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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Imaging Centrosomes in Fly Testes

Imaging Centrosomes in Fly Testes

Published on: September 20, 2013

Visualizing Drosophila centrioles by expansion microscopy.

Emma Burns¹, Anastasia Amoiroglou², Carey J Fagerstrom¹

¹Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.

Journal of Cell Science

|December 5, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Expansion Microscopy (ExM) reveals new insights into Drosophila centriole duplication and structure. This accessible technique visualizes pro-centriole behavior and refines molecular models for centriole capping and the centriole-nucleus contact site.

Keywords:

Drosophila Centriole Expansion microscopy Procentriole

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Area of Science:

Cell Biology
Microscopy Techniques
Developmental Biology

Background:

Drosophila centriole biology presents challenges due to small size.
Super-resolution microscopy offers insights but requires specialized equipment.
Expansion Microscopy (ExM) is an accessible alternative with limited application in Drosophila centriole research.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and apply an Expansion Microscopy (ExM) protocol for Drosophila centriole research.
To gain new insights into pro-centriole biology, centriole duplication, and molecular organization.
To demonstrate ExM's utility as a hypothesis-generating tool beyond Drosophila centrioles.

Main Methods:

Developed and implemented an Expansion Microscopy (ExM) protocol for cultured Drosophila S2 cells and fly tissues.
Utilized ExM to visualize pro-centriole duplication, centriole structure, and protein localization.
Applied the ExM protocol to image synaptonemal complexes in Plodia interpunctella moth.

Main Results:

Documented centriole overduplication as "rosettes" in S2 cells.
Uncovered unexpected movement of the pro-centriole-like structure (PCL) in spermatids.
Refined molecular models by visualizing Cep97 as a ring, spatially segregating Spag4 and Yuri, and proposing independent roles at the centriole-nucleus contact site.
Successfully applied ExM to image synaptonemal complexes in a moth species.

Conclusions:

ExM provides an accessible and powerful method for studying Drosophila centriole biology.
The ExM protocol reveals novel aspects of pro-centriole formation, duplication, and molecular organization.
ExM serves as a versatile tool for biological discovery across different organisms and structures.