0000000000885303
AUTHOR
Uwe Fischer
Expression of functional α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor during mammalian muscle development and denervation
We have studied, on the transcriptional, protein and functional level, the expression of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) in the course of rat muscle development, denervation and renervation. At foetal day 13, alpha7 nAChR expression was observed in somites and developing muscles of the back, but not yet in migrating myoblasts. Two days later, concomitant with myoblast aggregation, the alpha7 isoform began to be expressed in isolated myoblasts, with the highest level of expression in the frontal zone of the migrating wave. On foetal day 18, a time when the myoblasts in the upper hindleg have fused, alpha7 nAChR expression was most prominent in the outer layer of muscle tissu…
Photonic nanopatterns of gold nanostructures indicate the excitation of surface plasmon modes of a wavelength of 50-100 nm by scanning near-field optical microscopy
Scanning near-field optical microscopy images of metal nanostructures taken with the tetrahedral tip (T-tip) show a distribution of dark and bright spots at distances in the order of 25-50 nm. The images are interpreted as photonic nanopatterns defined as calculated scanning near-field optical microscopy images using a dipole serving as a light-emitting scanning near-field optical microscopy probe. Changing from a positive to a negative value of the dielectric function of a sample leads to the partition of one spot into several spots in the photonic nanopatterns, indicating the excitation of surface plasmons of a wavelength in the order of 50-100 nm in metal nanostructures.