Life Sciences & Biotech | Medicine
Excessive accumulation of copper, zinc and iron in breast cancer compared to normal breast tissues has been reported in a number of studies. The observation of such differences in bulk samples has in the last few years been followed up by small-beam imaging that allows metal levels to be mapped across a specimen revealing preferential sites of accumulation. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Medicine
A novel nano-tomography method developed by a team of researchers from the Technische Universität München TUM, the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the ETH Zurich opens the door to computed tomography examinations of minute structures at nanometer resolutions. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Medicine
X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy is used for human neoplastic tissues in order to investigate distributions and chemical states of iron. The specimens used in this study were obtained intraoperatively from brain gliomas of different types and various grades of malignancy and from a control subject. An integrated experimental and analytical approach toward topographic and quantitative analysis in thin freeze-dried cryo-sections is presented. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Molecular and cellular biology
The « AFMIR » infrared imaging technique, invented at CLIO, allows to map objects such as living cells with a high spatial resolution (< 100nm). In this example the cell located by AFM topography (a) is imaged in the infrared band characteristic of the nucleus (b) and of the compound whose localisation is searched, showing that it is located at the nucleus as expected. This technique avoids the use of any tag perturbing the biological process. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Molecular and cellular biology
Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) imaging has been used to investigate brain tumor angiogenesis using a mice solid tumor model. FTIR images of 20-μm-thick tissue sections were used for chemical histology of healthy and tumor areas. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Molecular and cellular biology
X-ray cryo-tomography (XCT) at the HZB full-filed X-ray microscope was applied to obtain, for the first time, a complete cartographic description of the maturation process of the vaccinia virus within whole unperturbed cells. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Molecular and cellular biology
The knowledge of the local atomic environment of copper in inorganic complexes containing scorpionate-based ligands is essential to study the relationship between cytotoxic activity and structure of the complexes. X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) experiments at the XAFS beamline provide the relevant structural information. The joint XAS and biological data evaluation allows to design new ligands useful for the synthesis of novel copper derivatives to be further evaluated as alternative anticancer drugs. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Molecular and cellular biology
Monitoring of the resultant lipid depletion (cross-validated by functional genomic analysis) as a marker of the 14 MeV neutron irradiation of skin of mice using high-resolution FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared) imaging spectroscopy.
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Life Sciences & Biotech | Molecular and cellular biology
For the first time, researchers have been able to determine the three-dimensional structure of an important membrane protein that regulates the ion balance of cells. The findings open up new possibilities to fight diseases such as malaria and sleeping sickness and have recently been published in the journal Science. read more
Life Sciences & Biotech | Other – Life sciences & Biotech
The origin of homo chirality on biopolymers, such as proteins, is still unknown. Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism spectroscopy has been used to support the theory that an enantiomeric excess can be induced into an otherwise racemic mixture of amino acids. Thus material delivered to the early earth via meteorites could have seeded the use of L-amino acids in life on earth. read more