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Confocal Microscopy pp 111–130Cite as

ZEISS Airyscan: Optimizing Usage for Fast, Gentle, Super-Resolution Imaging

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2304))

Abstract

The Zeiss Airyscan microscope transforms a diffraction-limited, point-scanning confocal microscope into a super-resolution microscope using a specialized 32-channel Airyscan detector. By improving resolution twofold and signal-to-noise ratio eightfold relative to conventional confocal microscopes while retaining confocal functionality, the Airyscan microscope has become a very popular super-resolution imaging tool for cell biologists. In this chapter, we describe the fundamentals of Airyscan imaging, with the aim of helping the reader determine the proper acquisition settings for different types of experiments, optimize imaging conditions, and process the raw Airyscan images to obtain final images with the best quality. We also provide some tips, tricks, and best practices for Airyscan imaging. Of note, while our focus is on the Airyscan function of this microscope rather than its conventional confocal function, the Airyscan unit comes as an add-on to the conventional Zeiss laser scanning confocal microscope. This protocol is for the first generation Airyscan Zeiss 800 series microscope.

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References

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Matthew Donnelly and Zeiss specialists Alma Arnold and Sricharan Murugesan for their helpful comments and for critical reading of the chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Light Microscopy Facility, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Xufeng Wu

  2. Cell and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    John A. Hammer

Authors
  1. Xufeng Wu
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  2. John A. Hammer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xufeng Wu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA

    Joseph Brzostowski

  2. NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA

    Haewon Sohn

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© 2021 This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply and Springer Nature US

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Wu, X., Hammer, J.A. (2021). ZEISS Airyscan: Optimizing Usage for Fast, Gentle, Super-Resolution Imaging. In: Brzostowski, J., Sohn, H. (eds) Confocal Microscopy. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2304. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1402-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1402-0_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1401-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1402-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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