Correlative light and electron microscopy (cryo-CLEM) for soft matter sciences
Article on Cryo-CLEM published in the journal Food Structure
Correlative microscopy refers to imaging the same sample with two or more techniques and the potential benefits for materials characterization are tremendous. When superimposing the same field of view, it allows to look at the same object from multiple angles, to obtain a more comprehensive and informative “picture” than any of the individual tools can offer, trying to obtain “the best of all worlds.”
Our imaging group together with colleagues from Wageningen University and Research implemented a cryogenic correlative light and electron microscopy (cryo-CLEM) platform for soft matter, studying oxidation in food emulsions. CLEM is an emerging technique that combines information from fluorescence microscopy and electron microscopy performed at the same regions within a sample. CLEM has been developed and applied mainly in life science allowing, for example, the correlation of nanoscale structural information with the localization of specific, fluorophore-labelled biomolecules. Cryogenic preservation and cryo microscopy observation are especially helpful for soft matter as cryogenic temperatures prevent the diffusion of components such as oxidation in food emulsions during measurements. Despite its apparent potential, Cryo-CLEM has not yet been employed for studying food systems. More specifically, the length scales covered by CLEM (nm to µm scale) have the potential to provide insights into the relationship between the (co-) oxidation of lipids and proteins at droplet interfaces and the local nanoscale arrangement of proteins. Clearly correlative imaging approaches are also relevant for studying polymers and colloids, and in general soft matter sciences.
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