University of Pavia researchers develop new cell-cycle imaging platform

Researchers at the University of Pavia, coordinated by the Synthetic Physiology Laboratory, have developed a new imaging platform called CALIPERS (Cell-cycle-Aware Live-cell Imaging for Phenotyping Experiments and Regeneration Studies). Detailed in the journal Nature Communications, the technology allows scientists to track the progression of the cell cycle alongside structural and functional characteristics, such as cytoskeleton organization, movement, and calcium activity, within the same living cells.

Previously, biological research faced limitations because many fluorescent sensors used to measure cell structure and function emit light in the green and red spectrums, which overlaps with traditional FUCCI cell-cycle indicators. This overlap made it difficult to integrate phenotypic measurements with cell-cycle data in a single live sample. The new platform addresses this issue, which is particularly critical for studying complex biological phenomena like stem cell models, where proliferation, migration, and differentiation occur simultaneously.