Difference between revisions of "Optical Microscopy Part 4: Particle Tracking"

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In this part of the lab, you will investigate how a drug called cytochalasin D (CytoD) affects the structure and rheological properties of fibroblast cells. Immunofluorescent staining will be used to make the actin cytoskeleton of fibroblast cells visible. You will compare the structure of cells that have been treated with CytoD with that of untreated cells. In the next part of the procedure, you will measure how CytoD treatment affects the microrheological properties of cells. You will track small, fluorescent microspheres inside of the cells for several minutes. Using the particle tracks, you will calculate the frequency-dependent storage and loss moduli of the environment inside the cells.
+
In this part of the lab, you will follow microscopic objects throughout a series of movie frames: small, fluorescent microspheres first diffusing in purely viscous solutions of glycerol-water, and next moving in fibroblast cells after endocytosis.
 +
Calculating the mean squared displacement of their motion as a function of time interval will allow you to characterize their physical environment and behavior, first in terms of diffusivity and viscosity coefficients of the glycerol-water mixtures, next recognizing other material or transport properties in fibroblast cells.
  
* Read background references
+
==Contextual background==
** [[Cellular microrheology]]
+
===Background references===
 +
** R. Newburgh, [http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapt/journal/ajp/74/6/10.1119/1.2188962 Einstein, Perrin, and the reality of atoms: 1905 revisited], Am. J. Phys. (2006). A modern replication of Perrin's experiment. Has a good, concise appendix with both the Einstein and Langevin derivations.
 +
** A. Einstein, On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in Liquids at Rest Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat, Annalen der Physik (1905).
 +
** M. Haw, [http://stacks.iop.org/JPhysCM/14/7769 Colloidal suspensions, Brownian motion, molecular reality: a short history], J. Phys. Condens. Matter (2002).
 +
** E. Frey and K. Kroy, [http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cond-mat/pdf/0502/0502602v1.pdf Brownian motion: a paradigm of soft matter and biological physics], Ann. Phys. (2005).
 +
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAdxd2Iv-UA Random Force & Brownian Motion — 60 Symbols]
  
==Instructions==
+
===Brownian motion===
 +
This section was adapted from http://labs.physics.berkeley.edu/mediawiki/index.php/Brownian_Motion_in_Cells.
  
===Actin imaging===
+
If you have ever looked at an aqueous sample through a microscope, you have probably noticed that every small particle you see wiggles about continuously. Robert Brown, a British botanist, was not the first person to observe these motions, but perhaps the first person to recognize the significance of this observation. Experiments quickly established the basic features of these movements. Among other things, the magnitude of the fluctuations depended on the size of the particle, and there was no difference between "live" objects, such as plant pollen, and things such as rock dust. Apparently, finely crushed pieces of an Egyptian mummy also displayed these fluctuations.
  
The mushroom toxin phalloidin binds to polymerized filamentous actin (F-actin) much more tightly than to actin monomers (G-actin), and stabilizes actin filaments by preventing their depolymerization.  You will take advantage of this strong affinity between phalloidin and F-actin to image the cell's actin cytoskeleton.  Phalloidin conjugated with the fluorescent dye Alexa Fluor 568 will be introduced in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts.
+
Brown noted: ''[The movements] arose neither from currents in the fluid, nor from its gradual evaporation, but belonged to the particle itself''.  
  
{|class="wikitable"
+
This effect may have remained a curiosity had it not been for A. Einstein and M. Smoluchowski. They realized that these particle movements made perfect sense in the context of the then developing kinetic theory of fluids. If matter is composed of atoms that collide frequently with other atoms, they reasoned, then even relatively large objects such as pollen grains would exhibit random movements. This last sentence contains the ingredients for several Nobel prizes!
|width="200"|[[File: 20.309 130904 PhalloidinActin.png|200px]]
+
|width="250"|[[File: Alexa568.jpg|250px]]
+
|-
+
|Example of a 3T3 cell labeled with rhodamine phalloidin
+
|Excitation and emission spectra for Alexa Fluor 568
+
|}
+
  
By comparing Alexa Fluor phalloidin-stained untreated cells and CytoD-treated cells, you will observe and quantify the effet CytoD has on the actin stress fiber network. Cytochalasin D is also a mycotoxin, but contrary to phalloidin, it poisons the cell by strongly inhibiting actin polymerization.
+
Indeed, Einstein's interpretation of Brownian motion as the outcome of continuous bombardment by atoms immediately suggested a direct test of the atomic theory of matter. Perrin received the 1926 Nobel Prize for validating Einstein's predictions, thus confirming the atomic theory of matter.  
  
{{Template:Safety Warning|message=Wear gloves when you are handling biological samples.}}
+
Since then, the field has exploded, and a thorough understanding of Brownian motion is essential for everything from polymer physics to biophysics, aerodynamics, and statistical mechanics. One of the aims of this lab is to directly reproduce the experiments of J. Perrin that lead to his Nobel Prize. A translation of the key work is included in the reprints folder. Have a look – he used latex spheres, and we will use polystyrene spheres, but otherwise the experiments will be identical. In addition to reproducing Perrin's results, you will probe further by looking at the effect of varying solvent molecule size.
  
====Procedures for fixing and labeling cells====
+
===Diffusion coefficient of microspheres in suspension===
 +
According to theory,<ref>A. Einstein, [http://www.math.princeton.edu/~mcmillen/molbio/papers/Einstein_diffusion1905.pdf On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in Liquids at Rest Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat], Annalen der Physik (1905).</ref><ref>E. Frey and K. Kroy, [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/109884431/ Brownian motion: a paradigm of soft matter and biological physics], Ann. Phys. (2005). Published on the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s paper, this reference chronicles the history of Brownian motion from 1905 to the present.</ref><ref>R. Newburgh, [http://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/AJPIAS-ft/vol_74/iss_6/478_1.html Einstein, Perrin, and the reality of atoms: 1905 revisited], Am. J. Phys. (2006). A modern replication of Perrin's experiment. Has a good, concise appendix with both the Einstein and Langevin derivations.</ref><ref>M. Haw, [http://stacks.iop.org/JPhysCM/14/7769 Colloidal suspensions, Brownian motion, molecular reality: a short history], J. Phys. Condens. Matter (2002).</ref> the mean squared displacement of a suspended particle is proportional to the time interval as: <math>\left \langle {\left | \vec r(t+\tau)-\vec r(t) \right \vert}^2 \right \rangle=2Dd\tau</math>, where <i>r</i>(<i>t</i>) = position, <i>d</i> = number of dimensions, <i>D</i> = diffusion coefficient, and <math>\tau</math>= time interval.
  
You will be given two plates of cells (35 mm MatTek glass-bottom dishes equipped with coverslip suited for optical microscopy studies).
+
==Instructions==
* one dish will be left untreated, and then fixed and labeled with phalloidin;
+
* the second dish will be first treated with CytoD, and then fixed and labeled with phalloidin.
+
  
<u>Dish 1</u>
+
===Estimating the diffusion coefficient by tracking suspended microspheres===
  
Below is the protocol to stain NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells with Alexa Fluor 568 phalloidin:
+
[[Image: 20.309_130924_GlycerolChamber.png|right|thumb|200px|Imaging chamber for fluorescent microspheres diffusing in water:glycerol mixtures]]
* Start with cells about 60% confluent. This is about the optimum percentage of cell population. If cells are too crowded, they will not stretch properly and show their beautiful actin filaments. Note also that these cells remain alive until the addition of formaldehyde, therefore requiring that any buffer/media added be pre-warmed.
+
1. Track some 0.84&mu;m Nile Red Spherotech polystyrene beads in water-glycerin mixtures (Samples A, B and C contain 0%, 30% and 50% glycerin, respectively).
  
# Pre-warm 3.7% formaldehyde solution, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) and phosphate buffered saline at pH 7.4 (PBS) in a 37&deg;C water bath. Keep the formaldehyde wrapped in foil to protect from light.
+
:''Notes'': Fluorescent microspheres have been mixed for you by the instructors into water-glycerin solutions A, B, C, and D. (a) Vortex the stock Falcon tube, and then (b) transfer the bead suspension into its imaging chamber (consisting of a microscope slide, double-sided tape delimiting a 2-mm channel, and a 22x40mm No. 1.5 coverslip, and sealed at both ends nail polish).
# Retrieve an aliquot of cytochalasin D from the freezer and warm it in the water bath to 37&deg;C.
+
# After you get your dishes from the instructor, first remove the medium with a pipette and wash the dish 2X with 2 mL of pre-warmed PBS. Pipet up and down into the dish gently to avoid washing away cells.
+
# Carefully pipet 400 μL of 3.7% formaldehyde solution onto the cells in the central glass region of the dish and incubate for 10 minutes at room temperature. This "fixes" the cells, ''i.e.'' cross-links the intracellular proteins and freezes the cell structure.
+
# Wash the cells 3X with 2 mL PBS (note that this PBS solution no longer needs to be pre-warmed as the cells are dead).
+
# Extract the dish with 2 mL 0.1% Triton X-100 (a detergent) for 3-5 minutes. (Extraction refers to the partially dissolution of the plasma membrane of the cell.)
+
# Wash the cells 3X with 2 mL PBS.
+
# Incubate the fixed cells with 2 mL 1% BSA in PBS for 20 minutes. (BSA blocks the nonspecific binding sites.)
+
# Wash the cells 2X with PBS.
+
# Add 200 μL of Alexa Fluor 568 phalloidin solution (pre-mixed in methanol and PBS). Carefully pipet this just onto the center of the dish, cover with aluminum foil, and incubate for 45 minutes at room temperature.
+
# Wash 3X with PBS.
+
# You can now store the sample at +4&deg;C (regular refrigerator) in PBS for a few days, wrapped in parafilm and foil. It can also be stored in mounting medium for up to 1 year.
+
  
<u>Dish 2</u>
+
:''Tip'': Do not choose to monitor particles that remain stably in focus: these are likely to be 'sitting on the coverslip' and their motion will not be representative of diffusion in the viscous water-glycerol fluid.
* By a very similar procedure, also prepare cells treated with cytochalasin D (CytoD):  
+
:0. Before adding the formaldehyde, add 1 mL of the pre-warmed 10 μM CytoD solution to the second cell culture dish and incubate at 37&deg;C for 20 minutes. Afterwards, wash 2X with DMEM++.
+
  
====Visualizing the actin cytoskeleton under your 20.309 microscope====
+
2. Estimate the diffusion coefficient of these samples: MSD = <math>\left \langle {\left | \vec r(t+\tau)-\vec r(t) \right \vert}^2 \right \rangle=2Dd\tau</math>, where <i>r</i>(<i>t</i>) = position, <i>d</i> = number of dimensions, <i>D</i> = diffusion coefficient, and <math>\tau</math>= time interval. Use Sample A to verify that your algorithm correctly calculates the viscosity of water at the lab temperature (check the temperature on the clock on the wall or by other means).
 +
:* '''Consider how many particles you should track and for how long. What is the uncertainty in your estimate?'''
 +
:* '''From the viscosity calculation, estimate the glycerin/water weight ratio.''' (This [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12957607/Viscosity%20of%20Aqueous%20Glycerine%20Solutions.pdf chart] is a useful reference.)
 +
:* See: [http://labs.physics.berkeley.edu/mediawiki/index.php/Simulating_Brownian_Motion this page] for more discussion of Brownian motion and a Matlab simulation.
  
Since actin filaments and stress fibers are nanometer-scale objects, they are much dimmer than fluorescent
 
beads or the dye solution - care must be taken to get good images of the cytoskeleton. You may
 
need to cover the microscope to reduce room light contamination.
 
  
# Adjust the gain and exposure of the camera to get the best picture. Be sure to keep the same exposure conditions, however, for both untreated and CytoD-treated cells.
+
===Live cell particle tracking of endocytosed beads===
# Using the 40x objective, take some good fluorescence images of Alexa Fluor phalloidin-labeled cells, both untreated (Dish 1) and CytoD-treated (Dish 2).
+
  
===Live cell microrheology by particle traking===
+
We can also use particle tracking to probe cell samples. 0.84 μm diameter red fluorescent microspheres were mixed with the growth medium and added to the plated cells for a period of 12 to 24 hours for bead endocytosis.
  
Now that you have verified microscope stability and performance through the [[Optical Microscopy Part 3a: Particle Tracking|particle tracking lab]], you can apply its methods on cell samples. A key technique to keep in mind when working with live cells - to avoid shocking them with "cold" at 20°C - is to be sure that any solutions you add are pre-warmed to 37°C. We will keep a warm-water bath running for this purpose, in which we will keep the various media.
+
You will be given two plates of cells for these experiments:
 +
* <u>Dish 1</u> will be used to monitor particles in untreated cells, while
 +
* <u>Dish 2</u> will be reserved to track microspheres after adding CytoD.
  
[[File: 3T3.PNG|thumb|200px|3T3 Swiss Albino]]
+
# Pre-warm your DMEM++ and CytoD to 37&deg;C
You are provided with NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, which were prepared as follows:
+
# Carefully pipet out the medium from Dish 1. Gently rinse with 1mL of medium 2X to remove beads that were not endocytosed. Then, place 2 mL of fresh medium in dish.
Cells were cultured at 37°C in 5% CO<math>_2</math> in standard T75 flasks in a medium referred to as DMEM++. This consists of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM - Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS - Invitrogen) and 1% of the antibiotic penicillin-streptomycin (Invitrogen). The day prior to the microrheology experiments, fibroblasts were plated on 35 mm glass-bottom
+
# Choose cells in Dish 1 with 3 or 4 particles embedded in them and capture movies of the samples. Take as many movies as you can with about 3-5 cells in the field of view in each movie. Make sure to do this quickly, as the cells become unhealthy without the temperature and carbon dioxide regulation.
cell culture dishes (MatTek). On the day of the experiments, the cell confluency should reach about 60%. 1 μm diameter red fluorescent microspheres (Corpuscular) were mixed with the growth medium (at a concentration of 5 x 10<math>^5</math> beads/mL) and added to the plated cells for a period of 12 to 24 hours for bead endocytosis.  
+
# Next, carefully pipet out the medium in Dish 2. Gently rinse with 1mL of medium 2X to remove beads that were not endocytosed.
 +
# Treat the cells in Dish 2 with the cytoskeleton-modifying CytoD: Pipet out remaining medium, add 1 mL pre-warmed CytoD solution at 10 μM (pre-mixed for you) to the dish, and incubate for 20 minutes at 37&deg;C. It's a good idea to check on your cells after 15 minutes: sometimes they are in bad shape at that point but sometimes they still look very healthy. Wash 2X with 2 mL of pre-warmed DMEM++, leaving 2 mL in the dish when imaging.
 +
# Perform and repeat the particle tracking measurements again in Dish 2 as quickly as you are able. It would be good to image the beads in only one cell at a time, since different cells may have different degrees of cytoskeletal disruption. Take as many videos as you can before the cells become sad. The cells' physiology has now been significantly disrupted by the toxin CytoD, and they will die within a couple of hours.
  
====Procedures for preparing live cells for fluorescence microscopy====
+
==Report==
  
* For these experiments <u>Dish 3</u> will be used to monitor particles in untreated cells, while <u>Dish 4</u> will be reserved to track microspheres both before and after adding CytoD.
+
Find and follow all guidelines on the [[Microscopy report outline]] wiki page. Remember that all numerical quantities must be reported with an associated level of uncertainty or significance.
 
+
{{:Optical Microscopy: Part 4 Report Outline}}
# Carefully pipet out the medium from both dishes. Replace with 2 mL of fresh, pre-warmed DMEM++ in each dish.
+
# Choose cells (in either Dish 3 or Dish 4) with 3 or 4 particles embedded in them and capture movies of the samples. Take multiple movies with about 3-5 cells in the field of view in each movie.
+
# In Dish 4, treat the cell with the cytoskeleton-modifying CytoD: Pipet out the medium, add 1 mL pre-warmed CytoD solution at 10 μM (pre-mixed for you) to the dish, and wait for 20-30 minutes. It's a good idea to check on your cells after 20 minutes: sometimes they are in bad shape at that point but sometimes they still look very healthy. Wash 2X with 2 mL of pre-warmed DMEM++, leaving 2 mL in the dish when imaging.
+
# Perform and repeat the particle tracking measurements again in Dish 4 as quickly as you are able. The cells' physiology has now been significantly disrupted by the toxin CytoD, and they will die within a couple of hours. It's very unlikely that you'll be able to find the exact same cells you've already tracked; however it's very much advisable to use the same dish for the "before" and "after" so you're aren't also comparing between different cell populations.
+
 
+
 
+
==Report: Experiments in fibroblast cells==
+
 
+
Report your findings on NIH 3T3 actin visualization and cytoplasm microrheology.
+
* Quantify your investigations of the actin structure.
+
** Use an application such as Matlab to measure observed min/max separation between centers of the actin strands.
+
** Measure min/max observed lengths of actin strands.
+
** Comment on the effect of actin density as it relates to bead size in the microrheology portion.
+
** If you wish, reference your favorite article to compare your images.
+
 
+
* Quantify your investigations of the cytoplasm/cytoskeleton microrheology.
+
** Present your MSD vs sampling time &tau; data in log-log plot form and comment.
+
** Use your MSD vs &tau; data to calculate estimates of G' and G" as described in [[Cellular microrheology]].
+
** Compare your results to the literature provided and/or any other relevant literature.
+
* Comment on/quantify uncertainty. How can you/did you improve it?
+
  
 
{{:Optical microscopy lab wiki pages}}
 
{{:Optical microscopy lab wiki pages}}
  
 +
{{Template:20.309 bottom}}
  
 
+
==References==
{{Template:20.309 bottom}}
+
<references/>

Latest revision as of 01:01, 10 March 2016

20.309: Biological Instrumentation and Measurement

ImageBar 774.jpg


In this part of the lab, you will follow microscopic objects throughout a series of movie frames: small, fluorescent microspheres first diffusing in purely viscous solutions of glycerol-water, and next moving in fibroblast cells after endocytosis. Calculating the mean squared displacement of their motion as a function of time interval will allow you to characterize their physical environment and behavior, first in terms of diffusivity and viscosity coefficients of the glycerol-water mixtures, next recognizing other material or transport properties in fibroblast cells.

Contextual background

Background references

Brownian motion

This section was adapted from http://labs.physics.berkeley.edu/mediawiki/index.php/Brownian_Motion_in_Cells.

If you have ever looked at an aqueous sample through a microscope, you have probably noticed that every small particle you see wiggles about continuously. Robert Brown, a British botanist, was not the first person to observe these motions, but perhaps the first person to recognize the significance of this observation. Experiments quickly established the basic features of these movements. Among other things, the magnitude of the fluctuations depended on the size of the particle, and there was no difference between "live" objects, such as plant pollen, and things such as rock dust. Apparently, finely crushed pieces of an Egyptian mummy also displayed these fluctuations.

Brown noted: [The movements] arose neither from currents in the fluid, nor from its gradual evaporation, but belonged to the particle itself.

This effect may have remained a curiosity had it not been for A. Einstein and M. Smoluchowski. They realized that these particle movements made perfect sense in the context of the then developing kinetic theory of fluids. If matter is composed of atoms that collide frequently with other atoms, they reasoned, then even relatively large objects such as pollen grains would exhibit random movements. This last sentence contains the ingredients for several Nobel prizes!

Indeed, Einstein's interpretation of Brownian motion as the outcome of continuous bombardment by atoms immediately suggested a direct test of the atomic theory of matter. Perrin received the 1926 Nobel Prize for validating Einstein's predictions, thus confirming the atomic theory of matter.

Since then, the field has exploded, and a thorough understanding of Brownian motion is essential for everything from polymer physics to biophysics, aerodynamics, and statistical mechanics. One of the aims of this lab is to directly reproduce the experiments of J. Perrin that lead to his Nobel Prize. A translation of the key work is included in the reprints folder. Have a look – he used latex spheres, and we will use polystyrene spheres, but otherwise the experiments will be identical. In addition to reproducing Perrin's results, you will probe further by looking at the effect of varying solvent molecule size.

Diffusion coefficient of microspheres in suspension

According to theory,[1][2][3][4] the mean squared displacement of a suspended particle is proportional to the time interval as: $ \left \langle {\left | \vec r(t+\tau)-\vec r(t) \right \vert}^2 \right \rangle=2Dd\tau $, where r(t) = position, d = number of dimensions, D = diffusion coefficient, and $ \tau $= time interval.

Instructions

Estimating the diffusion coefficient by tracking suspended microspheres

Imaging chamber for fluorescent microspheres diffusing in water:glycerol mixtures

1. Track some 0.84μm Nile Red Spherotech polystyrene beads in water-glycerin mixtures (Samples A, B and C contain 0%, 30% and 50% glycerin, respectively).

Notes: Fluorescent microspheres have been mixed for you by the instructors into water-glycerin solutions A, B, C, and D. (a) Vortex the stock Falcon tube, and then (b) transfer the bead suspension into its imaging chamber (consisting of a microscope slide, double-sided tape delimiting a 2-mm channel, and a 22x40mm No. 1.5 coverslip, and sealed at both ends nail polish).
Tip: Do not choose to monitor particles that remain stably in focus: these are likely to be 'sitting on the coverslip' and their motion will not be representative of diffusion in the viscous water-glycerol fluid.

2. Estimate the diffusion coefficient of these samples: MSD = $ \left \langle {\left | \vec r(t+\tau)-\vec r(t) \right \vert}^2 \right \rangle=2Dd\tau $, where r(t) = position, d = number of dimensions, D = diffusion coefficient, and $ \tau $= time interval. Use Sample A to verify that your algorithm correctly calculates the viscosity of water at the lab temperature (check the temperature on the clock on the wall or by other means).

  • Consider how many particles you should track and for how long. What is the uncertainty in your estimate?
  • From the viscosity calculation, estimate the glycerin/water weight ratio. (This chart is a useful reference.)
  • See: this page for more discussion of Brownian motion and a Matlab simulation.


Live cell particle tracking of endocytosed beads

We can also use particle tracking to probe cell samples. 0.84 μm diameter red fluorescent microspheres were mixed with the growth medium and added to the plated cells for a period of 12 to 24 hours for bead endocytosis.

You will be given two plates of cells for these experiments:

  • Dish 1 will be used to monitor particles in untreated cells, while
  • Dish 2 will be reserved to track microspheres after adding CytoD.
  1. Pre-warm your DMEM++ and CytoD to 37°C
  2. Carefully pipet out the medium from Dish 1. Gently rinse with 1mL of medium 2X to remove beads that were not endocytosed. Then, place 2 mL of fresh medium in dish.
  3. Choose cells in Dish 1 with 3 or 4 particles embedded in them and capture movies of the samples. Take as many movies as you can with about 3-5 cells in the field of view in each movie. Make sure to do this quickly, as the cells become unhealthy without the temperature and carbon dioxide regulation.
  4. Next, carefully pipet out the medium in Dish 2. Gently rinse with 1mL of medium 2X to remove beads that were not endocytosed.
  5. Treat the cells in Dish 2 with the cytoskeleton-modifying CytoD: Pipet out remaining medium, add 1 mL pre-warmed CytoD solution at 10 μM (pre-mixed for you) to the dish, and incubate for 20 minutes at 37°C. It's a good idea to check on your cells after 15 minutes: sometimes they are in bad shape at that point but sometimes they still look very healthy. Wash 2X with 2 mL of pre-warmed DMEM++, leaving 2 mL in the dish when imaging.
  6. Perform and repeat the particle tracking measurements again in Dish 2 as quickly as you are able. It would be good to image the beads in only one cell at a time, since different cells may have different degrees of cytoskeletal disruption. Take as many videos as you can before the cells become sad. The cells' physiology has now been significantly disrupted by the toxin CytoD, and they will die within a couple of hours.

Report

Find and follow all guidelines on the Microscopy report outline wiki page. Remember that all numerical quantities must be reported with an associated level of uncertainty or significance.

  1. Viscosity
    1. Procedure
      • Document the samples you prepared and used and how you captured images (camera settings including frame acquisition rate, number of frames, number of particles in the region of interest, choice of sample plane, etc)
    2. Data
      • Include a snapshot of the 0.84 μm fluorescent beads monitored.
      • Plot two or more example bead trajectories for each of the glycerin samples. (Hint: If you subtract the initial position from each trajectory, then you can plot multiple trajectories on a single set of axes.)
    3. Analysis and Results
      • Plot the average MSD vs τ results for all glycerin samples (A, B, C, and D); use log-log axes. Use the minimum number of axes that can convey your results clearly.
      • Include a table of the diffusion coefficient, viscosity and glycerin/water ratio for each of the samples (A, B, C, and D).
      • Provide a bullet point outline of all calculations and data processing steps.
    4. Discussion
      • How do your viscosity calculations compare to your expectations? (This chart is a useful reference.)
      • Include a thorough discussion of error sources and the approaches to minimize them. It may be helpful to list out the error sources in a table, including a category for the error source, type of error (random, systematic, fundamental, technical, etc.), the magnitude of the error, and a description and way to minimize each one.
  1. Particle Tracking in Cells
    1. Procedure
      • Document the samples you prepared and used and how you captured images (camera settings including frame acquisition rate, number of frames, number of particles in the region of interest, choice of sample plane, etc)
    2. Data
      • Include a snapshot of the 0.84 μm fluorescent beads monitored.
      • Plot two or more example bead trajectories for each of the samples. (Hint: If you subtract the initial position from each trajectory, then you can plot multiple trajectories on a single set of axes.)
    3. Analysis and Results
      • Combine your data with others from the class to increase your sample size.
      • Plot the average MSD for untreated and Cyto D treated cells on a single set of log-log axes.
    4. Discussion
      • What kind of motion do you see described by your MSD vs τ results?
      • What differences do you see between the untreated and Cyto D treated MSD curves?
      • Please suggest an interpretation of the behavior of your cells based on your data.
      • Include a discussion of your error sources.

Optical microscopy lab

Code examples and simulations

Background reading

References

  1. A. Einstein, On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in Liquids at Rest Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat, Annalen der Physik (1905).
  2. E. Frey and K. Kroy, Brownian motion: a paradigm of soft matter and biological physics, Ann. Phys. (2005). Published on the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s paper, this reference chronicles the history of Brownian motion from 1905 to the present.
  3. R. Newburgh, Einstein, Perrin, and the reality of atoms: 1905 revisited, Am. J. Phys. (2006). A modern replication of Perrin's experiment. Has a good, concise appendix with both the Einstein and Langevin derivations.
  4. M. Haw, Colloidal suspensions, Brownian motion, molecular reality: a short history, J. Phys. Condens. Matter (2002).