Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Imaging dendritic spines in the hippocampus of a living mouse by 3D-STED microscopy

Researchers extended 3D STED super-resolution microscopy to image dendritic spines in the hippocampus of living mice, achieving nanoscale resolution in three dimensions within deep brain tissue and opening new possibilities for studying synaptic structures in vivo.

2023
Article Tier 2

In vivo super-resolution of the brain – How to visualize the hidden nanoplasticity?

Researchers reviewed how super-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques — which allow scientists to image structures smaller than what conventional light microscopes can resolve — are being used to study the nanoscale structure and plasticity of brain synapses in living mice. These imaging advances help reveal how tiny changes in brain connections relate to learning and memory, using "nanoplasticity" in its neurological sense rather than as a reference to plastic pollution.

2022 iScience 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Stable but not rigid: Chronic in vivo STED nanoscopy reveals extensive remodeling of spines, indicating multiple drivers of plasticity

Researchers used chronic in vivo STED nanoscopy to track dendritic spine geometry in mouse neocortex over one month, finding that spine heads and necks undergo extensive, largely uncorrelated remodeling even without induced plasticity. The results indicate that multiple independent mechanisms drive spine structural dynamics beyond LTP-dependent pathways.

2021 Science Advances 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Cortex-Wide, Cellular-Resolution Volumetric Imaging with a Modular Two-Photon Imaging Platform

This paper presents Meso2P, a new two-photon microscope capable of imaging the entire mouse cortex at single-cell resolution — a significant advance in neuroscience instrumentation. Among its demonstrated applications is the ability to track the distribution of micro- and nanoplastic particles in living brain tissue in real time. While primarily a neuroscience tool, its capacity to visualize nanoplastics in the brain non-invasively could become valuable for directly studying how plastic particles move through and accumulate in neural tissue.

2025 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Correlative spectroscopy and microscopy analysis of micro- and nanoplastics in complex biological matrices

Researchers combined fluorescence, second harmonic generation, and coherent Raman scattering microscopy in a single instrument to image micro- and nanoplastics in lung cells, zebrafish, and mouse tissues. Polystyrene nanoplastics crossed the blood-brain barrier and accumulated in lipid-rich brain regions in mouse models.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Correlative spectroscopy and microscopy analysis of micro- and nanoplastics in complex biological matrices

Researchers combined fluorescence microscopy, second harmonic generation imaging, and coherent Raman scattering to detect and map micro- and nanoplastics in lung cells, zebrafish, and mouse tissues. Polystyrene nanoplastics were found to cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in lipid-rich brain regions in animal models.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Environmental enrichment enhances patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture revealed by STED nanoscopy

This neuroscience study used STED super-resolution microscopy to show that environmental enrichment enhances the size and structural complexity of synapses in the brain. It is a basic neuroscience paper not related to microplastics or environmental plastic pollution.

2020 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Whole-Tissue Distribution Analysis for Visualization of Nanoplastics in the Mouse Brain

Researchers used whole-tissue clearing combined with fluorescence microscopy to visualize the three-dimensional distribution of nanoplastics throughout intact mouse brains without sectioning. This approach revealed nanoplastic accumulation patterns across brain regions that section-based imaging would have missed, demonstrating a valuable method for mapping nanoplastic biodistribution in structurally complex organs.

2025
Article Tier 2

Single-Particle Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy of Nanoplastics

Researchers developed a super-resolution fluorescence microscopy technique that enables single-particle detection and precise localization of nanoplastics in biological tissues and environmental samples. This advancement addresses a major limitation in nanoplastic research, as conventional microscopy lacks the resolution to distinguish individual nanoplastics from background fluorescence or free dye.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology 74 citations
Article Tier 2

Author response: Environmental enrichment enhances patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture as revealed by STED nanoscopy

Researchers developed a virtually crosstalk-free two-color in vivo STED nanoscopy system to simultaneously superresolve PSD95 post-synaptic density dynamics and spine geometry in the mouse cortex, finding that environmental enrichment enhanced the patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture in ways not detectable by conventional microscopy.

2022
Article Tier 2

Fluorescence radial fluctuation enables two-photon super-resolution microscopy

Researchers applied super-resolution radial fluctuation analysis to two-photon microscopy to achieve high-resolution imaging deep within brain tissue. The technique achieved spatial resolution comparable to structured illumination microscopy at depths of several hundred micrometers and enabled the first in vivo super-resolution imaging of the fifth layer of the cerebral cortex, offering an accessible upgrade for existing two-photon microscope systems.

2023 Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental enrichment enhances patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture as revealed by STED nanoscopy

Researchers used STED nanoscopy to reveal that environmental enrichment enhances the patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture in the brain, demonstrating experience-dependent structural plasticity at an unprecedented nanoscale resolution.

2022 eLife 27 citations
Commentary Tier 3

Editorial: 15 years of Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience: super-resolution microscopy in the healthy and the injured brain

This editorial introduces a research collection on super-resolution microscopy techniques applied to the healthy and injured brain, highlighting how methods that surpass the diffraction limit of classical fluorescence microscopy are revealing new insights into synaptic organization and cellular pathology. The collection covers advances in both imaging hardware and computational image analysis relevant to neuroscience research.

2024 Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
Article Tier 2

A quantitative study of nanoplastics within cells using magnetic resonance imaging

Researchers developed a magnetic resonance imaging strategy to quantify nanoplastics internalized by mouse macrophage cells, providing a novel non-invasive approach for tracking nanoplastic uptake and distribution within living organisms.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 11 citations
Article Tier 2

White matter hyperintensities and microplastics

Researchers aligned ante-mortem and post-mortem brain MRI scans and found large amounts of plastic particles in brain regions showing white matter hyperintensities, which are associated with small vessel disease. Using a novel optical imaging approach, they identified the cellular locations of these plastics in areas with vascular injury and amyloid plaques. The study raises important questions about whether microplastics in the brain contribute to or result from pre-existing vascular damage in people with cognitive impairment.

2024 3 citations
Article Tier 2

3D differential interference contrast microscopy using polarisation‐sensitive tomographic diffraction microscopy

Researchers developed a 3D differential interference contrast microscopy technique using tomographic diffraction microscopy to image unlabeled biological and environmental samples at high resolution — with applications for visualizing microplastics in cells and tissues.

2022 Journal of Microscopy 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Fast detection and 3D imaging of nanoplastics and microplastics by stimulated Raman scattering microscopy

Researchers developed a fast imaging technique using stimulated Raman scattering microscopy to detect and create 3D maps of nanoplastics and microplastics at the single-particle level. The method can identify plastic particles as small as 100 nanometers and distinguish between different polymer types without the need for dyes or labels. This technology could help scientists more accurately track tiny plastic particles in environmental and biological samples.

2023 Cell Reports Physical Science 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics block blood flow in the brain, mouse study reveals

A mouse study using real-time imaging found that cells stuffed with microplastics can form clumps that block blood flow in the brain, affecting the animals' ability to move. This research raises concerns about potential neurological effects of microplastic accumulation in the bodies of mammals.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics
Article Tier 2

Accumulation of nanoplastics in human cells as visualized and quantified by hyperspectral imaging with enhanced dark-field microscopy

Researchers developed a label-free imaging technique to visualize and count nanoplastic particles that accumulate inside human cells, using enhanced dark-field microscopy combined with hyperspectral imaging. The method successfully tracked polystyrene nanoplastics entering cells over time and measured accumulation rates without needing fluorescent labels. This tool could improve the accuracy of future studies assessing how nanoplastics build up in human tissue and what concentration levels may pose health risks.

2023 Environment International 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Imaging and quantifying the biological uptake and distribution of nanoplastics using a dual-functional model material

Researchers developed a dual-functional nanoplastic model material that allows both imaging and precise quantification of nanoplastic uptake in biological systems. Using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, they could track where nanoplastics accumulated in organisms at high resolution. The tool addresses a major gap in nanoplastic research by enabling more accurate measurement of how these tiny particles interact with living tissues.

2024 2 citations