Live Cell Imaging Microscope

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 577445601

Metabolic and chronic inflammatory liver and intestinal diseases, as well as precancerous conditions in the gastrointestinal tract, now affect one-third of the world's population as a result of modern environmental and nutritional factors. Liver metabolism is extremely sensitive to metabolic, infectious, and inflammatory stressors. Research into cellular stress responses—in particular mitochondrial stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, oxidative stress, and impaired autophagy—and their influence on lipid uptake and release in primary hepatocytes and intestinal cells is at the heart of the pathogenesis of metabolically associated steatotic liver diseases, hepatic and enteral fibrosis, chronic viral hepatitis, and infectious diseases such as Schistosoma mansoni infection, which we are systematically investigating in our visceral medicine laboratory. Within the Center for Sustainable Food Systems and Visceral Medicine (Gastroenterology and Visceral Surgery), further projects on metabolism and carcinogenesis in the gastrointestinal tract are planned or already underway. Our goal is to gain a better understanding of the complex relationships between metabolic overload, organelle dysfunction, and the relevant cellular compensation mechanisms. We are particularly interested in the dynamic interactions between cell organelles and lipid droplets under pathophysiological conditions. We investigate mitochondrial networks in terms of morphology, membrane potential, and ROS production, analyze the unfolded protein response under stress conditions, and record lipid accumulations and their degradation (lipophagy). Autophagy plays a central role in this process (protective mechanism and potential amplifier of hepatocellular dysfunction in a chronically stressed environment). In order to study these complex processes at the subcellular level, the use of a live cell imaging microscope is indispensable. The ability to generate high-resolution optical sections in living cells allows for the precise visualization and quantification of subcellular changes—such as the fragmentation of mitochondrial networks, the translocation of stress-induced transcription factors, or the co-detection of autophagosomes with organelles or lipid droplets. In addition, the requested device enables live imaging of dynamic processes such as mitophagy during mitochondrial stress, cellular degradation processes under lipid overload, or cellular responses to inflammatory stimuli. High resolution, multichannel capability, and quantitative morphometric image analysis are essential for the functional interpretation of the finest changes. In order to perform subcellular investigations in primary cells, the microscope must include specific features and technologies that meet the requirements of this metabolic and oncological research.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Live Cell Imaging Mikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 5040 Spezielle Mikroskope (außer 500-503)
• Applicant Institution: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
• Leader: Professorin Dr. Elke Roeb