Search results for "Microscopy."

Non-linear optical, electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties of amphiphilic inner salt porphyrinic systems

2016

Three zwitterionic meso-substituted A3B- and AB2C-porphyrins containing one sulfonato alkylpyridinium substituent and three or two alkoxy-substituted phenyl groups were synthesized in good yield and fully characterized as to their physicochemical properties by a variety of techniques. This new series of inner salt donor-acceptor meso-substituted porphyrin derivatives were prepared for possible application as amphiphilic probes for membrane insertion in the area of combined second-harmonic and two-photon fluorescence cellular microscopy. To this end, the linear and nonlinear optical properties of the compounds were characterized, together with their electrochemical and spectroelectrochemica…

DNA-based applications in molecular electronics

2011

This thesis is mainly focused on DNA molecules and especially on self-assembled DNA constructs and their potential applications in nanotechnology and molecular electronics. In the field of molecular electronics the conductivity of DNA is a crucial - yet open - question, and it is of great concern, since DNA is a very promising molecule in a context of bottom-up based nanodevices due to its superior selfassembly characteristics. A key tool in all the experiments presented in this thesis is a dielectrophoretic trapping technique, which was exploited in spatial manipulation of individualDNA molecules, DNA constructs and also semiconducting quantum dots. In the case of DNA, the technique provid…

Spine and test skeletal matrices of the Mediterranean sea urchinArbacia lixula- a comparative characterization of their sugar signature

2015

15 pages; International audience; Calcified structures of sea urchins are biocomposite materials that comprise a minor fraction of organic macromolecules, such as proteins, glycoproteins and polysaccharides. These macromolecules are thought to collectively regulate mineral deposition during the process of calcification. When occluded, they modify the properties of the mineral. In the present study, the organic matrices (both soluble and insoluble in acetic acid) of spines and tests from the Mediterranean black sea urchin Arbacia lixula were extracted and characterized, in order to determine whether they exhibit similar biochemical signatures. Bulk characterizations were performed by mono-di…

Consistency of Targeted Metatranscriptomics and Morphological Characterization of Phytoplankton Communities

2020

The composition of phytoplankton community is the basis for environmental monitoring and assessment of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. Community composition studies of phytoplankton have been based on time-consuming and expertise-demanding light microscopy analyses. Molecular methods have the potential to replace microscopy, but the high copy number variation of ribosomal genes and the lack of universal primers for simultaneous amplification of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes complicate data interpretation. In this study, we used our previously developed directional primer-independent high-throughput sequencing (HTS) approach to analyze 16S and 18S rRNA community structures. C…

Transition from glass to digital slide microscopy in the teaching of oral pathology in a Brazilian dental school

2014

Objectives: Several medical and dental schools have described their experience in the transition from conventional to digital microscopy in the teaching of general pathology and histology disciplines; however, this transitional process has scarcely been reported in the teaching of oral pathology. Therefore, the objective of the current study is to report the transition from conventional glass slide to virtual microscopy in oral pathology teaching, a unique experience in Latin America. Study Design: An Aperio ScanScope® scanner was used to digitalize histological slides used in practical lectures of oral pathology. The challenges and benefits observed by the group of Professors from the Pira…

Two-photon excitation microscopy of tryptophan-containing proteins.

2002

We have examined the feasibility of observing single protein molecules by means of their intrinsic tryptophan emission after two-photon excitation. A respiratory protein from spiders, the 24-meric hemocyanin, containing 148 tryptophans, was studied in its native state under almost in vivo conditions. In this specific case, the intensity of the tryptophan emission signals the oxygen load, allowing one to investigate molecular cooperativity. As a system with even higher tryptophan content, we also investigated latex spheres covered with the protein avidin, resulting in 340 tryptophans per sphere. The ratio of the fluorescence quantum efficiency to the bleaching efficiency was found to vary b…

Algorithms and software for biological multiscale image analysis

2013

Phosphotungstic acid (PTA) in the synthesis of 3D CdS superstructures by diffusion assisted hydrothermal method

2015

Abstract In this study, the synthesis of cadmium sulfide (CdS) microstructures by gas diffusion assisted hydrothermal method using phosphotungstic acid (PTA) is reported. The as-synthesized products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of PTA dose, thioacetamide amount, time and temperature on the morphology of obtained particles have been studied. In this process, PTA ion host stabilizes the CdS particles against aggregation and thioacetamide plays two roles, being at the same time a sulfur source and a capping ligand. Based on the performed analyses it seems that the thioacetamide is mor…

Correlative Raman-Electron-Light (CREL) Microscopy Analysis of Lipid Droplets in Melanoma Cancer Stem Cells.

2022

Among all neoplasms, melanoma is characterized by a very high percentage of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Several markers have been proposed for their identification, and lipid droplets (LDs) are among them. Different techniques are used for their characterization such as mass spectrometry, imaging techniques, and vibrational spectroscopies. Some emerging experimental approaches for the study of LDs are represented by correlative light–electron microscopy and by correlative Raman imaging–scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Based on these scientific approaches, we developed a novel methodology (CREL) by combining Raman micro-spectroscopy, confocal fluorescence microscopy, and SEM coupled with an…

Exosome investigation: the approach of electron microscopy

2018

A mixture of cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are contained in the extracellular environment, in particular body fluids. The EVs originate from the lipid membranes of a variety of cells and are engaged in the intercellular communication in a broad range of physiological processes and pathological conditions. The smallest type of EVs, exosomes, with sizes ranging from 40 nm up to approximately 100 nm in diameter, originate from the endosome. Exosomes are natural nanoshuttles that are capable of delivering their cargo of RNA, lipids, and proteins to cells in close proximity and to distant cellular destinations. There is a rapidly growing interest in utilizing exosomes present in pati…