16.08.2010

Sensing Forces in the Microworld

Holographic optical tweezers (HOT) are a versatile tool allowing for the generation of complex arrays of multiple optical traps which act as force sensors with piconewton resolution. The combination of HOT and stop-flow microfluidics integrated with a fluorescence microscope gives full spatial, chemical and visual control over the microenvironment. This allows us to investigate the dynamic properties of complex biosystems at the microscale, such as crosslinking in biomimetic actin networks.

Creating Biomimetic in vitro Models
more10.08.2010

Fluorescent mRNA HER2 FISH

The analysis of the HER2 status is a prerequisite for antibody (and kinase-inhibitor) based, target specific therapy in breast cancer. The diagnosis is usually done on protein level by immunohistochemistry (IH) and/or on DNA level by (Fluorescence)-in-situ-Hybridization (ISH, FISH). Strong HER2 overexpression scored 3+ (on a scale ranging from 0 over 1+, 2+ to 3+) by IH is most often based on HER2 gene amplification and either diagnostic finding is basically indicative for Trastuzumab therapy of breast cancer patients. more19.07.2010

Enhancing the Efficiency of Resource Use

We report on the development and testing of an integrated web-based project- and access-management system (PAMS) to improve the management of shared resources by technical platforms in a scientific research environment. more05.07.2010

Abnormal Cells Under Investigation

Fluorescence microscopy combines the power of high performance optical components and digital image analysis. The emission signals of fluorescent dyes show a significant spectral crosstalk which inevitably increases with the number of fluorescent dyes used. However, it is possible to significantly reduce the effects of spectral crosstalk by the application of spectral imaging and spectral unmixing techniques. Spectral imaging is the combination of computer vision and spectroscopy. Epidemiology of Breast Cancer more03.05.2010

dSTORM

Optical microscopes are subject to the diffraction barrier of light which imposes an optical resolution limit of approximately 200 nm in the imaging plane. dSTORM enables super-resolution imaging with commercially available standard fluorophores and probes at a resolution of ~ 20 nm even in living cells. more22.02.2010

Perspectives of Superresolution in Neurobiology

Fully understanding the functionality and the complexity of the human central nervous system remains as one of the major open questions in modern science. The Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a widely used and acknowledged model for the analysis of synapse structure and assembly. When considering the size of a Drosophila NMJ synapse of about 500 nm in diameter it appears logical that in order to visualize its spatial architecture the resolution of image acquisition methods needs to be accordingly high. more15.02.2010

Stem Cell Biology

The view of a tumor as an aberrant tissue whose growth and differentiation is sustained by cancer stem cells is now largely accepted for a wide variety of cancer diseases. Cancer stem cells, as their physiological counterparts, possess the ability to control their fate by maintaining themselves in a quiescent and undifferentiated state or self-renewing to geometrically expand their number. The first situation leads to an asymmetric division which gives origin to two well different daughter cells. more25.01.2010

Quantum Dots DNA Nanosensors

Semiconductor quantum dots are light-emitting nanocrystals (2-10 nm) that straddle the border between condensed matter and atomic physics. In a quantum dot, all three spatial dimensions of the crystal are limited to less than the exciton radius of the material such that discrete energy levels arise due to quantum confinement effects and the spacing of which can be controlled by manipulation of crystal size. more