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Expansion Microscopy: High-Resolution Fluorescent Imaging with a Conventional Microscope
Published on: December 19, 2025
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X10 expansion microscopy enables 25-nm resolution on conventional microscopes
Sven Truckenbrodt1,2, Manuel Maidorn3,2, Dagmar Crzan3
1Institute for Neuro- and Sensory Physiology, Center for Biostructural Imaging of Neurodegeneration, Cluster of Excellence Nanoscale Microscopy and Molecular Physiology of the Brain, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany strucke@gwdg.de srizzol@gwdg.de.
EMBO Reports
|July 11, 2018
Summary
Researchers developed X10 microscopy, a new expansion microscopy technique. This method achieves super-resolution imaging with 25-30 nm resolution, offering an accessible and cost-effective solution for high-quality biological imaging.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Microscopy
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Expansion microscopy (ExM) offers super-resolution by physically expanding specimens.
- Conventional ExM achieves ~70 nm resolution, improving on diffraction limits but not matching STED or STORM.
- Existing super-resolution techniques like STED and STORM offer higher resolution but are technically demanding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To enhance the resolution of expansion microscopy.
- To develop a cost-effective and accessible super-resolution imaging method.
- To achieve nanoscale resolution comparable to advanced techniques using standard equipment.
Main Methods:
- Developed an improved gel recipe for expansion microscopy, termed X10 microscopy.
- Achieved an expansion factor of approximately 10× in each dimension.
- Utilized conventional epifluorescence microscopes for imaging.
Main Results:
- X10 microscopy enables a ~1,000-fold increase in sample volume.
- Attained a super-resolution of 25-30 nm.
- Produced multi-color images comparable or superior to STED, STORM, and iExM.
Conclusions:
- X10 microscopy provides high-quality super-resolution imaging with significantly improved resolution over conventional ExM.
- This technique offers a cheaper, easier, and more accessible alternative to existing super-resolution methods.
- X10 microscopy is suitable for any laboratory, regardless of equipment or technical expertise.
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