Nanosims tools for imaging intracellular lipids

Lipid metabolism and intracellular transport regulate the relative abundances of lipids and cholesterol within organelles. Thus, disturbances in lipid metabolism and transport result in abnormal accumulations of lipids within intracellular membranes and are often a hallmark of lipid-mediated health defects. Cellular imaging with a Cameca NanoSIMS in depth profiling mode has enabled the visualization of the three-dimensional (3D) distributions of isotopically labeled sphingolipids and cholesterol with high spatial resolution.