSApo 100x oil/1.40 Exposure: 250 ms
Microscope: Olympus DSU/IX81 Gain: 3
Camera: Hamamatsu ImagEM Interval: 500 ms

In addition to their structural support role, microtubules also serve as a highway system along which organelles can be transported with the aid of motor proteins. For instance, the microtubule network interconnects the Golgi apparatus with the plasma membrane to guide secretory vesicles for export, and also transports mitochondria back and forth in the cytoplasm. Another example is the translocation of vesicles containing neurotransmitters by microtubules to the tips of nerve cell axons. The motor proteins involved in organelle transport operate by altering their three-dimensional conformation using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as fuel to move back and forth along a microtubule. With each step, the motor molecule releases one portion of the microtubule and grips a second site farther long the filament. Motor proteins, which are grouped into several distinct classes, attach to organelles through specialized receptors. In the digital video presented above, Gray fox lung fibroblast cells (FoLu line) were transiently transfected with a fusion construct of mEGFP and human alpha-tubulin to highlight microtubules (green fluorescence) in order to visualize dynamic processes.

BACK TO FoLu CELLS WITH mEGFP-TUBULIN