Metabolic Imaging & Tissue engineering Group News

Bernhard Mueller , a PhD student from Graz University of Technology , has recently visited our laboratory (1-19 August), to learn methods of live cell microscopy imaging and evaluate a number of new K-sensitive fluorescent sensing materials, for future development of high-performance intracellular K biosensors.

Dr. A. Zhdanov, Dr. I. Okkelman, Prof. D. Papkovsky and collaborators from APC Microbiome Institute (UCC) have published an article reporting the application of quantitative O2 PLIM imaging in analysis of normal and inflamed colonic mucosa. Using optimised staining protocol, the team observed increased oxygenation of the colitic mucosa, which was explained by decreased mitochondrial respiration, regulated by HIF-1a and piruvate oxidation rate. The article entitled 'Quantitative analysis of mucosal oxygenation using ex vivo imaging of healthy and inflamed mammalian colon tissue' has been published in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (CMLS) journal. The full text can be found here .

PhD candidate J. Jenkins, Prof. D. Papkovsky and Dr. R. Dmitriev have published new research paper, demonstrating the application potential of multi-parametric O2 PLIM imaging. The multiplexed O2 and pH imaging of 3D tumour spheroid model helped to study the function of membrane-associated ATPase SPCA2, under the conditions close to physiological. Authors confirmed that the enzyme can act as Mn2+ pump, is dependent on cell density and environmental O2 and is regulated through reactive oxygen species and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway. In addition, authors provide evidence that SPCA2 is involved in regulation of progression of cell cycle. The work combining classical biochemical methods with modern quantitative imaging and tissue engineering approaches has been published in Biochemical Journal . The full text can be found here .