Fluorescence Imaging News and Research

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Quantum rods and dots image cancer cells

Brightly fluorescent quantum dots and quantum rods are quickly becoming important tools for identifying specific molecules and cells in living systems. Two new reports demonstrate some of the ways in which cancer researchers are using these nanoscale imaging agents.

26 Feb 2007

Optical and magnetic resonance imaging of cell death and platelet activation using annexin A5-functionalized quantum dots

By combining a quantum dot with a novel carrier of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agent gadolinium, a team of investigators at the University of Maastricht, in The Netherlands, has developed a nanoparticle that can spot apoptosis, or programmed cell death, using both MRI and fluorescence imaging.

8 Jan 2007

Dual-mode nanoparticle probes for high-performance magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging of neuroblastoma

Nanoscale, inorganic fluorescent imaging agents such as quantum dots have become an important tool for researchers studying key biomolecules involved in cancer.

18 Dec 2006

Cisplatin nanoliposomes for cancer therapy

Cisplatin is one of the most powerful and effective drugs for treating a wide variety of cancers, but many tumors develop resistance to this drug, ultimately limiting its benefits for cancer patients.

19 Sep 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

New tool to study protein kinase A - linked to heart failure

Scientists studying heart cells have devised a new way to visualize and quantify the rise and fall in the activity of a key enzyme linked to heart failure.

8 Aug 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

Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks as potential multimodal contrast enhancing agents

By combining the properties of inorganic and organic molecules in one material, researchers at the Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) have developed a new class of nanomaterials that can be used to create multifunctional nanoparticles.

10 Jul 2006

Myosin VI can act as molecular transporter

Myosin VI has been thought to be a monomer, but Park et al. show that full-length myosin VI can be a dimer, and can walk processively on actin. By increasing the concentration, a greater and greater fraction dimerizes in vitro, and walks processively on actin.

7 Feb 2006

Molecular motors cooperate in moving cellular cargo

Researchers using an extremely fast and accurate imaging technique have shed light on the tiny movements of molecular motors that shuttle material within living cells. The motors cooperate in a delicate choreography of steps, rather than engaging in the brute-force tug of war many scientists had imagined.

7 Apr 2005

Nose cells provide a window into the brain

In the first study to examine living nerve cells from patients with psychiatric disease, scientists from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, the University of Pennsylvania, and collaborating institutions report altered nerve cell function in olfactory receptor neurons from patients with bipolar disorder.

1 Mar 2005

Ultra-sensitive measurement technique shows how biomolecular motors carry out essential tasks

In the human body, hundreds of different types of biomolecular motors help carry out such essential tasks as muscle contraction, moving chromosomes during cell division, and reloading nerve cells so they can repeatedly fire.

30 Aug 2004