In this webinar and Q&A presented by Dr Leeya Engel (Stanford University): “Micropatterning on EM grids: A strategy for improving cell cryo-ET workflow”. The results that she presents were published in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering (L. Engel et al., 2019) using Alveole’s PRIMO maskless photopatterning system on a Leica DMi8 microscope.
Key findings can be summarised as:
- Reproducible and controlled positioning of cells within the mesh of EM grids
- Increased cryo-FIB and cryo-ET success rates
- Predictive intracellular organization
Leeya presents a method in which the PRIMO maskless protein photopatterning system is used to micropattern extracellular matrix on electron microscopy grids. These micropatterned cell culture substrates can confine cells to specific shapes and locations on electron microscopy grids. By enabling cryo electron tomography of cells under morphological modulation, this technology may open up new possibilities for correlating changes in nanometer-scale organization at cell-cell and cell-ECM contacts to strain energy states and traction stress distribution in the cell.
