title: Live cell imaging at the Munich ion microbeam SNAKE - a status report.
abstract: Ion microbeams are important tools in radiobiological research. Still, the worldwide number of ion microbeam facilities where biological experiments can be performed is limited. Even fewer facilities combine ion microirradiation with live-cell imaging to allow microscopic observation of cellular response reactions starting very fast after irradiation and continuing for many hours. At SNAKE, the ion microbeam facility at the Munich 14 MV tandem accelerator, a large variety of biological experiments are performed on a regular basis. Here, recent developments and ongoing research projects at the ion microbeam SNAKE are presented with specific emphasis on live-cell imaging experiments. An overview of the technical details of the setup is given, including examples of suitable biological samples. By ion beam focusing to submicrometer beam spot size and single ion detection it is possible to target subcellular structures with defined numbers of ions. Focusing of high numbers of ions to single spots allows studying the influence of high local damage density on recruitment of damage response proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany. guido.drexler@lrz.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Guido A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany. christian.siebenwirth@unibw.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Siebenwirth
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany. sophie.drexler@med.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Sophie E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Physics and Metrology, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Neubiberg, Germany. stefanie.girst@unibw.de.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Girst
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Physics and Metrology, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Neubiberg, Germany. christoph.greubel@unibw.de.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Greubel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Physics and Metrology, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Neubiberg, Germany. guenther.dollinger@unibw.de.
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dollinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany. anna.friedl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Anna A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Friedl
mesh_terms: D002477:Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006801:Humans; D007477:Ions; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010315:Particle Accelerators / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011853:Radiobiology / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D007477:Ions