FBS Colloquia No.180Laboratory of Single Molecule Biology

High-throughput live-cell single-molecule imaging and its pharmacological application

Single-molecule imaging in cells enables a direct observation of individual signaling molecules and acquisition of spatiotemporal information of their behaviors and interactions. A mechanism of molecular dynamics and kinetics in cell signaling has been quantitatively revealed. However, the effective method has hardly applied to comprehensive measurement because conventional single-molecule imaging depends on a lot of specific expertise. Therefore, we automated all the processes of single-molecule microscopy, achieving expertise-free operation and high-throughput measurement. Applications of the apparatus can be extended not only to investigations of whole cell-signaling pathway but also to pharmacological study by single-molecule drug screening.