Tracking Depression

Molecular probe specifically detects serotonin in fluorescence imaging

10-Sep-2024 - Serotonin in depression is highly relevant in diagnosis, treatment, and drug development. To better study this area, a Chinese team has now developed a fluorescent probe for imaging processes that is highly sensitive and selective toward serotonin. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, they also ...

Testing how well biomarkers work

Researchers have developed a method to determine how reliably target proteins can be labeled using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

02-May-2024 - Modern microscopy techniques make it possible to examine the inner workings of cells in astonishing detail. “We can now observe the arrangement and interaction of individual proteins under the microscope,” says Professor Ralf Jungmann, Chair of Molecular Physics of Life at LMU and Max Planck ...

How mosquito larva guts could help create highly specific insecticides

Did you know that the world’s deadliest animal is the mosquito?

10-Apr-2024 - Aedes aegypti is one of the most dangerous mosquito. This bug spreads viruses that cause dengue fever, which was recently declared as an epidemic in Puerto Rico. Research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports new molecules that label proteins in the unique, alkaline ...

Microscopy: Overcoming the traditional resolution limit for the fast co-tracking of molecules

Researchers have developed an innovative method to simultaneously track rapid dynamic processes of multiple molecules at the molecular scale

16-Feb-2024 - Processes within our bodies are characterized by the interplay of various biomolecules such as proteins and DNA. These processes occur on a scale often within a range of just a few nanometers. Consequently, they cannot be observed with fluorescence microscopy, which has a resolution limit of ...

New nanosensors make diagnostic procedures more sensitive

The nanosensors can be used to track reactions with invisible light, saving materials and time

16-Feb-2024 - The Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS and Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have developed a process that enables a new form of signal amplification for diagnostic tests. Through the advanced use of luminescent single walled carbon nanotubes in bioanalytics, test ...

Lighting up Alzheimer’s-related proteins to allow for earlier disease detection

08-Feb-2024 - Many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, are difficult to diagnose before symptoms begin to appear. However, disease-related biomarkers such as aggregated proteins called amyloids could provide important insight much earlier, if they can be readily detected. ...

Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Tissue-Integrated Sensitive Glucose Nanosenor Using Inactive Glucose Oxidase Enzyme

09-Jan-2024 - Monitoring glucose levels is one of the key elements in health monitoring. A research team has now developed a battery-independent fluorescent nanosensor based on single-wall carbon nanotubes and an inactive form of the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx). Because the enzyme is not in its active form, ...

Tracking down Environmental Toxins

Detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by interrupted energy transfer

02-Nov-2023 - PFAS, a family of highly fluorinated substances, represent a danger for humans and the environment. Particularly problematic members of this family, such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) appear to cause organ damage and cancer, as well as disrupting the ...

Anti-counterfeiting fluorescent marker developed - Sweet code with laser printing

07-Jun-2023 - A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI) has developed a method that could make it more difficult to counterfeit products in the future. The new and patented method makes it possible to produce unique, non-copyable fluorescent patterns quickly, ...

Fluorescent blue coumarins in a folk-medicine plant could help us see inside cells

21-Apr-2023 - Plants that glow under ultraviolet (UV) light aren’t only a figment of science fiction TV and movies. Roots of a traditional medicine plant called the orange climber, or Toddalia asiatica, can fluoresce an ethereal blue hue. And now, researchers in ACS Central Science have identified two coumarin ...