Labels

ACS Nano (1) Aerogel (1) Aerosol (1) Aids (1) Amgen (1) Antarctica (1) Applied Molecular Genetics (1) Archaeopteryx (1) Artificial Sight (1) Automobile (1) Backup (1) Bacteria (1) Bird (1) bumble bee (1) Cape Canaveral (1) Carbon nanotube (1) Cell Growth (1) Charon (1) climate (1) Colony collapse disorder (1) Consumer Electronics Show (2) Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (1) Deepwater Horizon oil spill (1) Dwarf planet (1) Earth Sciences (1) Earth Simulator (1) Energy (1) Energy storage (1) Environment (1) Epoetin alfa (1) Erythropoietin (1) European Southern Observatory (1) Financial transaction (1) Food and Drug Administration (1) Free Electron Laser (1) Fuel efficiency (1) Georgia Department of Natural Resources (1) Gliese 581 (1) Google (1) Google Reader (1) Gulf of Mexico (1) Health (1) High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (1) Hubble Space Telescope (1) Hybrid electric vehicle (1) Hybrid vehicle (1) IBM (1) Influenza (1) Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (1) Influenza vaccine (1) Journal of Experimental Medicine (1) Laser (1) Los Alamos National Laboratory (1) Methane (1) Military (1) Moon (1) Moons of Pluto (1) Motorola (1) NASA (1) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1) National Science Foundation (1) Neuroscience (1) New moon (1) North Atlantic right whale (1) Nova Scotia (1) obama (1) Office of Naval Research (1) Paleontology (1) Personal computer (1) PLoS Pathogens (1) Pluto (1) Prion (1) science (1) Sedation (1) Storage (1) Tablet computer (1) Technology (1) Underwater glider (1) United States (2) United States Navy (1) Universal Serial Bus (1) University of California Santa Cruz (1) University of Central Florida (1) University of Chicago (2) Verizon Communications (1) Virginia Institute of Marine Science (1) W. M. Keck Observatory (1) website (1) Whale (1) Wi-Fi (1)

Discovery News - Tech News

Discovery News - Top Stories

Discovery News - Animal News

CNN.com - Technology

Discovery News - Earth News

Total Pageviews

Delicious

Search This Blog

Powered By Blogger

Friday, November 20, 2009

Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging

Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging

November 18, 2009 04:30 PM
Biotechnology
Previous article: Scientists unravel evolution of highly toxic box
If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important—especially if you are watching changes that take a long time to unfold and require high-spatial-resolution imaging. But new research* makes it possible to scrutinize activities that occur over hours or even days inside cells, potentially solving many of the mysteries associated with molecular-scale events occurring in these tiny living things.


A joint research team, working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has discovered a method of using nanoparticles to illuminate the cellular interior to reveal these slow processes. Nanoparticles, thousands of times smaller than a cell, have a variety of applications. One type of nanoparticle called a quantum dot glows when exposed to light. These semiconductor particles can be coated with organic materials, which are tailored to be attracted to specific proteins within the part of a cell a scientist wishes to examine.
"Quantum dots last longer than many organic dyes and fluorescent proteins that we previously used to illuminate the interiors of cells," says biophysicist Jeeseong Hwang, who led the team on the NIST side. "They also have the advantage of monitoring changes in cellular processes while most high-resolution techniques like electron microscopy only provide images of cellular processes frozen at one moment. Using quantum dots, we can now elucidate cellular processes involving the dynamic motions of proteins."
For their recent study, the team focused primarily on characterizing quantum dot properties, contrasting them with other imaging techniques. In one example, they employed quantum dots designed to target a specific type of human red blood cell protein that forms part of a network structure in the cell's inner membrane. When these proteins cluster together in a healthy cell, the network provides mechanical flexibility to the cell so it can squeeze through narrow capillaries and other tight spaces. But when the cell gets infected with the malaria parasite, the structure of the network protein changes.
"Because the clustering mechanism is not well understood, we decided to examine it with the dots," says NIAID biophysist Fuyuki Tokumasu. "We thought if we could develop a technique to visualize the clustering, we could learn something about the progress of a malaria infection, which has several distinct developmental stages."
The team's efforts revealed that as the membrane proteins bunch up, the quantum dots attached to them are induced to cluster themselves and glow more brightly, permitting scientists to watch as the clustering of proteins progresses. More broadly, the team found that when quantum dots attach themselves to other nanomaterials, the dots' optical properties change in unique ways in each case. They also found evidence that quantum dot optical properties are altered as the nanoscale environment changes, offering greater possibility of using quantum dots to sense the local biochemical environment inside cells.
"Some concerns remain over toxicity and other properties," Hwang says, "but altogether, our findings indicate that quantum dots could be a valuable tool to investigate dynamic cellular processes."
Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging

No comments:

Post a Comment

Science Blogs


PR: 9
NASA.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/

NASA.gov brings you images, videos and interactive features from the unique perspective of America's space agency.

Read more


PR: 8
ScienceBlogs
http://scienceblogs.com/

ScienceBlogs was created by Seed Media Group. We believe that science literacy is a pre-condition for progress in the 21st century. At a time when public interest in science is high but public understanding of science remains weak, we have set out to create innovative media ventures to improve science literacy and to advance global science culture.

Read more


PR: 7
Bad Astronomy Blog
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/

Commentary on astronomy news and space-related myths and misinformation. By Phil Plait.

Read more


PR: 7
Cosmic Log
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/

Weblog by MSNBC.com science editor Alan Boyle, with daily science and space news and links.

Read more


PR: 7
Nature Newsblog
http://blogs.nature.com/news/blog/

News weblog of Nature periodical, allowing readers to comment on recent developments in science and technology.

Read more


PR: 7
PhysOrg Science News Weblog
http://www.physorg.com/weblog/

Covers recent science and technology discoveries and developments.

Read more


PR: 7
Science Blog
http://www.scienceblog.com/

General science and technology news weblog.

Read more


PR: 7
60 Second Science
http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/

Opinions, arguments and analyses from the editors of Scientific American.

Read more


PR: 7
A Voyage to Arctucus
http://avoyagetoarcturus.blogspot.com/

Jay Manifold's weblog about science and scientific applications.

Read more


PR: 7
WorldChanging
http://www.worldchanging.com/

Collaborative blog dedicated to current events and news, also covering scientific issues.

Read more


PR: 7
PhysOrg
http://www.physorg.com/

PhysOrg.com™ is a leading web-based science, research and technology news service which covers a full range of topics. These include physics, earth science, medicine, nanotechnology, electronics, space, biology, chemistry, computer sciences, engineering, mathematics and other sciences and technologies.

Read more


PR: 6
BioCurious
http://biocurious.com/

Physicists exploring an interest in biology.

Read more


PR: 6
Cleantech Blog
http://www.greentechblog.com

Blog providing commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.

Read more


PR: 6
The Flame Trench
http://www.floridatoday.com/floridatoday/blogs/spaceteam/

Dispatches on all things space from the Florida Today blockhouse at the Kennedy Space Center.

Read more


PR: 6
FuturePundit
http://www.futurepundit.com/

Future technological trends and their likely effects on human society, politics and evolution.

Read more


PR: 6
The Geomblog
http://geomblog.blogspot.com/

Ruminations on computational geometry, algorithms, theoretical computer science and life.

Read more


PR: 6
Gooz News
http://www.gooznews.com/

Pharmacology writer Merrill Goozner comments on science, health and the public interest.

Read more


PR: 6
Journalology
http://journalology.blogspot.com

Blog covering science publishing trends, ethics, peer review, and open access.

Read more


PR: 6
Lubos Motl's Reference Frame
http://motls.blogspot.com/

News, opinion and political commentary relating to string theory, mathematics and physics.

Read more


PR: 6
Next Big Future
http://nextbigfuture.com

Tracking progress to the future especially advanced nanotechnology, nuclear and energy technology, quantum computers, life extension, space technology and AI.

Read more