CeNS Colloquium

Prof. Andrew D. Rutenberg
Department of Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax

I will present a novel technique for quantifying the cellular copy-number of fluorophores that relies on the random nature of the photobleaching process. Our approach does not require single-molecule sensitivity, and therefore can be used with commonly used epifluorescence microscopes.   Fluctuations arising from photobleaching are used to estimate the proportionality between fluorescence intensity and copy-number, which can then be used with subsequent intensity measurements to estimate copy-number. Significantly, we also calculate and verify the statistical errors of our approach.  Our approach is straight-forward, and it can be applied to immobile fluorophores since it does not require cellular division. I will discuss limitations of our quantification technique, ongoing experimental tests, and possible extensions.