Fluorescence Imaging News and Research

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Study quantifies photoactivation efficiency of fluorescent proteins

To know how many proteins assemble together at the nanoscale is fundamental for understanding protein function. Sometimes, proteins must be in an "oligomeric" state to be functional, although "oligomerization" of certain proteins can also lead to diseases. The ability to determine protein stoichiometry and monitor changes in the balance between monomeric, dimeric and multi-meric proteins can allow scientists to see the differences between a properly functioning cell and a diseased cell. Therefore, there is a great interest in being able to count proteins and determine their stoichiometry.

7 Jan 2014

Effective strategy for noninvasive detection of cancer

Molecules that bind and illuminate proteins specific to tumor cells are key to detecting cancer as early as possible. The cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme is just such a protein, as the concentration of COX-2 is greater in cancer cells than in adjacent normal tissues.

5 Nov 2013

Researchers develop brown fat detection method to combat obesity

When it comes to fat, you want the brown type and not so much of the white variety because brown fat burns energy to keep you warm and metabolically active, while white fat stores excess energy around your waist, causing health problems. Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School are studying brown fat with a goal of fighting obesity.

19 Sep 2013

New optical imaging tool enables scientists to observe tumors and uncover inner workings

Scientists seeking new ways to fight cancer often try to understand the subtle, often invisible, changes to DNA, proteins, cells, and tissue that alter the body's normal biology and cause disease.

18 Sep 2013

Scientists reveal how organic mercury can interfere with vision

More than one billion people worldwide rely on fish as an important source of animal protein, states the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. And while fish provide slightly over 7 per cent of animal protein in North America, in Asia they represent about 23 per cent of consumption.

12 Sep 2013

ASU expert receives $1.6 million grant to advance microscopy imaging research

At Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Nongjian (NJ) Tao has been designing advanced microscopy methods with the ambitious aim of capturing molecular-scale phenomena in living systems. The new techniques, which combine multiple imaging modalities, are poised to revolutionize the study of biology and the development of new drugs.

8 Aug 2013

New research reveals how endothelium maintains highly efficient barrier function

The endothelium, the cellular layer lining the body's blood vessels, is extremely resilient. Measuring just a few hundred nanometers in thickness, this super-tenuous structure routinely withstands blood flow, hydrostatic pressure, stretch and tissue compression to create a unique and highly dynamic barrier that maintains the organization necessary to partition tissues from the body's circulatory system.

17 May 2013

Caltech researchers develop technique to focus light inside biological tissue

Imagine if doctors could perform surgery without ever having to cut through your skin. Or if they could diagnose cancer by seeing tumors inside the body with a procedure that is as simple as an ultrasound.

27 Jun 2012

Firefly surgical technology sheds new light on kidney cancers

A surgical technology called Firefly is shedding new light on kidney cancers and helping doctors at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital remove tumors more safely and more efficiently while sparing the rest of the healthy kidney.

6 Jun 2012

New imaging probes can non-invasively detect breast cancer lymph node metastasis

Using two cell surface markers found to be highly expressed in breast cancer lymph node metastasis, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, working with colleagues at other institutions, have developed targeted, fluorescent molecular imaging probes that can non-invasively detect breast cancer lymph node metastasis.

13 Jan 2012

PRI now offers latest surgical robotics for patients with kidney tumors

The Porter Robotics Institute (PRI) now offers the latest in advanced surgical robotics available to patients with kidney tumors, allowing surgeons the ability to remove just a portion of the kidney.

21 Dec 2011

Knife-edge scanning microscopy rapidly maps new blood vessels in organs

Like normal tissue, tumors thrive on nutrients carried to them by the blood stream. The rapid growth of new blood vessels is a hallmark of cancer, and studies have shown that preventing blood vessel growth can keep tumors from growing, too. To better understand the relationship between cancer and the vascular system, researchers would like to make detailed maps of the complete network of blood vessels in organs. Unfortunately, the current mapping process is time-consuming: using conventional methods, mapping a one-centimeter block of tissue can take months.

1 Nov 2011

Multispectral fluorescence imaging system can localize cancer cells during surgery

Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequent forms of cancer that affect women. As tumors can initially grow unchecked in the abdomen without causing any major symptoms, patients are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and have to undergo surgery plus chemotherapy. During the operation, surgeons attempt to remove all tumor deposits as this leads to improved patient prognosis. To do this, however, they primarily have to rely on visual inspection and palpation - an enormous challenge especially in the case of small tumor nests or remaining tumor borders after the primary tumor excision.

20 Sep 2011

University of Groningen surgeons perform first fluorescence-guided ovarian cancer surgery

The first fluorescence-guided surgery on an ovarian cancer patient was performed using a cancer cell "homing device" and imaging agent created by a Purdue University researcher.

19 Sep 2011

New imaging method using fluorescent nanotubes can peer clearly into living mouse's innards

Developing drugs to combat or cure human disease often involves a phase of testing with mice, so being able to peer clearly into a living mouse's innards has real value.

30 May 2011

Nanoscopic findings may lead to new experimental methods for early multiple sclerosis diagnosis

Laboratory studies by chemical engineers at UC Santa Barbara may lead to new experimental methods for early detection and diagnosis -- and to possible treatments -- for pathological tissues that are precursors to multiple sclerosis and similar diseases.

24 May 2011

Quantum dots allow stem cell therapy monitoring for brain injury

A new technique using "quantum dots" produced through nanotechnology is a promising approach to monitoring the effects of stem cell therapies for stroke and other types of brain damage, reports the April issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

25 Mar 2011

New investigative tool may explore intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity

Nongjian Tao and his colleagues at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have pioneered a new technique capable of peering into single cells and even intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity.

25 Jan 2011

Researchers to test nanoparticle-based theranostics for pancreatic cancer treatment

Researchers from Rice University's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP), the radiology department at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are preparing to test a combined approach for diagnosing and treating pancreatic cancer with a specially engineered nanoparticle.

19 Oct 2010

Researchers discover rhythmic changes in synapse numbers regulate sleep cycles

With the help of tiny, see-through fish, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers are homing in on what happens in the brain while you sleep. In a new study, they show how the circadian clock and sleep affect the scope of neuron-to-neuron connections in a particular region of the brain, and they identified a gene that appears to regulate the number of these connections, called synapses.

8 Oct 2010