Researchers can measure distances in molecules optically

MINFLUX microscopy allows the determination of distances within biomolecules using an optical microscope

15-Oct-2024 - A team led by physicists Steffen Sahl and Stefan Hell at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg has succeeded in measuring distances within biomolecules using a light microscope, down to one nanometer ...

Early Detection by Tango

Fast, uncomplicated, and specific: diagnosis of prostate cancer from blood samples

24-Aug-2022 - Early detection of prostate cancer, one of the most common types of cancer in men, is often achieved with PSA tests. However, this blood test for prostate-specific antigens gives many false positive results, causing unnecessary biopsies and overtreatment. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a ...

New high-throughput screening study may open up for future Parkinson's disease therapy

12-Sep-2018 - Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common movement disorder in the world. PD patients suffer from shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and have difficulties walking. It is neurodegenerative disease and is caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. Currently PD cannot be cured ...

Measuring the Nanoworld

Researchers establish a benchmark for accurate determination of internal dimensions within individual molecules

05-Sep-2018 - A worldwide study involving 20 laboratories has established and standardized a method to measure exact distances within individual biomolecules, down to the scale of one millionth of the width of a human hair. The new method represents a major improvement of a technology called single-molecule ...

Detecting hundreds of proteins in a single sample

Barcoding technique offers cost-effective alternative to current technology

17-Aug-2018 - New technology developed by a team of McGill University scientists shows potential to streamline the analysis of proteins, offering a quick, high volume and cost-effective tool to hospitals and research labs alike. Proteins found in blood provide scientists and clinicians with key information on ...

Nanoparticles help with malaria diagnosis

New rapid test in development

23-Nov-2017 - Malaria is caused by parasites transmitted by mosquito bite. The most dangerous form of malaria is malaria tropica. Left untreated, it is fatal in most cases. An early diagnosis is vital for the timely and right kind of therapy. There are five different types of parasites at the origin of the ...

Shedding light on protein interaction networks in a developing organism

28-Jul-2017 - Researchers succeeded for the first time in mapping protein-protein interactions in living developing plant roots. The findings were made by three international research groups led by the department of Plant Developmental Biology at Wageningen University and Research. The work is considered a ...

Plasmon-powered upconversion nanocrystals for enhanced bioimaging and polarized emission

23-May-2017 - Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals (UCNCs) have recently found great potential in the applications of near-infrared bioimaging and nonlinear optoelectronic devices due to their tunable spectral characteristics and excellent photostability. In particular, their near-infrared excitation ...

Biosensor measures signaling molecules within cilia

Scientists can measure the dynamics of signaling molecules in subcellular compartments

30-Mar-2016 - Scientists of the Research Center caesar in Bonn, an Institute of the Max Planck Society, developed a new biosensor, which allows to measure nanomolar levels of the second messenger cAMP. The sensor makes it possible to study cAMP signaling with high precision, even in subcellular compartments. ...

Large conformational changes without ATP consummation

Energy saving chaperone Hsp90

18-Jan-2012 - A special group of proteins, the so-called chaperones, helps other proteins to obtain their correct conformation. Until now scientists supposed that hydrolyzing ATP provides the energy for the large conformational changes of chaperone Hsp90. Now a research team from the Nanosystems Initiative ...