High-resolution fluorescence lifetime and infrared spectroscopic characterization of pathogenic retinal pigment epithelium cell organelles (HiResi4RPE)

We combine high resolution Image scanning Microscopy with Fluorescence lifetime Imaging (ISM-FLIM) to study major alterations in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in the context of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a condition which underlying chemistry is not fully understood. RPE granules will be examined using Structured Illumination Mircoscopy (SIM) for further classification. Moreover, the high-resolution fluorescence microscopy of RPE cells and autofluorescent RPE granules will be supported by chemnical characterization using mid-IR Photo-induced Force Microscopy (PiF-IR), a promising method that combines an unprecedented nanoscale spatial resolution with a high spectral resolution. Retinal materials are obtained from or collaborators at the University Hospital Jena.

This project is funded by the by German Reseach Foundation (DFG) and aims to examine the pathogenic inception of AMD HiResi4RPE 542825796.

People working on the project: Daniela Täuber [Rainer Heintzmann] [Maryam Ali] [Sicheng Tian]