NanoSIMS Imaging of the Brain in Health and Disease

Brain function is intimately bound to the function of the synapses, small contact sites between neurons that enable the transfer of information. Synapse dysfunction is at the root of most brain diseases, and therefore a holistic understanding of synapse function has been the “holy grail” of neuroscience for decades. The Center for Biostructural Imaging of Neurodegeneration, Göttingen University, analyzes synapses by combining advanced imaging techniques in the optical domain with conventional mass spectrometry, electron microscopy and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS).

In this webinar, Silvio Rizzoli will review recent findings made possible by NanoSIMS. In the last decade, Prof. Rizzoli and his co-investigators could derive a thorough understanding of the dynamics of synapses over long time periods, in a fashion that could not be even approached without NanoSIMS imaging. They also successfully applied SIMS-based analysis to small brain-regulating drugs.

According to Prof. Rizzoli, NanoSIMS is a promising tool for biomedical research, which has been exploited far too little.