Metabolic Imaging & Tissue engineering Group News

It is well-known that the fluorescent and phosphorescent nanoparticle sensor probes are a powerful imaging tool to study the physiology at the level of live cells and tissues. They are bright, exceptionally photostable and can be compatible with multiple detection modes - "multi-modal" probes - for quantitative measurements. However, they are often tailored to particular cell model and their targeting to specific cell types represents a challenging task. To address this, Dr. S. Borisov (Graz University of Technology), Dr. R. Dmitriev and collaborators from Graz University of Technology (Austria), UCC, RCSI (Dublin) and Pirogov Russian State Medical University (Russia) introduced a new concept of copolymer nanoparticles for O2 sensing. These nanoparticles are based on two dyes (antenna and porphyrin) with controlled FRET leading to improved (5-10 times) brightness and two-photon absorption, in comparison to any existing Pt-porphyrin-based O2-sensitive nanoparticles. On the o

PhD candidate James Jenkins, Dr. Ruslan Dmitriev and Prof. Dmitri Papkovsky have contributed to  the book "Advanced Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting Applications", recently published by Springer (series Chemical Physics, Volume 111, 2015). The book chapter entitled "Imaging cell and tissue O2 by TCSPC-PLIM" (pages 225-247) describes general protocols, methods and probes/ sensors suitable for real-time analysis of live cell and tissue oxygenation with broad variety of 2D and 3D models. TCSPC is a modern method allowing simultaneous measurements of both fluorescence and phosphorescence lifetimes of excited dyes. This can be applied for quantitative detection of O2, pH, Ca2+ and other physiological parameters. The book chapter and the book can be accessed here .

Dr. Ruslan Dmitriev has attended the annual 'Experimental Biology' conference which gathers scientists from ASBMB, APS, AAA, ASPET and other societies and is one of the main big (> 10,000 participants annually) meetings in Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, held in USA. Dr. Dmitriev was able to attend (poster presentation) through generous support of ASBMB (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and their Postdoctoral Travel Award. Dr. Dmitriev is a member of ASBMB since 2007. More information on Experimental Biology conference can be found here . Also the  Program of 2015 meeting . The e-poster can be viewed here .

PhD candidate Caroline Kelly and co-authors just published another research paper on polymeric film O2 sensor materials. The article published in Materials & Design (Elsevier) journal describes improved procedure of manufacturing of solvent-crazed optical sensor materials, using automated puncture test device. This should allow continuous production of such sensor materials and their rapid dissemination in food packaging industry. The full-text can be found here .