The Live2DPOLIM project aims to establish the recently developed two-dimensional polarization fluorescence imaging (2D POLIM) for biomedical research including the study of living cells, in particular for cutting-edge research questions in the areas of immune response, targeted drug release and organ failure due to systemic infection.
research questions in the areas of immune response, targeted drug release, and organ failure due to systemic infection. Quantitative analysis of 2D polarization-resolved measurements supported by modeling enables the study of
nanoscale protein aggregation and the reorganization of molecular cell structures in living cells ex vivo and in vivo, regardless of whether they are arranged in a specific spatial direction, which is not possible with established methods. The
analysis of nanoscale structures is based on the evaluation of the Forster resonance energy transfer between similar fluorescence markers (homo-FRET, emFRET). The latter is a standard method for distance measurements in the range of 2-10 nm, a size range that is still difficult to access for conventional and even for high resolution microscopy. The combination of Live2DPOLIM with novel marker-free methods based on infrared excitation and detection by atomic force microscopy (IR-AFM) provides additional high-resolution chemical information on the nanoscale arrangement of structures on cell surfaces. This allows complementary access to molecular structural changes on cell membranes resulting from biomedical treatment of the cells. 

The project is funded by the DFG’s own agency under the number TA 1049/2-1; AOBJ 665757.