New technique captures chemical reactions in a single living cell at unprecedented resolutionT

Bioengineers at the University of California-Berkeley have found a way to utilize metallic nanoplasmonic particles to detect chemical signals at a previoiusly impossible resolution. The new technique enables scientists to determine different actions of individual cells in real time. These actions include whether specific enzymes are activated or if certain genes are expressed. This procedure is also exciting because it could prove to be helpful in the monitoring of stem cell proliferation or disease progression. Scientists have been able to use other techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance to study clusters of cells. However, now they have the ability to study the actions of single cells. The technique uses absorption spectroscopy on a nano-scale. Researchers found that Cytochrome c (a protein involved in cell matabolixm and cell death) has an optical absorption peak of about 550 nm. By introducing gold nano-particles about 20-30 nm long, and knowing that gold particles oscillate at specific frequencies in response to light, the scientists were able to detect overlaps in absorption peaks of cytochrome c and the resonant frequency of the gold paticles. This overlap enables scientists to determine whether or not energy is exchanged between the protein and the particles and thereby model the reaction. This new technique to study biochemical processes of the cell is much more effective than the old technique which cut throught the outermembrane, thereby killing the cell. This new procedure is extremely exciting and looks to be an important step in the advancement of nanotechnology and molecular medicine.

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