Luciano A. Masullo's Avatar

Luciano A. Masullo

@lumasullo.bsky.social

Physicist | single molecules, bioscience, biotech, nanotech, optics, fluorescence | Project Leader at @jungmannlab.bsky.social Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry @mpibiochem.bsky.social

807 Followers  |  365 Following  |  74 Posts  |  Joined: 10.11.2024  |  2.7787

Latest posts by lumasullo.bsky.social on Bluesky

Thanks!!

20.10.2025 12:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Juliii โค๏ธ thanks for your kind words!! Looking forward to be part of the wonderful optics community in Argenitna!!

19.10.2025 02:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
The image on the cover shows two sugars from the same cell-surface glycan separated by 9 ร…, visualized with RESI (resolution enhancement by sequential imaging) enabled by metabolic labelling with DNA barcodes.

IMAGE: Luciano A. Masullo, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry,  Germany.

COVER DESIGN: Vanitha Selvarajan

Original paper: Masullo, L.A.,  et al. ร…ngstrรถm-resolution imaging of cell-surface glycans. Nat. Nanotechnol. 20, 1457โ€“1463 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-01966-5

Abstract: Glycobiology is rooted in the study of monosaccharides, รฅngstrรถm-sized molecules that are the building blocks of glycosylation. Glycosylated biomolecules form the glycocalyx, a dense coat encasing every human cell with central relevanceโ€”among othersโ€”in immunology, oncology and virology. To understand glycosylation function, visualizing its molecular structure is fundamental. However, the ability to visualize the molecular architecture of the glycocalyx has remained challenging. Techniques such as mass spectrometry, electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy lack the necessary cellular context, specificity and resolution. Here we combine resolution enhancement by sequential imaging with metabolic labelling, enabling the visualization of individual sugars within glycans on the cell surface, thus obtaining images of the glycocalyx with a spatial resolution down to 9โ€‰ร… in an optical microscope.

The image on the cover shows two sugars from the same cell-surface glycan separated by 9 ร…, visualized with RESI (resolution enhancement by sequential imaging) enabled by metabolic labelling with DNA barcodes. IMAGE: Luciano A. Masullo, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany. COVER DESIGN: Vanitha Selvarajan Original paper: Masullo, L.A., et al. ร…ngstrรถm-resolution imaging of cell-surface glycans. Nat. Nanotechnol. 20, 1457โ€“1463 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-01966-5 Abstract: Glycobiology is rooted in the study of monosaccharides, รฅngstrรถm-sized molecules that are the building blocks of glycosylation. Glycosylated biomolecules form the glycocalyx, a dense coat encasing every human cell with central relevanceโ€”among othersโ€”in immunology, oncology and virology. To understand glycosylation function, visualizing its molecular structure is fundamental. However, the ability to visualize the molecular architecture of the glycocalyx has remained challenging. Techniques such as mass spectrometry, electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy lack the necessary cellular context, specificity and resolution. Here we combine resolution enhancement by sequential imaging with metabolic labelling, enabling the visualization of individual sugars within glycans on the cell surface, thus obtaining images of the glycocalyx with a spatial resolution down to 9โ€‰ร… in an optical microscope.

Now online: October 2025 Issue.

- Focus Issue on #biosensing,
- DNA moirรฉ superlattices,
- Sugars at ร…ngstrรถm-resolution,
- Solid-state #nanopores,
- Non-aqueous Li #batteries, -
- Neuromorphic vision,
- Peptide #hydrogels,
- Deep learning for #LNPs and more...

www.nature.com/nnano/volume...

17.10.2025 18:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thread describing our work: bsky.app/profile/luma...

18.10.2025 14:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

Our article "ร…ngstrรถm-resolution imaging of cell-surface glycans" made it to the cover of Nature Nanotechnology! ๐Ÿคฉ @natnano.nature.com

www.nature.com/nnano/volume...

18.10.2025 14:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 74    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you, Inรชs! ๐Ÿ˜€

06.10.2025 07:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I am also very grateful to my previous mentors, Ralf Jungmann and Fernando D. Stefani, and many other amazing colleagues who have supported me throughout my career.

06.10.2025 06:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I am very grateful to Gabriel Rabinovich for his generous sponsorship and guidance throughout the application process, and I look forward to developing my research program within the stimulating environment of the Glycosciences Program at IBYME.

06.10.2025 06:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Iโ€™ll soon be looking for Masterโ€™s students, PhD students, and a postdoc to join the teamโ€”so if this sounds exciting to you, please donโ€™t hesitate to reach out!

06.10.2025 06:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

My research will focus on deciphering cell signaling at the molecular level by applying and developing cutting-edge super-resolution methods, with a particular emphasis on glycoimmune checkpoints, aiming to translate this knowledge into novel and improved therapies.

06.10.2025 06:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This grant gives me the opportunity to start building my own group, with support for setting up a state-of-the-art super-resolution microscopy lab.

06.10.2025 06:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thrilled to announce some big news!

Excited to share that Iโ€™ve been awarded a Wellcome Trust Early Career Award to establish my research as a Group Leader in the Glycosciences Program at the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IBYME) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning in early 2026.

06.10.2025 06:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 55    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Post image

Within this neuronal atlas we can reveal the three synapse classes, excitatory, inhibitory and the recently discovered mixed synapse. Organelle imaging of Peroxisomes (Pmp70) and the Golgi Apparatus (Golga5) reveals rare contact sides and even fused particles. (5/6)

02.10.2025 11:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

To show the power of the technique, we acquired a 13-plex 200 x 200 ยตm2 neuronal atlas in 3D. With this atlas we map the interaction architecture of three neurons, resolving organelles, cytoskeleton, vesicles and synapses at single-protein resolution. (4/6)

02.10.2025 11:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

We demonstrate speed-optimized left-handed DNA-PAINT by characterizing the sequence binding kinetics and resolving three main microscopy benchmarking targets, mitochondria, microtubules and nuclear pore complexes with <5 nm localization precision. (3/6)

02.10.2025 11:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

The mirrored design of left-handed oligonucleotides allows the extension of the common 6 speed-sequences R1-R6 with their analogs L1-L6, enabling 12 target multiplexing with a standard secondary label-free DNA-PAINT workflow. (2/6)

02.10.2025 11:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Highly efficient 12-color multiplexing with speed-optimized DNA-PAINT. We are excited to share our latest paper in @natcomms.nature.com, using left-handed DNA to extend speed-optimized DNA-PAINT to 12 targets in a simple and straightforward way! ๐Ÿงฌ๐Ÿ‘ˆ๐Ÿš€https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64228-x

02.10.2025 11:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 28    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
One talk by Luciano Masullo at 10 am and another talk at 3 pm by Adam Cohen, both next Tuesday, October 7, at the MPI for Medical Research Heidelberg.

One talk by Luciano Masullo at 10 am and another talk at 3 pm by Adam Cohen, both next Tuesday, October 7, at the MPI for Medical Research Heidelberg.

๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐Ÿ“… Invitation to two talks at our institute next Tuesday, October 7: ๐Ÿคฉ Luciano Masullo @lumasullo.bsky.social from @mpibiochem.bsky.social at 10 am, Adam Cohen @harvard.edu at 3pm, also online:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#maxplanck #mpimr #colloquium #medicalresearch #sciencetalks #science

02.10.2025 10:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Localization of single molecules with structured illumination and structured detection - Light: Science & Applications Light: Science & Applications - Localization of single molecules with structured illumination and structured detection

Happy to share this article with my views on @elislenders.bsky.social and @vicidominilab.bsky.social work and discussing current developments in single-molecule localization combining structured excitation and detection. So many exciting perspectives in the field!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

30.09.2025 18:17 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 23    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Congratulations, Rita! And thanks for all the amazing work at Nature Methods!

01.08.2025 23:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thanks so much, Mahipal!!

30.07.2025 21:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

ร…ngstrรถm-resolution imaging of cell-surface glycans

Now published in Nature Nanotechnology! ๐Ÿคฉ
@natnano.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

30.07.2025 14:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 37    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
ร…ngstrรถm-resolution imaging of cell-surface glycans - Nature Nanotechnology By combining bioorthogonal metabolic labelling and resolution enhancement through sequential imaging of DNA barcodes, the molecular organization of individual sugars in the native glycocalyx has been ...

New paper online:

ร…ngstrรถm-resolution imaging of cell-surface glycans.

The molecular organization of sugars in the native #glycocalyx has been resolved at 9 รฅngstrรถm using bioorthogonal metabolic labeling and #superresolution imaging of DNA barcodes.

#Glycotime

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

28.07.2025 09:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 38    ๐Ÿ” 20    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4
Preview
Resolving the structural basis of therapeutic antibody function in cancer immunotherapy with RESI - Nature Communications The nanoscale organization of the antigen-antibody complexes influences the therapeutic action of monoclonal antibodies. Here, the authors present a multi-target 3D RESI imaging assay for the nanomete...

Congratulations to everyone involved: @ipachmayr.bsky.social, @lumasullo.bsky.social, @susannereinhardt.bsky.social, Jisoo Kwon, Ondล™ej Skoล™epa, Maite Llop, Sylvia Herter, Marina Bacac and Christian Klein. (6/6)
Read the full story here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

28.07.2025 08:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Super-resolution imaging in wholeย cells and tissues via DNA-PAINT on a spinning disk confocal with optical photon reassignment - Nature Communications Zaza and colleagues demonstrate that DNA-PAINT on a spinning disk confocal microscope with optical photon reassignment enables high-resolution imaging across large fields and imaging depths, resolving...

Can we break past the usual limits of #SuperResolution #Microscopyโ€”achieving deep-imaging, high-res, large FOV imaging without the trade-offs?
๐Ÿงฌ๐Ÿ”ฌ YES: with #DNA_PAINT + Spinning Disk Confocal + Optical Photon Reassignment (#SDC-OPR)!
๐Ÿ“„ www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natcomms.nature.com!
๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡

30.05.2025 15:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 31    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Congrats!! Itโ€™s an amazing story! ๐Ÿคฉ

23.05.2025 17:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Big congrats, Florian!! ๐Ÿฅณ๐Ÿคฉ All the best at this new super exciting position!! ๐Ÿš€

22.05.2025 14:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Spatial and stoichiometric in situ analysis of biomolecular oligomerization at single-protein resolution - Nature Communications Extracting quantitative information on biomolecular oligomerisation with high resolution remains a significant challenge. Here, the authors propose SPINNA, a framework that compares nearest-neighbour ...

A new study by @jungmannlab.bsky.social presents #SPINNA, a model-based tool for quantifying protein stoichiometry, oligomerization state, and spatial arrangement from super-resolution data.๐Ÿ”ฌFor precise labeling of #GFP & #mCherry fusion proteins researchers used our #nanobodies ๐Ÿ˜Š
๐Ÿ“„ bit.ly/4jTHfes

13.05.2025 10:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Very excited to present our latest work: SPINNA, an analysis framework and software package for single-protein resolution data! ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ๐Ÿคฉ

We can directly quantify stoichiometry and oligomerization from super-res (DNA-PAINT, RESI) images!! ๐Ÿงฌ๐ŸŽจ

07.05.2025 14:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 30    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Spatial and stoichiometric in situ analysis of biomolecular oligomerization at single-protein resolution - Nature Communications Extracting quantitative information on biomolecular oligomerisation with high resolution remains a significant challenge. Here, the authors propose SPINNA, a framework that compares nearest-neighbour ...

Spatial and stoichiometric in situ analysis of biomolecular oligomerization at single-protein resolution

We are excited to present our latest work published in @natcomms.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

07.05.2025 14:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 44    ๐Ÿ” 17    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

@lumasullo is following 20 prominent accounts