Microscopy News and Research

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New methods for screening nanoparticles and interaction with human cells

Scientists have developed a screening method to examine how newly made nanoparticles - particles with dimensions on the order of billionths of a meter - interact with human cells following exposure for various times and doses.

21 Aug 2006

Dual-mode nanoscale imaging yields new details of cellular events

To create drugs capable of targeting malignancies, scientists must first decode exactly how a cell or a group of cells communicates with other cells and reacts to a broad spectrum of complex biomolecules surrounding it.

21 Aug 2006

Targeted magnetic nanoparticles may be useful in both detecting and treating metastatic breast cancer

An in-depth study of nanoparticle distribution in tumor-bearing mice has shown that targeted magnetic nanoparticles accumulate and cluster in both primary breast tumors and metastatic lesions that have developed in the lung.

21 Aug 2006

St. John's wort and polymeric nanoparticles to treat ovarian tumors using light

By combining a compound produced by the plant St. John's wort with polymeric nanoparticles, researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland have developed a promising method for treating ovarian tumors using light.

21 Aug 2006

Bladder urothelium in PBS/IC shows distinct differences in keratin profiles

Research groups from the Netherlands and Denmark led by Pilar Laguna studied urothelial involvement in PBS/IC by characterizing the keratin phenotype of bladder urothelium in 18 patients with the disorder.

20 Aug 2006

Researchers find precise location where an antibody binds to the West Nile virus

Researchers have learned the precise location where an antibody binds to the West Nile virus, and they have suggested a mechanism for how this antibody neutralizes the virus to prevent infection.

14 Aug 2006

Antioxidants may protect against Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other tick-borne illness

For hikers, campers and others who enjoy the outdoors, summer can bring concerns about tick bites and related illnesses such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

9 Aug 2006

For the first time, scientists watch neurons change in response to experience

Thanks to a new imaging system, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have gotten an unprecedented look into how genes shape the brain in response to the environment.

6 Aug 2006

Researchers discover amazing properties of fibrin fibers

The tiny fibers that comprise blood clots show extraordinary elasticity, on average stretching to almost three times their length while still retaining their ability to go back to their normal shape and expanding to more than four times their length before breaking.

3 Aug 2006

New technique paves the way for developing high-sensitive microsensors for the rapid detection of neurotoxins

To understand how brain cells release compounds used when the cells communicate with each other researchers devise new technique, that can be applied now to the study of a wide range of biological processes and interactions.

3 Aug 2006

How kidneys retain proteins, discard waste

New research may finally settle a decades-old debate about how the kidney keeps valuable blood proteins from harmfully slipping into the urine, a serious health symptom that often precedes kidney failure.

2 Aug 2006

New genetic model for Parkinson's disease

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden are homing in on mechanisms that may explain one set of causes for Parkinson's disease.

1 Aug 2006

Do close surgical margins predict if breast cancer will return?

Cancer cells present after additional surgery for breast cancer may predict whether a woman will see her cancer return.

1 Aug 2006

Construction of proteins with new mechanical properties through recombination of protein fragments

So that we can move, and so that our heart beats, we need proteins with special mechanical properties, "molecular springs", which give our tissues the necessary strength and take care of elasticity and tensibility.

1 Aug 2006

New diagnostic tool for prostate cancer

According to the World Health Organization there are about 250,000 new cases of prostate cancer every year but, when caught in time, the disease has a cure rate of over 90%.

19 Jul 2006

Doctors may be over-diagnosing melanoma in sun-damaged skin

A Mayo Clinic physician and colleagues have defined the normal number of melanocytes that are present in Caucasians' sun-exposed skin.

18 Jul 2006

Secrets of cells revealed

With the advancement of technology we are managing to see ever smaller and smaller pieces of the puzzle that is life.

17 Jul 2006

Scientists develop piezoresponse force microscopy

A seminal early event in the history of nanotechnology was the development of the atomic force microscope (AFM), which used a nanoscale cantilever to image solid materials at the atomic level.

17 Jul 2006

Gene screen for breast cancer better than pathologist's "eye"

Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a method they developed to screen body fluids for certain kinds of cells and some of their genetic blueprint is twice as accurate at spotting breast cancer cells as a pathologist's view with a microscope.

17 Jul 2006

A new diagnostic tool for prostate cancer

According to the World Health Organization there are about 250,000 new cases of prostate cancer every year but, when caught in time, the disease has a cure rate of over 90%.

12 Jul 2006