Fluorescence News and Research

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New insights into what happens on a molecular level during photosynthesis

In a technical advance that could allow researchers to watch cells as they act during the process of photosynthesis, scientists have developed a method that extends the power of fluorescence-mediated bio-imaging to see discrete pigments inside live cells of bacteria.

6 Mar 2008

New nanotube findings give boost to potential biomedical applications

Carbon nanotubes have shown real promise as highly accurate vehicles for delivering antitumor agents into malignant cells, but a dearth of data about what happens to the tubes after they discharge their medical payloads has been a major stumbling block to progress.

3 Mar 2008

Preclinical antitumor efficacy evaluation of dendrimer-based methotrexate conjugates

Although a variety of nanoparticles continue to show promise for improving cancer imaging and therapy, regulators and drug developers are concerned that these delivery systems may prove difficult to manufacture on a consistent basis, which is key for any agent designed for use in humans.

3 Mar 2008

Fluorescent nanoparticles image tumor marker in animals

Since 2004 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved three new-generation anticancer therapies that target epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein that is greatly overexpressed on certain types of tumors, including some forms of colorectal and lung cancer.

3 Mar 2008

Breast cancer subtypes linked to survival from secondary brain tumors

Screening breast cancers for three receptors could help doctors predict the likely survival of patients with brain metastases.

28 Feb 2008

Powerful new cell research tool

The view into the inner world of living cells just got a little brighter and more colorful.

26 Feb 2008

New metabolic imaging instrument shows promise as screening device in diabetes and other major eye diseases

Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that their new metabolic imaging instrument can accurately detect eye disease at a very early stage.

26 Feb 2008

Worm defecation holds clues to widespread cell-to-cell communication process

The focus of two recent Nobel prizes, a species of roundworm has made possible another advance in the understanding of how cells talk to one another, according to a study published online Feb. 21 in the journal Current Biology.

22 Feb 2008

Genetic tags reveal secrets of memories' staying power in mice

A better understanding of how memory works is emerging from a newfound ability to link a learning experience in a mouse to consequent changes in the inner workings of its neurons.

21 Feb 2008

New method for detecting HER2 breast cancer

Generations of mothers have served up chicken soup to remedy the common cold, but now the therapeutic fowl may find use in diagnosis as well.

21 Feb 2008

Tumor-killing virus selectively targets diseased brain cells

New findings show that a specialized virus with the ability to reproduce its tumor-killing genes can selectively target tumors in the brains of mice and eliminate them.

20 Feb 2008

Scientists shed light on long-distance signaling in developing neurons

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret.

20 Feb 2008

New key finding in neurodevelopment

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret. A team led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College says they have determined how events at the very tips of the developing neuron's long, skinny axon affect gene transcription back in the cell's distant nucleus.

20 Feb 2008

Transplanted cells can cure hemophilia

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown for the first time that transplanted cells can cure hemophilia A (the most common form of the disease) in an animal model.

18 Feb 2008

How a red blood cell loses its nucleus

Unlike the rest of the cells in your body, your red blood cells lack nuclei.

17 Feb 2008

How red blood cells nuke their nuclei

Unlike the rest of the cells in your body, your red blood cells lack nuclei.

12 Feb 2008

New devices to boost nematode research on neurons and drugs

A pair of new thin, transparent devices, constructed with soft lithography, should boost research in which nematodes are studied to explore brain-behavior connections and to screen new pharmaceuticals for potential treatment of parasitic infections in humans, report 10 scientists at three institutions.

7 Feb 2008

Microscopic imaging technique reveals rapid formation of Alzheimer's-associated plaques

The amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients may form much more rapidly than previously expected.

7 Feb 2008

Scientists create fluorescent proteins for live cell imaging, biosensor design

Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University's Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center have developed new "fluorogen activating proteins" (FAPs) that will become a key component of novel molecular biosensor technology being created at Carnegie Mellon.

7 Feb 2008

New discovery, immune cells confront viruses just inside of the lymph node

Vaccines have led to many of the world's greatest public health triumphs, but many deadly viruses, such as HIV, still elude the best efforts of scientists to develop effective vaccines against them. An improved understanding of how the immune system operates during a viral infection is critical to designing successful anti-virus vaccines.

4 Feb 2008