实验仪器使用技术

Several mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) procedures are used to localize physiologically active peptides in neuronal tissue from American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) neurosecretory organs. We report how to use this model system to assess, for the first time, the performance ...

The emerging technology mass spectrometric imaging (MSI) provides an attractive opportunity to detect and probe the molecular content of tissues in an anatomical context. This powerful methodology has been applied extensively to the localization of proteins, peptides, pharmac ...

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) can determine tissue localization for a variety of analytes with high sensitivity, chemical specificity, and spatial resolution. MS image quality typically depends on the MALDI matrix app ...

Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) has become a widely used technique to monitor protein–protein interactions. It involves resonance energy transfer between a bioluminescent donor and a fluorescent acceptor. Because the donor emits photons intrinsically, f ...

Protein fragment complementation assays (PCAs) with luciferase reporters currently are the preferred method for detecting and quantifying protein–protein interactions in living animals. At the most basic level, PCAs involve fusion of two proteins of interest to enzymatically ...

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals, and recently they have been shown as effective probes for cell labeling. Due to their unique spectral, physical, and chemical properties, QDs can concurrently tag multiple intercellular and intracellular components of live cells f ...

Imaging of αvβ3 expression in malignant diseases has been extensively studied in the last years, mainly because the level of integrin αvβ3 expression might be a surrogate parameter of angiogenic activity. Most studies have been performed using preclinical tumor models but recently fir ...

Atherosclerosis is a lipid deposition and inflammatory disease that results in considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Advances in molecular imaging, particularly near-infrared fluorescence imaging, are now enabling the in vivo study of fundamental biological pr ...

Apoptosis is a biological hallmark of both acute and chronic vascular pathology. It contributes to erosion and rupturing of atherosclerotic plaques, causing stroke and myocardial infarction, and plays an important role in post-angioplastic remodeling. Therefore, apoptosis is i ...

For molecular magnetic resonance imaging (mMRI), microparticles of iron oxide (MPIO) create potent hypointense contrast effects that extend a distance far exceeding their physical size. The potency of the contrast effects derive from their high iron content and are significantly gr ...

Transplantation of genetically engineered cells into the central nervous system (CNS) offers immense potential for the treatment of several neurological disorders. Monitoring expression levels of transgenes and following changes in cell function and distribution over time ...

Fluorescence lifetime is a powerful contrast mechanism for in vivo molecular imaging. In this chapter, we describe instrumentation and methods to optimally exploit lifetime contrast using a time domain fluorescence tomography system. The key features of the system are the use of point e ...

A number of altered pathways in cancer cells depend on growth factor receptors. The amplification/alteration of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been shown to play a significant role in enhancing tumor burden in a number of tumors, including malignant glioblastomas (GBM). To ...

Parkinsonism is a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. The underlying causes of parkinsonism are numerous. It is of paramount importance to make clean distinction among these diseases. However, the differential di ...

Myocardial fibrosis after myocardial infarction plays a major role in cardiac remodeling, development of heart failure, and arrhythmias. Both replacement and interstitial fibrosis are determined by the extent of myofibroblastic proliferation and hence the extent of collagen ...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), an irreversible, progressive neurodegenerative disorder clinically characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline, is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly, leading invariably to death within 7–10 years after diagnosis. In vivo amyloid imagi ...

Raman spectral imaging is a label-free, noninvasive optical technique to visualize the spatial distribution of biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and lipids in cells and tissues. Although Raman imaging has been successfully used in the last 5 years on single cells, an important drawba ...

The ability to quantify miRNA abundance at the single-cell level and image its spatial distribution could lead to unique insight into the biological roles of miRNAs and miRNA-associated gene regulatory networks. This protocol describes a method for quantitatively imaging miRNAs in s ...

Recently, several protocols for labeling of stem cells with superparamagnetic iron oxides (SPIOs) have been developed, leading to an active and growing field aimed at visualizing stem cells using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), including image-guided stem cell injections. This d ...

Characterization of the distributions of specific proteins and lipids within cellular membranes is currently a major challenge. Advances in secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) now enable the distributions of isotopically labeled lipids within cellular or model membranes to ...