Göttingen: Professor Silvio Rizzoli and Dr. Ali Shaib have introduced a breakthrough method, One-step Nanoscale Expansion (ONE) Microscopy, making it possible to see protein structures at near-atomic resolution with standard laboratory equipment. Their approach is redefining molecular imaging, once reserved for million-dollar machines.
The project began in 2020 when Shaib joined Rizzoli’s lab at the University Medical Center Göttingen. Building on earlier work in expansion microscopy, the team combined tissue expansion with fluorescence fluctuation analysis powered by artificial intelligence. This allowed them to map the shape of single proteins at resolutions close to 1 nanometer. The results, published in Nature Biotechnology, were hailed as a turning point for structural biology.
With ONE Microscopy, proteins such as antibodies, which usually appear as indistinct dots, are revealed in precise detail. The method is available through a software platform built as a plugin for ImageJ, offering researchers a tool that is low-cost and easy to use.
Rizzoli’s early experiences with limited laboratory resources in Romania and Shaib’s challenges in accessing high-end microscopes in Lebanon fueled their shared goal of making imaging affordable and accessible. Their work is already extending into diagnostic applications. Early studies are underway in Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer research, with the potential to transform hospital-based diagnostics.
The researchers are also developing training programs to help laboratories worldwide adopt the method. Their vision is clear: to remove barriers in science and bring nanoscale resolution to all.
Profile written by Dr. Rebecca Pool for Analytical Science.
