Identification of Lysosomal Contact Sites

Introduction of Lysosomal Membrane Contact Sites

Studies have shown that lysosome biogenesis and function are strongly influenced by connections to other organelles at membrane contact sites. The extent of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-lysosome contacts increases as the endocytic pathway matures, and it is estimated that more than 90% of lysosomes form ER contact sites. In addition, lysosomes also form membrane contact sites with a variety of functionally distinct organelles, such as mitochondria. Lysosome-membrane contact sites play important roles in the involvement of basic cellular processes, including lysosome dynamics and localization, Ca²⁺ signaling, lysosomal endosomal tubulation/fission, growth factor signaling, and inter-organelle cholesterol transport. Currently, several studies using electronic imaging techniques can assist in analyzing the formation of contacts between mitochondria and lysosomes in a variety of cell types in a healthy state.

Fig. 1. Regulation of Mitochondria-Lysosome Contact Tethering/Untethering by Rab7 GTP Hydrolysis. (Wong Y C, et al., 2019)

Our Lysosomal Contact Sites Identification Services

Mitochondrial-lysosomal contacts have been identified as maintaining organelle homeostasis in a variety of cell types and as one of the evaluation metrics for drug development and screening. For many years, CD BioSciences has been committed to imaging and studying the biological function of mitochondria-lysosome interactions under super-resolution microscopy to assist in lysosome positioning.

Our engineers have successfully developed fluorescent probes or fluorescent proteins with different emission spectra to image mitochondria-lysosome interactions. In addition, we have established a method to visualize and analyze mitochondria-lysosome contact sites in HeLa cells in real time. Real-time confocal imaging by high spatial and temporal resolution of lysosomal membranes and mitochondrial outer membranes allows analysis of mitochondria-lysosome contact sites in living cells, and allows further study of how they affect cellular homeostasis. Here, we offer a variety of fluorescence microscopy techniques to analyze mitochondria- lysosome contact site dynamics, including but not limited to:

• Identification of inter-organellar associations in fixed samples.
• Identification of inter-organellar associations in living cells.
• Identification of inter-organellar associations in vivo.

Why Choose Us

• A rapid and reliable quantitative method.
• Used to analyze mitochondria-lysosome contact site dynamics in living cells.
• Enables simultaneous labeling of mitochondria and lysosomes in living cells by functional fluorescence conversion.
• Enables efficient tracking of dynamic changes in mitochondrial-lysosome functional interactions.
• Provides important insights into cellular function and the defects that occur in disease.

CD BioSciences can meet any reasonable requirements of our clients, taking time and budget into consideration for you. Our aim is to be customer-centric and to provide the highest quality services to customers. Our customer service representatives are enthusiastic and trustworthy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us for more information or a detailed discussion.

Reference

1. Wong Y C, Kim S, Peng W, et al. (2019) Regulation and function of mitochondria–lysosome membrane contact sites in cellular homeostasis[J]. Trends in cell biology. 29(6): 500-513.