At the Vienna Region Cryo-EM Seminar on April 23rd, Dr. Kathrin Rudolph, Regional Market Specialist for Life Science products at TESCAN, presented the compelling results of a collaborative study titled: “A cryo-workflow combining light, electron and soft X-ray microscopy provides targeting of unlabelled features.”
Kathrin’s presentation highlighted how Soft X-ray Microscopy (SXM) is emerging as a powerful pre-screening tool in advanced cryo-imaging workflows. By imaging cryo-preserved tissue or cell samples up to 10 microns thick, SXM enables the label-free identification of regions of interest — before downstream cryo-FIB sectioning. These targeted regions can then be isolated into ~150 nm lamellae for ultra-high-resolution cryo-TEM analysis.
This new CLEXM workflow (Correlated Light, Electron, and X-ray Microscopy) delivers several advantages over traditional CLEM workflows:
- Label-free targeting of ultrastructural features, preserving native contrast.
- Faster and more precise identification of subcellular regions of interest.
- Non-destructive imaging that retains full 3D structural context across the sample.
- Seamless correlation across modalities for richer biological interpretation.
This approach holds great promise for researchers working with complex biological systems where understanding nanoscale structures in their full volumetric context is essential!
A big thank you to the full collaboration team – Kathrin Rudolph, Martina Zanova, Martin Uher, Samuel Záchej, Dominik Pinkas, Andreas Walter, Jan Groen and Anna Sartori-Rupp – for pushing the boundaries of cryo-correlative imaging!
Check out our images gallery to learn more about the power of Soft X-ray Tomography!
