As the 2024 edition of the France-BioImaging Image Contest is still running, we wanted to highlight our previous winners and their projects. Here is a quick throwback to our 2023 winners.

Before getting to the heart of the matter, we want to remind you that you still have time (before November 8th) to submit your best images and try to win your registration fees for one 2025 microscopy-related event! Please make sure you upload your images on the following link:

Last year, we enjoyed the winning images submitted for their artistic take and their quality. Thanks to Laurent LE, Gonzalo QUIROGA-ARTIGAS and Hugues LELOUARD for their beautiful images!

• 1st Place: Laurent LE, Lévêque-Fort Team, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay

Laurent LE is a Post-Doc researcher in the Sandrine Lévêque-Fort Team at Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay. His goal is to develop new techniques for time-resolved microscopy and single molecule localization microscopy. During his PhD he especially learned to perform 3D SMLM with SAF light measurement named DONALD. This technique enables to have an isotropic three-dimensional localization precision of 20 nm within an axial range of around 150 nm above the coverslip.

During one of his trainings on the DONALD setup, he acquired this image with a nice round shape that looks like an eye. This image represents the alpha-tubulin of a fixed COS7 cell, labelled with DNA-PAINT and imaged with Atto 647N. The axial information is obtained by DONALD.

Thanks to the France-Bioimaging Image Contest, Laurent participated to the international conference FOM (Focus On Microscopy) in Genoa (Italy). This event is the most important one for his research community.

• 2nd Place: Gonzalo QUIROGA-ARTIGAS, Team Contrôle cytoplasmique de la stabilité du génome, Centre de recherche en Biologie Cellulaire de Montpellier

Gonzalo QUIROGA-ARTIGAS is a Post-Doc scientist in the Team “Cytoplasmic Control of Genome Instability” of the Centre de Recherche en Biologie cellulaire de Montpellier (CRBM-UMR5237). His research background is centered on Evolution and Developmental Biology (EvoDevo), a broad field that integrates knowledge from phylogenetics, cell and molecular biology, genetics and genetic engineering, as well as developmental biology and evolution. He is currently undertaking his second postdoctoral position, focusing on the study of the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris. Tardigrades are microscopic animals known for their extreme resistance to various stressors, and his research aims to uncover the mechanisms that enable them to endure such conditions. He is conducting this research in Dr. María Moriel-Carretero’s lab at the CRBM in Montpellier. His goal is to become a CNRS researcher in the years to come.

His image depicts the cuticle (or exoskeleton) of a tardigrade protecting three developing embryos. Tardigrades typically couple the moment of cuticle shedding with that of egg laying, a strategy designed to provide an extra layer of protection, ensuring the eggs survive and successfully develop into the next generation. The study aimed to assess the synchrony of embryonic development in eggs laid by the same mother within the same cuticle. This image was captured after staining the animal with a live dye (MemBrite Cell Surface Staining Kit), which highlights the cuticular structures, and a DNA stain (DAPI). A confocal Z-stack of each channel was processed using different depth LUTs in ImageJ, then merged to create the final image.

France-Bioimaging sponsored his participation to the Euro Evo Devo congress (EED) in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2024. This event brought together nearly 700 researchers from around the world, all sharing a passion for this research focus, to gather here for several days and share their ongoing projects. He attended the Arthropod satellite meeting, where he presented a current project using tardigrades as experimental models and received plenty of feedback. He also presented a poster at the main meeting and unlocked numerous potential collaborations, as many researchers showed interest in this animal model.

“Altogether, this meeting has been a fantastic opportunity for me. I was able to share my ongoing projects with the EvoDevo community, which has greatly stimulated my research progress. Additionally, the excellent atmosphere throughout the congress, the impeccable organization, and the collaborations I unlocked have made this experience wonderful both personally and professionally, opening new networking possibilities for my present and future endeavors” says Gustavo Quiroga-Artiguas.

• 3rd Place: Hugues LELOUARD, Gorvel team, Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille Luminy

Hugues LELOUARD is a CNRS research director working in the field of mucosal immunology at the Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille Luminy (CIML). His research focuses on understanding the role of Peyer’s patch phagocytes in initiating the intestinal immune response.

His image depicts a section of the small intestine from a LyzM-eGFP mouse, featuring a Peyer’s patch, captured using a Zeiss LSM 980 spectral confocal microscope with a mosaic setting of 20 tiles. Spectral confocal microscopy enables the simultaneous imaging of multiple parameters without requiring iterative acquisition steps. Here, staining highlights proliferative cells (Ki-67, yellow), Paneth cells/goblet cells/mucus (UEA-I, blue), epithelial cells (EpCAM, magenta), naïve B cells (IgD, red), T cells (CD3, orange), helper T cells/macrophages (CD4, cyan), phagocytes (CD11c, turquoise) and monocyte-derived phagocytes (GFP, green). This image illustrates the spatial distribution of phagocytes (green and turquoise) within the complex microenvironment of Peyer’s patches. Understanding their role in pathogen uptake, degradation and antigen presentation to effector immune cells is crucial for unravelling the mechanisms that initiate the intestinal adaptive immune response. 

Want to be the next winner of our FBI Image Contest? Apply through the following link before November 8th, 2024: france-bioimaging.org/fbi-special-events/france-bioimaging-image-contest-2024

In a highly competitive call part of the National France 2030 Plan, France-BioImaging was selected to receive special funding to upgrade its technology offer and implement tomorrow’s imaging technological and methodological developments.

Securing Next-Generation Instruments for Biological Imaging 

In recent decades, innovations in microscopy have led to technological revolutions that had strong impacts in important societal fields such as agronomy, marine biology and human health. Life scientists need to have easy access to these technologies and France-BioImaging, with 30 top-notched facilities and thousands of users, is best placed to develop, implement and give access to the latest imaging technologies to the national and international community. 

In 2024, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research allocated 80 M€ for a call dedicated to the National Research Infrastructures in Biology and Health (Programme Investissement d’Avenir)  to keep their research and technologies at the highest level of excellence.

France BioImaging was a laureate of the call with its project Biological Imaging Next-Generation Instruments (BIOGENI).

In this project, 1.9 M€ will be invested to rejuvenate and upgrade existing technologies and 7.3 M€ will serve to implement new technologies, paving the way for the use of next-generation imaging methods by our users.

The BIOGENI project will both strengthen the visibility and attractivity of France-BioImaging, and provide our researchers access to the most powerful and needed imaging technologies. This includes new technologies in super-resolution and single molecule tracking, multiscale correlative microscopy, light sheet microscopies, high-content and multiplexed imaging, new contrasts and preclinical microscopy. The equipment purchased thanks to BIOGENI will be complemented by new human resources dedicated to data management and image analysis, provided by the Partner Institutions of the infrastructure. This will enable proper data management and analysis, as many of the new technologies deliver very large datasets requiring dedicated tools.

2023 and 2024 were busy years for France-BioImaging. The infrastructure not only made a winning grant proposal to ensure the upgrade of existing technologies and the implementation of new ones, but successfully passed the evaluation of the 2020-2024 period, ensuring allocation of its running budget for the next few years.

IBISA / INBS Interdisciplinary Day :  A feedback on the access call to Structural biology, Biological imaging and Proteomics facilities. November 19th 2024 – IGBMC, Ilkirch

The three national infrastructures ProFi, France-BioImaging and FRISBI along with the GIS IBiSA are pleased to welcome you to Strasbourg for the 1^st edition of a feedback meeting in relation to a funded access call to IBiSA-labelled facilities. This meeting is a satellite meeting of the 8th France-BioImaging Annual Meeting (November 20th et 21th)  and the 8th FRISBI annual users meeting (November 18th)

PROGRAM

Meeting registration: Registration is free of charge but you must be registered to attend the meeting. Please kindly fill the form: https://forms.gle/EY4XSwZNWaJSUmsh6

If you cannot attend in person, we offer the meeting in remote, please register here https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dtfGpNwrQyyB007Y-gZ2cA

Deadline for registration: October 27^th, 2024 

Venue: IGBMC auditorium, Ilkirch, https://www.igbmc.fr/en/igbmc/life-at-igbmc/visiting-the-igbmc

En Hybride. Inscription gratuite mais obligatoire via ce lien: https://forms.gle/SpBV87XRcoAJ12A77

La valorisation de l’activité de recherche implique de nombreuses modalités. Parmi elles, la diffusion des résultats au-delà du cercle communautaire académique peut prendre la forme de la protection intellectuelle et de la commercialisation, ouvrant ainsi la perspective de rendre accessible une technologie au plus grand nombre et d’en assurer une valorisation monétaire. Cette étape demeure cependant pratiquée par un nombre limité de chercheurs, entre autres par méconnaissance de l’aventure du transfert.

L’objectif de cette journée est précisément de pallier ce manque au travers de témoignages variés de chercheurs, de directeurs de startups, de responsables d’entreprises, et d’acteurs des services de valorisation qui ont converti un résultat scientifique dans le domaine de l’imagerie biologique en un produit ou un service commercialisé. Ils décriront leur motivation et leur parcours avec ses difficultés et ses satisfactions. La journée prévoit aussi un temps de rencontre et une table ronde finale destinée à partager d’autres témoignages et à répondre aux interrogations.

Programme

Inscription: https://forms.gle/SpBV87XRcoAJ12A77

Lieu: Amphithéâtre Buffon
INSTITUT JACQUES MONOD
Université Paris Cité- CNRS
15 rue Hélène Brion
75013 Paris

Contacts:

nathalie.aulner@pasteur.fr

Ludovic.Jullien@ens.fr

rene-marc.mege@ijm.fr

samy.al-bourgol@france-bioimaging.org

We are delighted to announce that the GDR Imabio, in partnership with France-Bioimaging, is organizing the next “High Resolution 3D Microscopy in Biology: Developments & Applications”, which will cover a wide range of topics, from new instrumental approaches to biological applications, particularly for imaging in depth and/or in complex environments (Super-resolution – Expansion microscopy – STORM in depth – in vivo STED – in vivo 2 photon microscopy – Phase and Label free imaging – Structured Illumination Microscopy – Light sheet microscopy – Adaptive optics – Tissue imaging – Organoids… ).

The event will be held on the campus of the Université Paris Saclay, at the ISMO, from Monday afternoon, October 7, starting at 2pm, to Tuesday, October 8, around 4pm (several TGV trains arrive at Massy Palaiseau, 15 minutes from the campus).
We have already confirmed the participation of various speakers (Ralf Jungmann, Erdinc Sezgin, Sophie Brasselet, Gaëlle Recher, Virgile Viasnoff), and the call for oral and poster contributions is now open. Submit your abstract before September 25th through the registration form below.

The days will be free of charge, but registration is compulsory, as the size of the amphitheatre will limit participation to 80 registered participants.

Register and submit your abstract here: https://imabio-cnrs.fr/event/high-resolution-3d-microscopy-in-biology-developments-applications-october-7-8-2024-organise-en-commun-avec-fbi/

The organizing committee

Sandrine Lévêque-Fort, Alexandra Fragola, Jean-Baptiste Sibarita, Rémi Galland, Mathieu Ducros, Lydia Danglot

On the 1st of July 2024, René Marc Mège officially joined the France-BioImaging team as Scientific Director. René Marc is a CNRS research director and co-director of the interdisciplinary Biology/Physics “Adhesion and Cell Mechanics” team with Benoit Ladoux at Institut Jacques Monod, Paris. He has been involved in the coordination of core facilities for more than ten years as co-director of the  ImagoSeine cell imaging facility and leads the coordination of France-BioImaging Paris Centre Node.

Here is a brief interview to get to know the new leader of the FBI team.

• What triggered the start of your journey in science?

Actually, science was not my first choice. I would have loved to be a farmer like my parents. But part of this choice lies in the fact that I have always been amazed by nature and then by biology when arriving at Université de Bordeaux. At that time, I discovered and loved the essay “Le hazard et la nécessité” by Jacques Monod, published a decade before, in 1970. The second reason was that I thought that there would be some place for freedom in the job. It was true, at least at the time.

• Can you tell us a bit more about your scholar and research background?

I was trained in Biochemistry/Chemistry at the Université de Bordeaux. I began my scientific career in the field of enzymology and biotechnology with a PhD (1986) in D. Thomas Laboratoire de Technologie Enzymatique (Université de Technologie de Compiègne), where my thesis project was part of a heterogeneous-phase enzymatic catalysis research program aimed at assessing the industrial application of biological catalysts (hydrogenases) to convert electricity in hydrogen. After this PhD, I turned to the field of cell and developmental biology. I really got into this field during a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship (1987-1989) in G. M. Edelman laboratory at Rockefeller University, New York.

• Can you tell us about your work at IJM, and how it has influenced your journey as a researcher?

On my return to France, I focused on the expression, developmental role and function of cadherins in neuromuscular development. In the 2000’s, I shifted towards a more molecular and biophysical study of cadherin-dependent interactions, echoing the development of increasingly powerful imaging and analysis approaches. To this end, we developed a model for the activation of cadherin in the absence of intercellular contacts, based on the use of recombinant cadherins immobilised on various surfaces. By combining dynamic imaging, single particle tracking, FRAP and pharmacology (in coll with D. Choquet), we have shown that: 1) cadherin engagement induces their clustering and anchoring to the actin cytoskeleton; 2) that cadherins are recruited to cell contacts by a diffusion- trapping mechanism, regulated by their association with actin.

As early as 2002, this work enabled us to put forward the hypothesis – totally novel at the time – that cadherins could be mechanotransducing receptors. I therefore approached Benoit Ladoux, who had just developed a micro force sensor for measuring the forces applied by cells on the ECM. Combining this sensor with the use of recombinant cadherins, we were able to demonstrate that cadherin adhesions transmit across the membrane the forces generated actomyosin and are mechanosensitive, implying the existence of a molecular mechanosensor in these actin-associated complexes.

This work and hypotheses were the primary motivation behind the intensification of our collaboration with Benoit Ladoux, which led us to create in 2013 at the Institut Jacques Monod a shared team gathering cell biologists and physicists. We were both convinced that the only way to make significant progress in mechanobiology was not to recruit researchers at the interface, but to bring together researchers, post-docs and students trained at the cutting edge of their respective disciplines, with a willingness to work together. Together we have contributed to a better understanding of the molecular and cellular biology of cadherin-associated intercellular junctions, using microscopy-based approaches including traction force microscopy, stress inference, particle imaging velocimetry and high resolution microscopy. 

From then, by combining our combined expertise in cell biology, microfabrication, biophysics and soft matter physics, we have been also able to develop innovative studies to describe the biomechanical properties of epithelial tissues and model them in collaboration with teams of theorists. 

• You are now the new Director of France-BioImaging. Can you tell us what motivated this transition?

For many years, first at Sorbonne Université then at Université Paris-Cité, I have taken part in the coordination of the local Imaging Facilities. And during the last years, I have been more involved in France-BioImaging as head of the Paris-Centre node. Although I always dedicated time to the scientific and in particular, to the imaging community, I think I am now at an age where I should share even more of my time for the community. I am very convinced that the time and effort you devote to others always rewards you. 

• What do you expect from this new professional adventure?

It is a new challenge and quite stimulating for me. Moreover, the FBI community is a very friendly and cooperative one.

• Can you tell us how research infrastructures like FBI can help researchers?

FBI core facilities and R&D teams offer an amazing large range of cutting-edge technologies, instruments, workflows, and pool of skills. FBI is a huge instrument. It’s however a living organism. Its heart is human-based, with its community of engineers, researchers, teachers and students, with their skills and competences, their personalities and collaborations, gives FBI its unique value. In the end, when researchers looking for imaging solutions know how to take advantage of the research infrastructures for their projects, they are able to increase their competitiveness in the global research race.

• What do you envision for FBI in the next few years?

The creation of the Unité d’Appui à la Recherche (UAR FBI-core) initiated by Edouard Bertrand and Alexandre Philips, and the previous national coordination team (we should thank them all here) will for sure participate to strengthen and bring more sustainability to FBI . This will allow us to concentrate our efforts on leading the community organisation initiatives and seeking new funding opportunities. This will also allow us to dedicate more resources to support our core facilities in their development and outreach. Through our R&D teams, we will keep on incorporating novel cutting-edge technologies and workflows. And I am convinced that with our team of data scientists and IT engineers, and with the whole FBI community we will take the right turn in accelerating developments in data processing and data mining.