New preprint: Pumpy is here!

Together with the he lab of Ricardo Henriques, we’re finally ready to present #Pumpy to the world, in the form of a preprint on bioRxiv!

Pumpy (short for Pumpy McPumpface, official name NanoJ-Fluidics) is a pump array made in LEGO, controlled by an Arduino and open-source software (compatible with ImageJ/Fiji and Micro-Manager). NanoJ-Fluidics automates sample fluid exchange right on the microscope stage, allowing complex workflows using your standard chambers, tubing and reagents: live-to-fixed correlative imaging, sequential staining/imaging/washing protocols…

In one application,  we used NanoJ-Fluidics to visualize the dynamics of actin in living cells (using SRRF super-resolved processing), and to perform nanoscale imaging of actin using STORM on the same cell after online fixation and labeling with phalloidin.

 

We also used NanoJ-Fluidics for sequential multiplexed STORM/PAINT imaging, and we obtained 5-channel super-resolved images of actin, intermediate filaments, microtubules, clathrin and mitochondria in cells with minimal intervention during imaging.

 

If you are interested in making your own, head over to the NanoJ-Fluidics wiki where you will find everything:  LEGO parts, assembly instructions, control software and more!