The SMS probe can help map all those complex and intricate cellular communication pathways by probing cell activities in the natural cellular environment.”
The SMS probe offers the capability to gently pull biomolecules (proteins, metabolites, peptides) precisely at a specific point on the cell/tissue surface, ionize these biomolecules and produce “dry” ions suitable for analysis and then transport those ions to the mass spectrometer (an instrument that can detect proteins present even in ultra-small concentrations by measuring the relative masses of ionized atoms and molecules) for identification. The probe does this dynamically (not statically), imaging the surface and mapping cellular activities and communication potentially in real time. In essence, in scanning mode, the SMS probe could create images similar to movies of cell biochemical activities with high spatial and temporal resolution.
The SMS probe can be readily integrated with the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) or other scanning probes, and can not only image biochemical activity but also monitor the changes in the cell/tissue topology during the imaging.
“The probe potentially allows us to detect complex mechano-bio-electro-chemical events underlying cell communication, all at the same time!” Fedorov said. “The future work is in refinement of the idea and development of a versatile instrument that can be used by biological and medical scientists in advancing the frontiers of biomedical research.”
The key challenge for the Georgia Tech team, which includes Dr. Levent Degertekin, was to create a way for a mass spectrometer, the primary tool for studying proteins, to sample biomolecules from a small domain and do it dynamically, thus enabling biochemical imaging. The researchers had to find a way to pull the targeted molecules out of the sample, as if they were using virtual tweezers, and then transfer these molecules into a dry and electrically chargPage: 1 2 3 Related medicine news :1
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