바이오인

 

By Katherine Bourzac

 

The list of genes and proteins associated with cancer and other diseases is growing rapidly: earlier this month, for instance, scientists reported sequencing the whole genome of a cancer cell for the first time. A field called molecular imaging puts this information in context by letting scientists watch biological molecules in action inside diseased cells and tissues. Now researchers have found a way to let molecular imaging that uses near-infrared light peer deeper into the body.

 

Fluorescent-protein tags can be made to target just about any biological protein, be it an enzyme that helps cancer cells advance through surrounding tissue or a marker of arthritic inflammation. But their use has been limited to shallow tissues in humans or to small animals. The markers are activated by, and emit, near-infrared or infrared light, which scatters in tissue; the more tissue the light has to penetrate, the rier the images. A new 3-D near-infrared imaging system uses ultrafast cameras to capture light that hasn't scattered. It's been used to create richer, higher-resolution images of the molecular workings of lung cancer in mice, and with further development, it might be used to study disease in thicker tissues and in people. The research was led by Vasilis Ntziachristos, director of the Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging at the Helmholtz Center, in Munich, and Mark Niedre, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University, in Boston.

 

...................(계속)

 

☞ 자세한 내용은 내용바로가기 또는 첨부파일을 이용하시기 바랍니다.