Olympus' Cell Frap module for the Xcellence live cell-imaging and manipulation system enables users to perform fluorescence recovery after photo-bleaching (FRAP).
It can also be used following inverse FRAP (iFRAP), fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP) and fluorescence loss after photobleaching (FLAP) experiments.
The Cell Frap system is also suitable for more advanced processes such as photo-conversion, photo-activation, pattern bleaching, laser cutting and trapping.
The module includes its own dedicated laser system and light path, allowing truly simultaneous imaging and photo-manipulation.
These advanced techniques are made easy to control using the intuitive Xcellence software interface.
The Cell Frap module is introduced into the microscope via a dedicated light-path and can incorporate two separate laser lines or a laser combiner.
This enables simultaneous imaging and photo-manipulation, providing full integration of FRAP with epi-fluorescence, TIRFM and spinning disk confocal microscopy.
The system offers high speed and precision by scanning just the region of interest, achieving a rate of bleaching up to 10 times faster than standard methods and allowing multiple discrete areas within the same frame to be bleached very quickly.
This facilitates the rapid carrying out of experiments and makes it possible to design complex protocols that investigate multiple regions of interest.
In addition, intelligent hardware-based synchronisation allows usec switching between bleaching and imaging, meaning that initial frames can be acquired as early as 150usec after the FRAP experiment ends, providing accurate quantitative data as well as high-quality images.
Fully controlled via the software, basic FRAP, FLIP and photo-switching techniques can be completed at the click of button.
The 'fire on click' feature enables manual triggering of the FRAP laser using the mouse during time-lapse acquisition.
More complex analyses, such as utilising the pattern bleaching mode, can be configured easily using the intuitive interface.
The refraction-limited spot size of the laser enables the precise and accurate bleaching of very small structures.
This setup also allows the use of pulsed lasers to cut cellular components while simultaneously viewing the specimen, providing the capability to carry out powerful functional analyses.
