PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Xiaoyu Shi
AU  - Qi Li
AU  - Zhipeng Dai
AU  - Arthur A. Tran
AU  - Siyu Feng
AU  - Alejandro D. Ramirez
AU  - Zixi Lin
AU  - Xiaomeng Wang
AU  - Tracy T. Chow
AU  - Ian B. Seiple
AU  - Bo Huang
TI  - Label-retention expansion microscopy
AID  - 10.1101/687954
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 687954
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/07/02/687954.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/07/02/687954.full
AB  - Expansion microscopy (ExM) improves the resolution of fluorescence microscopy by physically expanding the sample embedded in a hydrogel1–4. Since its invention, ExM has been successfully applied to a wide range of cell, tissue and animal samples 2–9. Still, fluorescence signal loss during polymerization and digestion limits molecular-scale imaging using ExM. Here we report the development of label-retention ExM (LR-ExM) with a set of trifunctional anchors that not only prevent signal loss but also enable high-efficiency protein labeling using enzymatic tags. We have demonstrated multicolor LR-ExM for a variety of subcellular structures. Combining LR-ExM with super-resolution Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM), we have achieved 5 nm resolution in the visualization of polyhedral lattice of clathrin-coated pits in situ.