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solimena group

Andreas Müller

PhD project Andreas

The aim of my project is the ultrastructural analysis of insulin secretory granules (ISGs) of different age. Insulin secretion in pancreatic islets occurs in two phases: a short and rapid first phase followed by a sustained second phase. There is evidence of an age dependent release of ISGs, i.e. “older” ISGs are less likely to undergo exocytosis relative to “younger” ISGs. I will use the SNAP-tag to label ISG pools of different ages in INS-1 cells and mouse beta cells. I will apply correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM) to track ISGs of different age on EM sections and further investigate their ultrastructure and interaction with components of the cytoskeleton, e.g. microtubules and microfilaments. To this aim the fluorescent signal on labeled specimens fixed either with aldehydes or by high-pressure freezing (HPF) is detected first by fluorescence microscopy. Using fiducial markers the same labeled structures are then visualized by conventional TEM or EM tomography. The latter approach would be especially suited to visualize and investigate the interaction of ISGs with microtubules and microfilaments.

Contact details:

andreas.mueller8 {at} mailbox.tu-dresden.de
+49 (0)3 51 79 63 66 08