D´Este, Elisa

 The cytoskeleton plays a primary role in controlling the motility, components supply, function and shape of cells. Due to their complex morphology, neuronal cells have unique cytoskeletal features, which support the functions of each subcellular compartment. My main interest is to investigate the nanoscale organization of the cytoskeleton in these different neuronal compartments within the context of neuronal activity.
Due to the small size of the neuronal compartments studied, advanced optical nanoscopy techniques capable of achieving the highest spatial resolution are necessary (e.g. STED, MINFLUX). Those techniques require the implementation of innovative labeling strategies for the visualization of the proteins of interest are required. Therefore, I am working in close collaboration with chemists and chemical biologist to develop and implement new labeling strategies unlocking the potentials of optical nanoscopy and enabling the visualization of unprecedented neuronal processes.

Selected Publications
Kompa J, Bruins J, Glogger M, Wilhelm J, Frei MS, Tarnawski M, D'Este E, Heilemann M, Hiblot J, Johnsson K (2023) Exchangeable HaloTag Ligands for Super-Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy. J Am Chem Soc 145: 3075-3083
Kapell H, Fazio L, Dyckow J, Schwarz S, Cruz-Herranz A, Mayer C, Campos J, D'Este E, Mobius W, Cordano C, Probstel AK, Gharagozloo M, Zulji A, Narayanan Naik V, Delank AK, Cerina M, Muntefering T, Lerma-Martin C, Sonner JK, Sin JH et al. (2023) Neuron-oligodendrocyte potassium shuttling at nodes of Ranvier protects against inflammatory demyelination. J Clin Invest

Jiang G, Ren TB, D'Este E, Xiong M, Xiong B, Johnsson K, Zhang XB, Wang L, Yuan L (2022) A synergistic strategy to develop photostable and bright dyes with long Stokes shift for nanoscopy. Nat Commun 13: 2264

Bates M, Keller-Findeisen J, Przybylski A, Huper A, Stephan T, Ilgen P, Cereceda Delgado AR, D'Este E, Egner A, Jakobs S, Sahl SJ, Hell SW (2022) Optimal precision and accuracy in 4Pi-STORM using dynamic spline PSF models. Nat Methods 19: 603-612

Lincoln R, Bossi ML, Remmel M, D'Este E, Butkevich AN, Hell SW (2022) A general design of caging-group-free photoactivatable fluorophores for live-cell nanoscopy. Nat Chem 14: 1013-1020

Butkevich AN, Weber M, Cereceda Delgado AR, Ostersehlt LM, D'Este E, Hell SW (2021) Photoactivatable Fluorescent Dyes with Hydrophilic Caging Groups and Their Use in Multicolor Nanoscopy. J Am Chem Soc 143: 18388-18393

Bonilla-Quintana M, Worgotter F, D'Este E, Tetzlaff C, Fauth M (2021) Reproducing asymmetrical spine shape fluctuations in a model of actin dynamics predicts self-organized criticality. Sci Rep 11: 4012

Lardon N, Wang L, Tschanz A, Hoess P, Tran M, D'Este E, Ries J, Johnsson K (2021) Systematic Tuning of Rhodamine Spirocyclization for Super-resolution Microscopy. J Am Chem Soc 143: 14592-14600

Grimm LM, Sinn S, Krstic M, D'Este E, Sonntag I, Prasetyanto EA, Kuner T, Wenzel W, De Cola L, Biedermann F (2021) Fluorescent Nanozeolite Receptors for the Highly Selective and Sensitive Detection of Neurotransmitters in Water and Biofluids. Adv Mater 33: e2104614

Eichel MA, Gargareta VI, D'Este E, Fledrich R, Kungl T, Buscham TJ, Luders KA, Miracle C, Jung RB, Distler U, Kusch K, Mobius W, Hulsmann S, Tenzer S, Nave KA, Werner HB (2020) CMTM6 expressed on the adaxonal Schwann cell surface restricts axonal diameters in peripheral nerves. Nat Commun 11: 4514
Wang L, Tran M, D'Este E, Roberti J, Koch B, Xue L, Johnsson K (2020) A general strategy to develop cell permeable and fluorogenic probes for multicolour nanoscopy. Nat Chem 12: 165-172
Gerasimaite R, Seikowski J, Schimpfhauser J, Kostiuk G, Gilat T, D'Este E, Schnorrenberg S, Lukinavicius G (2020) Efflux pump insensitive rhodamine-jasplakinolide conjugates for G- and F-actin imaging in living cells. Org Biomol Chem 18: 2929-2937

Gurth CM, Dankovich TM, Rizzoli SO, D'Este E (2020) Synaptic activity and strength are reflected by changes in the post-synaptic secretory pathway. Sci Rep 10: 20576

Hefting LL, D'Este E, Arvedsen E, Benned-Jensen T, Rasmussen HB (2020) Multiple Domains in the Kv7.3 C-Terminus Can Regulate Localization to the Axon Initial Segment. Front Cell Neurosci 14: 10

Richter KN, Revelo NH, Seitz KJ, Helm MS, Sarkar D, Saleeb RS, D'Este E, Eberle J, Wagner E, Vogl C, Lazaro DF, Richter F, Coy-Vergara J, Coceano G, Boyden ES, Duncan RR, Hell SW, Lauterbach MA, Lehnart SE, Moser T et al. (2018) Glyoxal as an alternative fixative to formaldehyde in immunostaining and super-resolution microscopy. EMBO J 37: 139-159

Masch JM, Steffens H, Fischer J, Engelhardt J, Hubrich J, Keller-Findeisen J, D'Este E, Urban NT, Grant SGN, Sahl SJ, Kamin D, Hell SW (2018) Robust nanoscopy of a synaptic protein in living mice by organic-fluorophore labeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115: E8047-E8056

Heine J, Reuss M, Harke B, D'Este E, Sahl SJ, Hell SW (2017) Adaptive-illumination STED nanoscopy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114: 9797-9802

Butkevich AN, Lukinavicius G, D'Este E, Hell SW (2017) Cell-Permeant Large Stokes Shift Dyes for Transfection-Free Multicolor Nanoscopy. J Am Chem Soc 139: 12378-12381

D'Este E, Kamin D, Balzarotti F, Hell SW (2017) Ultrastructural anatomy of nodes of Ranvier in the peripheral nervous system as revealed by STED microscopy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114: E191-E199

D'Este E, Kamin D, Velte C, Gottfert F, Simons M, Hell SW (2016) Subcortical cytoskeleton periodicity throughout the nervous system. Sci Rep 6: 22741

Butkevich AN, Mitronova GY, Sidenstein SC, Klocke JL, Kamin D, Meineke DN, D'Este E, Kraemer PT, Danzl JG, Belov VN, Hell SW (2016) Fluorescent Rhodamines and Fluorogenic Carbopyronines for Super-Resolution STED Microscopy in Living Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 55: 3290-4

Lukinavicius G, Reymond L, Umezawa K, Sallin O, D'Este E, Gottfert F, Ta H, Hell SW, Urano Y, Johnsson K (2016) Fluorogenic Probes for Multicolor Imaging in Living Cells. J Am Chem Soc 138: 9365-8

Sidenstein SC, D'Este E, Bohm MJ, Danzl JG, Belov VN, Hell SW (2016) Multicolour Multilevel STED nanoscopy of Actin/Spectrin Organization at Synapses. Sci Rep 6: 26725

Testa I, D'Este E, Urban NT, Balzarotti F, Hell SW (2015) Dual channel RESOLFT nanoscopy by using fluorescent state kinetics. Nano Lett 15: 103-6

D'Este E, Kamin D, Gottfert F, El-Hady A, Hell SW (2015) STED nanoscopy reveals the ubiquity of subcortical cytoskeleton periodicity in living neurons. Cell Rep 10: 1246-51

Lukinavicius G, Blaukopf C, Pershagen E, Schena A, Reymond L, Derivery E, Gonzalez-Gaitan M, D'Este E, Hell SW, Wolfram Gerlich D, Johnsson K (2015) SiR-Hoechst is a far-red DNA stain for live-cell nanoscopy. Nat Commun 6: 8497

Lukinavicius G, Reymond L, D'Este E, Masharina A, Gottfert F, Ta H, Guther A, Fournier M, Rizzo S, Waldmann H, Blaukopf C, Sommer C, Gerlich DW, Arndt HD, Hell SW, Johnsson K (2014) Fluorogenic probes for live-cell imaging of the cytoskeleton. Nat Methods 11: 731-3

Chmyrov A, Keller J, Grotjohann T, Ratz M, d'Este E, Jakobs S, Eggeling C, Hell SW (2013) Nanoscopy with more than 100,000 'doughnuts'. Nat Methods 10: 737-40


(Bates et al., 2022, Bonilla-Quintana et al., 2021, Butkevich et al., 2017, Butkevich et al., 2016, Butkevich et al., 2021, Chmyrov et al., 2013, D'Este et al., 2017, D'Este et al., 2015, D'Este et al., 2016, Eichel et al., 2020, Gerasimaite et al., 2020, Grimm et al., 2021, Gurth et al., 2020, Hefting et al., 2020, Heine et al., 2017, Jiang et al., 2022, Kapell et al., 2023, Kompa et al., 2023, Lardon et al., 2021, Lincoln et al., 2022, Lukinavicius et al., 2015, Lukinavicius et al., 2014, Lukinavicius et al., 2016, Masch et al., 2018, Mortal et al., 2017, Poc et al., 2020, Richter et al., 2018, Sidenstein et al., 2016, Testa et al., 2015, Wang et al., 2020)