Single Molecule Biophotonics

Our research focuses on the development of advanced optical techniques to the study of biological processes at the single molecular level on living cells. We focus on the development and application of different forms of super-resolution microscopy (STED, STORM, NSOM) as well as photonic antennas to reach spatial resolutions around 10nm on intact cells. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in ultraconfined volumes, and multi-color single particle tracking are exploited to gain access to dynamic processes down to the microsecond time resolution. Using these combined approaches, we aim at understanding how spatiotemporal compartmentalization of biomolecules inside cells regulates and control cell function. This fundamental question has important implications for health and disease, touching the fields of cell biology and immunology.

We are hiring: Positions at Master-thesis, PhD- and Postdoctoral level available, within the framework of the “Advanced ERC Grant: Membrane-based nano-mechanobiology: role of mechanical forces in remodeling the spatiotemporal nanoarchitecture of the plasma membrane.” Please contact Prof. Dr. Maria Garcia-Parajo for further information.

• Prof. Carl G. Figdor, Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences (NCMLS), Nijmegen (The Netherlands).
• Dr. Alessandra Cambi, Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences (NCMLS), Nijmegen (The Netherlands)
• Prof. Peter Hinterdorfer, Biophysics Institute, Johannes Kepler University, Linz (Austria).
• Prof. Vincenzo Cerundolo, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford (UK).
• Prof. Jürgen Brugger, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland).
• Prof. Hervé Rigneault, Institut Fresnel, Marseille (France).
• Prof. Niek van Hulst, Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO), Barcelona (Spain).

• ICREA – Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
• AGAUR – Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca. 2017 SGR 1000
• MINECO: Parallelized multicolour photonic nano-antennas for high throughput nanoscale dynamics in living cell membranes. FIS2017-89560-R
• ERC: Advanced grant 2017: Membrane-based nano-mechanobiology: Role of mechanical forces in remodelling the spatiotemporal nanoarchitecture of the plasma membrane.
• BIST: Role of nuclear phase separation in gene regulation and chromatin architecture
• FP7-ICT-2011-7 - NANO-VISTA – Advanced photonic antenna tools for biosensing and cellular nanoimaging (coordinator)

• Combined single molecule sensitive confocal/near-field optical microscope (NSOM) fully adapted for biological imaging in physiological conditions.
• Single-molecule-detection-sensitive scanning confocal microscopy: imaging, polarization, and wavelength sensitive.
• Dual-color wide-field/TIRF fluorescence microscopy equipped with dual color detection (EM-CCD camera) and environmental chamber for live cell experiments.
• Multi-parametric single-molecule confocal (Microtime 200) combined with epi-TIRF excitation and dual color detection (EM-CCD camera). Fully adapted for live cell experiments.
• Lasers: ps-diode-lasers, Ar/Kr+, several HeNe, etc.
• State-of-art biochemical and cell culture Lab.