iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

jorgetoledoh @jorgetoledoh.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

(5/5) All from a single ATTO643-NHS ester whole-proteome post-expansion stain — no antibodies, just conventional fluorescence microscope. In my books, this structural resolution belonged to electron microscopy. It seems that not anymore! Thanks to Markus, Ignacio and all the co-authors 🙌

000

jorgetoledoh @jorgetoledoh.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

(4/5) Because these mitochondria sit right next to the nucleus, nuclear pore complexes also show up along the nuclear envelope 😍 And if you look closely, the mitochondria are connected by some nanotunnels / extensions! Check the Fig. 6 for more details 🤭 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

Structural cell biology by mega-expansion microscopy

Structural characterization of macromolecular assemblies within intact cells remains one of the central challenges in cell biology. While cryo-electron tomography provides unparalleled structural info...

110

jorgetoledoh @jorgetoledoh.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

(3/5) Now, it is my honour to share with you one of my favorite z-stacks from Mega-ExM so far (video): individual mitochondria in a neuron with their cristae resolved, using a 10x air lens. The imaged volume is 1.27 mm × 1.27 mm × 0.224 mm (≈ 5 × 5 × 0.9 µm before expansion, ~250× linear).

100

jorgetoledoh @jorgetoledoh.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

(2/5) 7-years journed collaborating in super-resolution microscopy. Fast forward to last year, just about when I joined the University of Aysén in Coyhaique (which, funny enough, is Ignacio's hometown), he contacted me to ask for help on how to make some sense on these insanely-expanded samples.

100

jorgetoledoh @jorgetoledoh.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

(1/5) Individual mitochondrial cristae with a 10X air lens 🤯 I am very happy to be a co-author on Mega-ExM! Driven by @igvegvas.bsky.social at @sauer-lab.bsky.social . It is really exciting to see how far Ignacio has pushed the technique since we learned it together back in 2019.

141

Reposted by jorgetoledoh

Ignacio Vega-Vásquez @igvegvas.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

(4/4) Mega-ExM starts to bring ultrastructural detail in cells toward what was previously limited to cryo-ET, while keeping fluorescence microscopy flexibility. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Hope you find it interesting—and thanks to everyone involved! #FluorescenceFriday #MegaExM

biorxiv.org

Structural cell biology by mega-expansion microscopy

152

Reposted by jorgetoledoh

Ignacio Vega-Vásquez @igvegvas.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

(1/4) We are very excited to share our latest preprint from @sauer-lab.bsky.social: Mega Expansion Microscopy (Mega-ExM)! We combine iterative hydrogel expansion with whole-proteome NHS labeling and post-expansion immunostaining, reaching tunable expansion factors up to ~1500× in whole cells 🤯

34718