Mitochondria and lipid droplets are among the earliest indicators of changing cell health, stress, and therapeutic response. Continuous label-free imaging with AI-powered analysis can reveal biological changes long before traditional endpoint assays. This newsletter edition shares some of the areas of metabolic disease research benefiting from Nanolive’s label-free approach, including studies sensitive to bias from fluorescent labeling and phototoxicity, such as neurodegenerative disease models.
Noninvasive phenotypic screening for Alzheimer’s markers in microglia
Join us on September 15th as Associate Professor Kimberley Bruce shares her team’s discovery of how metabolic function and Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis are linked.
This webinar will show how label-free live-cell phenotyping can help identify early disease-relevant cellular changes and connect them to mechanisms of microglial metabolic dysfunction. Dr Bruce will explore quantitative phenotypic readouts for live cells, lipid droplets, and mitochondria, complemented by proteomics to shed light on the effects of ApoE4, the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, in particular, how ApoE4 affects the metabolic reprogramming of microglia.
Sign up for the webinar and read the full description here.
Cell aging and disease
Label-free segmentation offers unparalleled insights into lipid droplet functions in skin aging, cancer and cardiovascular disease with robust quantitative data and minimal sample perturbation. The Smart Lipid Droplet Assay is a cutting-edge tool that uses artificial intelligence to segment lipid droplets based on their unique refractive index values, ranging from the single cell to the population level. Individual lipid droplets are colored with digital overlays, allowing for automatic extraction of unique multiparametric data. Comprehensive quantitative metrics cover lipid droplet distribution, content and morphology. Simultaneous cell segmentation enables more detailed analysis at the single cell level, integrating lipid droplet metrics with cell morphology data, as well as quantification of overall population dynamics.
Find out more about the Smart Lipid Droplet Assay in our flyer.
Kern Lipid Conference 2026
The Nanolive team recently attended the Kern Lipid Conference in Breckenridge, Colorado to share our technology for investigating metabolic disease at the cellular and subcellular levels. Presenting case study data in a poster, and performing a demonstration helped us to connect with the community and hear about current issues in the field.
Our team are always happy to discuss our digital and imaging solutions! To reach out, please use our contact form.
Key metabolic disease publications featuring Nanolive technology
- Osteogenesis: Suh, J. et al. ‘Mitochondrial fragmentation and donut formation enhance mitochondrial secretion to promote osteogenesis’. Cell Metabolism (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2023.01.003
- Fatty liver disease: Sherman, D. et al. ‘The fatty liver disease–causing protein PNPLA3-I148M alters lipid droplet–Golgi dynamics’. PNAS (2024). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2318619121
- SARS-CoV-2: Saunders, N. et al. ‘Dynamic label-free analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals virus-induced subcellular remodeling’. Nature Communications (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49260-7
- Breast cancer: Hu, D.-W. et al. ‘SLC6A14 Drives Mitochondrial Fusion and Oxidative Phosphorylation to Promote Cancer Stemness and Early-Onset of Breast Cancer’. Advanced Science (2025). https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202510811
- Embryo implantation: Komsky-Elbaz, A. et al. ‘Extracellular Vesicles, Lipid Droplets and AhR Ligands in Early Implantation: The Dynamics of Embryo-Maternal Crosstalk’ (2025). https://doi.org/10.1002/jev2.70161
- Cancer: Ibanez, S. et al. ‘Acidosis Forces Fatty Acid Uptake and Metabolism in Cancer Cells Regardless of Genotype’ (2025). https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202505436
You can find over 400 publications featuring Nanolive imaging here.
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Webinar – Noninvasive phenotypic screening for Alzheimer’s markers in microglia
Label-free assessment of immunotherapies for liquid tumors
