We have proposed and developed a new hybrid microscopy system using a soft x-ray microscope and a fluorescence microscope imaging the same biological cells at the nearly same time. Combining the powerful advantages such as high spatial resolution of the soft x-ray microscope and the accurate organelle identification of the fluorescence microscope, we can observe fine structures of the cellular organelles in live hydrated biological cells in situ. Staining the cells with several fluorescent dyes such as Mito-tracker, Phalloidin, and DAPI, the soft x-ray images of the cells have been directly compared with the fluorescent images and the cellular organelles such as mitochondria, actin filaments, and chromosomes in the soft x-ray images have been clearly identified. Since the soft x-ray microscope has higher spatial resolution than that of the fluorescence microscope, not only shape of the cellular organelles but also the fine structures of the cellular organelles of the live biological cells have been clearly observed for the first time.

Date Published: 27 September 2013
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8849, X-Ray Lasers and Coherent X-Ray Sources: Development and Applications X, 88490C (27 September 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2022332

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8849:
X-Ray Lasers and Coherent X-Ray Sources: Development and Applications X
Annie Klisnick; Carmen S. Menoni, Editor(s)