Newsletter Spring 2023

CryoFM is becoming more and more popular in the field of correlative light and electron microscopy (CryoCLEM, Fig. 1). Localization of some transient or rare cellular structures or phenotypes directly in electron microscope can be difficult and time-consuming. To overcome this problem, the structure of interest can be labeled with fluorescent markers, localized in cryoFM, and examined with cryoEM. This technique thus allows scientists to combine both, molecular specificity and ultrastructure in the near-native state while avoiding several artifacts induced by traditional chemical fixation.

Another promising application can be found in the research of photosystems I a II (PSI and PSII) in photosynthetic organisms. To this date, the quantification of relative abundance of PSI to PSII was mainly determined in a cuvette with cryo-spectroscopy, as spectrally distinguishable auto-fluorescence of PSI and PSII is quenched at room temperature. Cryo-fluorescence microscopy with spectrally tunable detection extends this approach by providing a valuable information on spatial distribution of the PSI and PSII specific signals with sub-cellular resolution (Fig. 2), which enables to get deeper understanding on physiology of switching between PSI and PSII photosynthetic routes.

If you find cryoFM useful for your research, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at imcf@natur.cuni.cz. For more information, you may visit our website https://imcf.natur.cuni.cz/ or follow us on Twitter @IMCF_BIOCEV.

We conducted a 30-year follow-up of prenatal birth cohort with a within-subject design neuroimaging component in young adulthood and evaluated the relationship between exposure to maternal depression in utero and offspring brain age in the third decade of life and the role of recent stressful life events as potential moderators of this relationship. Thanks to the Multimodal and Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory (MAFIL) at CEITEC, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, we acquired MRI data at two timepoints - in the early 20s and late 20s - and calculated the gap between estimated neuroanatomical vs. chronological age at each MRI session (BrainAGE) as well as the pace of aging between the two MRI sessions. Greater maternal depression during pregnancy predicted larger BrainAGE in both the early and late 20s and the stability of the relationships was also supported by the lack of interactions with recent stress. In contrast, more recent stress was associated with greater pace of aging between the two MRI sessions.

Association of maternal depression during pregnancy and recent stress with brain age among adult offspring
Klara Mareckova, Radek Marecek, Martin Jani, Lenka Zackova, Lenka Andryskova, Milan Brazdil, Yuliya S. Nikolova, JAMA Network Open, 2023, 6(1).
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.54581