COMIC Advanced correlative microscopy of biological particles under mechanical damage”

Dr. Cristina Flors

Funding :

MINECO MAT2015-66605-P

Duration: 2016 - 2018

36 months

In this project we focus on the development of methodology that maximizes the synergies between atomic force microscopy (AFM) and advanced fluorescence microscopy (including super-resolution, single-particle and single-cell imaging)

in order to tackle more ambitious scientific questions. Building on our previous experience on correlative AFM and super-resolution fluorescence imaging, we propose here to combine these techniques simultaneously, exploit the nanomanipulation potential of AFM, develop new fluorescence labeling strategies and apply these novel methods to study complex samples that can be globally described as biological particles. Two types of biological particles will be studied as model systems: i) bacterial cells, in which we will quantitatively study the resistance of their cell wall to mechanical perturbation, and ii) virus-like particles and natural viruses, to better understand the nanomec

hanical properties of viral capsids and their permeability to small molecules at early stages of mechanical damage. The novel insight gained in this project will be very relevant to engineer better strategies for the delivery of biomolecules and nanoparticles into living bacterial cells, understand the mechanisms of viral infections, and design improved nanocontainers for drug delivery in advanced therapies.