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Dank der mit modernen NMR-Spektrometern (Kernspintomographen) routinemäßig realisierbaren isotropen räumlichen Auflösungen von wenigen Mikrometern, ergeben sich für die 1H NMR-Mikroskopie zahlreiche neue Anwendungsgebiete. Allerdings sind die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der NMR-Mikroskopie bezüglich ihrer praktischen Anwendbarkeit bisher nur wenig untersucht worden. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist im Bereich der biophysikalischen Grundlagenforschung angesiedelt und soll die praktische Anwendbarkeit der NMR-Mikroskopie auf neuen medizinischen und biologischen Anwendungsgebieten anhand von ausgewählten Beispielen aus diesen Bereichen demonstrieren. Die einzelnen Projekte besitzen deswegen immer auch den Charakter von Machbarkeitsstudien, die aufzeigen sollen, welche Möglichkeiten und Vorteile die NMR-Mikroskopie im Vergleich zu etablierten Untersuchungsmethoden bietet. Im Detail wurden unterschiedliche lebende und fixierte biologische Proben mittels NMR-Mikroskopie zerstörungsfrei und räumlich hochaufgelöst dargestellt. Dabei variierte die spezielle Zielsetzung von der Visualisierung der Invasion eines Tumorsphäroiden in ein Zellaggregat anhand von T2-Parameterkarten (Zeitkonstante der Spin-Spin-Relaxation) über die dreidimensionale Darstellung des Gehirns der Honigbiene in der intakten Kopfkapsel bis hin zur nicht-invassiven Abbildung der Anatomie prenataler Delphine. Für alle durchgeführten Projekte war der nicht-invasive Charakter der NMR-Experimente von entscheidender Bedeutung. Die zu beobachtende Tumorinvasion durfte nicht durch die Messung beeinflusst werden, das Bienengehirn sollte möglichst naturgetreu abgebildet werden, und die untersuchten Delphine sind seltene Museumsstücke, die nicht zerstört werden durften. Die verschiedenen Proben wurden mit der jeweils bestmöglichen räumlichen Auflösung visualisiert, die sich entweder durch das minimal nötige Signal-zu-Rausch-Verhältnis (SNR) oder durch die zur Verfügung stehende Messzeit ergab. Um einzelne feine Strukturen in den Bildern auflösen zu können, mussten sowohl das SNR, als auch das Kontrast-zu-Rausch-Verhältnis optimiert werden. Die Messungen wurden an Hochfeld-NMR-Spektrometern bei 500 und 750 MHz durchgeführt, um das für die hohe Auflösung notwendige SNR zu gewährleisten. Mit den Experimenten konnten zahlreiche Fragen bezüglich mikroskopischer Details der verschiedenen untersuchten Proben nicht-invasiv beantworten werden. Gleichzeitig führten sie zu neuen interessanten Fragestellungen bezüglich der NMR-Mikroskopie an fixierten Proben. Darüber hinaus konnte die praktische Anwendbarkeit der NMR-Mikroskopie als Alternative bzw. Ergänzung zu herkömmlichen Untersuchungsmethoden wie der konfokalen Lasermikroskopie bei der Visualisierung des Bienengehirns und der konventionellen Histologie bei der Untersuchung der Anatomie der prenatalen Delphine demonstriert werden. Durch die Untersuchung der speziellen Vorteile und der Grenzen der Anwendung der NMR-Mikroskopie gegenüber den herkömmlichen Untersuchungsmethoden konnte konkret der praktische Nutzen ihres Einsatzes aufgezeigt und Ergebnisse erzielt werden, die sonst nicht erzielbar wären. Gerade der Einsatz der NMR-Mikroskopie in Form der NMR-Histologie stellt einen vielversprechenden Weg zur Etablierung der NMR-Mikroskopie als Routineuntersuchungsmethode dar. Als ebenso erfolgreich hat sich die Anwendung der NMR-Mikroskopie als Untersuchungsmethode bei der Beobachtung der Tumorinvasion erwiesen, so dass sie auch in der medizinischen in-vitro Forschung und Therapiesimulation als sinnvolle Alternative zu den vorhandenen Methoden angesehen werden kann. Anhand der ausgewählten Anwendungsbeispiele ist es in dieser Arbeit somit gelungen, neue, konkrete Einsatzmöglichkeiten für die NMR-Mikroskopie zu eröffnen und ihre praktische Anwendbarkeit als Untersuchungsmethode für Fragestellungen im Bereich der medizinischen in-vitro Forschung und verschiedener neuro- und entwicklungsbiologischer Bereiche zu demonstrieren.
Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, neue Messverfahren zu entwickeln, die eine umfassende Charakterisierung des Herzmuskels ermöglichen. Sowohl die Morphologie als auch die Funktion und der Gefäßstatus wurden am intakten und am krankhaft veränderten isolierten Herzmuskel der Ratte mit NMR-Mikroskopietechniken untersucht.
The Transforming Growth Factor (TGF) superfamily of cytokines and their serine/threonine kinase receptors play an important role in the regulation of cell division, differentiation, adhesion, migration, organization, and death. Smad proteins are the major intracellular signal transducers for the TGF receptor superfamily that mediate the signal from the membrane into the nucleus. Bone Morphogenetic Protein-4 (BMP-4) is a representative of the TGF superfamily, which regulates the formation of teeth, limbs and bone, and also plays a role in fracture repair. Binding of BMP-4 to its receptor stimulates phosphorylation of Smad1, which subsequently recruits Smad4. A hetero-oligomeric complex consisting of Smad1 and Smad4 then translocates into the nucleus and regulates transcription of target genes by interacting with transcription factors. Although the individual steps of the signaling cascade from the receptor to the nucleus have been identified, the exact kinetics and the rate limiting step(s) have remained elusive. Standard biochemical techniques are not suitable for resolving these issues, as they do not offer sufficiently high sensitivity and temporal resolution. In this study, advanced optical techniques were used for direct visualization of Smad signaling in live mammalian cells. Novel fluorescent biosensors were developed by fusing cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins to the signaling molecules Smad1 and Smad4. By measuring Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between the two fluorescent proteins, the kinetics of BMP/Smad signaling was unraveled. A rate-limiting delay of 2 - 5 minutes occurred between BMP receptor stimulation and Smad1 activation. A similar delay was observed in the complex formation between Smad1 and Smad4. Further experimentation indicated that the delay is dependent on the Mad homology 1 (MH1) domain of Smad1. These results give new insights into the dynamics of the BMP receptor – Smad1/4 signaling process and provide a new tool for studying Smads and for testing inhibitory drugs.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging is a well-established imaging technique. If the achieved spatial resolution is below 100 um, it is usually denoted as magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM). The spatial resolution limit is on the order of a few um. As a downside, high resolution imaging is usually time-consuming and technological requirements are very sumptuous. Furthermore, miniaturization of the radiofrequency (RF) coil leading to a so-called microcoil is necessary; it also brings along detrimental effects. Therefore, there is a high potential for optimizing present MRM methods. Hence it is the aim of this work to improve and further develop present methods in MRM with focus on the RF coil and to apply those methods on new biological applications. All experiments were conducted on a Bruker 17.6 T system with a maximum gradient strength of 1 T/m and four RF receiver channels. Minimizing the RF coil dimensions, leads to increased artefacts due to differences in magnetic susceptibility of the coil wire and surrounding air. Susceptibility matching by immersing the coil in FC-43 is the most common approach that fulfills the requirements of most applications. However, hardly any alternatives are known for cases where usage of FC-43 is not feasible due to its specific disadvantages. Two alternative substances (bromotricholoromethane and Fomblin Y25) were presented and their usability was checked by susceptibility determination and demonstration experiments after shimming under practical conditions. In a typical MRM microcoil experiment, the sample volume is significantly smaller than the maximum volume usable for imaging. This mismatch has been optimized in order to increase the experiment efficiency by increasing the number of probe coils and samples used. A four-channel probehead consisting of four individual solenoid coils suited for cellular imaging of Xenopus laevis oocytes was designed, allowing simultaneous acquisition from four samples. All coils were well isolated and allowed quantitative image acquisition with the same spatial resolution as in single coil operation. This method has also been applied in other studies for increased efficiency: using X. laevis oocytes as a single cell model, the effect of chemical fixation on intracellular NMR relaxation times T1 and T2 and on diffusion was studied for the first time. Significant reduction of relaxation times was found in all cell compartments; after reimmersion in buffer, values return close to the initial values, but there were small but statistically significant differences due to residual formaldehyde. Embryos of the same species have been studied morphologically in different developmental stages. Wild type embryos were compared to embryos that had experienced variations in protein levels of chromosomal proteins HMGN and H1A. Significant differences were found between wild type and HMGN-modified embryos, while no difference was observed between wild type and H1-modified embryos. These results were concordant with results obtained from light microscopy and histology. The technique of molecular imaging was also performed on X. laevis embryos. Commercially available antibodies coupled to ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) dextrane coated particles (MACS) served as a specific probe detectable by MRM, the aim being the detection of tissue specific contrast variations. Initially, the relaxivity of MACS was studied and compared to Resovist and VSOP particles. The iron concentration was determined quantitatively by using a general theoretical approach and results were compared to values obtained from mass spectroscopy. After incubation with MACS antibodies, intraembryonal relaxation times were determined in different regions of the embryo. These values allowed determination of local iron oxide particle concentrations, and specific binding could be distinguished from unspecific binding. Although applications in this work were focused on X. laevis oocytes and embryos, 3D-imaging on a beewolf head was also carried out in order to visualize the postpharyngeal gland. Additionally, an isolated beewolf antenna was imaged with a spatial resolution of (8 um)^3 for depiction of the antennal glands by using a microcoil that was specially designed for this sample. The experiments carried out in this work show that commercially available MRM systems can be significantly optimized by using small sample-adapted RF coils and by parallel operation of multiple coils, by which the sample throughput and thus time-efficiency is increased. With this optimized setup, practical use was demonstrated in a number of new biological applications.
Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation wurden optische Eigenschaften von halbleitenden, einwandigen Kohlenstoffnanoröhren (SWNTs) der (6,5)-Chiralität untersucht. Dies gelang durch Ensemblemessungen aber vor allem durch den Aufbau eines Mikroskops zur Messung an einzelnen SWNTs. Dieses Einzel- SWNT-Mikroskop ermöglichte nebst „normaler“ Bildgebung durch Sammlung und Abbildung der nahinfraroten Photolumineszenz (PL) der (6,5)-SWNTs auch die spektral- und zeitaufgelöste Untersuchung der PL. Durch Verwendung von Dichtegradientenultrazentrifugation (DGU) zur chiralen Aufreinigung des SWNT-Rohmaterials konnten alle Messungen unter Minimierung des störenden Einflusses von Aggregaten oder SWNTs anderer Chiralität durchgeführt werden. Untersucht und bestimmt wurde der Absorptionsquerschnitt und die Exzitonengröße, die PL-Eigenschaften aggregierter SWNTs und der Einfluß der Permittivität auf die PL einzelner SWNTs.
Three-dimensional fluorescence imaging of thick tissue samples with near-molecular resolution remains a fundamental challenge in the life sciences. To tackle this, we developed tomoSTORM, an approach combining single-molecule localization-based super-resolution microscopy with array tomography of structurally intact brain tissue. Consecutive sections organized in a ribbon were serially imaged with a lateral resolution of 28 nm and an axial resolution of 40 nm in tissue volumes of up to 50 \(\mu\)mx50\(\mu\)mx2.5\(\mu\)m. Using targeted expression of membrane bound (m)GFP and immunohistochemistry at the calyx of Held, a model synapse for central glutamatergic neurotransmission, we delineated the course of the membrane and fine-structure of mitochondria. This method allows multiplexed super-resolution imaging in large tissue volumes with a resolution three orders of magnitude better than confocal microscopy.
Direct observation of many-body charge density oscillations in a two-dimensional electron gas
(2015)
Quantum interference is a striking manifestation of one of the basic concepts of quantum mechanics: the particle-wave duality. A spectacular visualization of this effect is the standing wave pattern produced by elastic scattering of surface electrons around defects, which corresponds to a modulation of the electronic local density of states and can be imaged using a scanning tunnelling microscope. To date, quantum-interference measurements were mainly interpreted in terms of interfering electrons or holes of the underlying band-structure description. Here, by imaging energy-dependent standing-wave patterns at noble metal surfaces, we reveal, in addition to the conventional surface-state band, the existence of an 'anomalous' energy band with a well-defined dispersion. Its origin is explained by the presence of a satellite in the structure of the many-body spectral function, which is related to the acoustic surface plasmon. Visualizing the corresponding charge oscillations provides thus direct access to many-body interactions at the atomic scale.
Synthesis of a far-red photoactivatable silicon-containing rhodamine for super-resolution microscopy
(2016)
The rhodamine system is a flexible framework for building small‐molecule fluorescent probes. Changing N‐substitution patterns and replacing the xanthene oxygen with a dimethylsilicon moiety can shift the absorption and fluorescence emission maxima of rhodamine dyes to longer wavelengths. Acylation of the rhodamine nitrogen atoms forces the molecule to adopt a nonfluorescent lactone form, providing a convenient method to make fluorogenic compounds. Herein, we take advantage of all of these structural manipulations and describe a novel photoactivatable fluorophore based on a Si‐containing analogue of Q‐rhodamine. This probe is the first example of a “caged” Si‐rhodamine, exhibits higher photon counts compared to established localization microscopy dyes, and is sufficiently red‐shifted to allow multicolor imaging. The dye is a useful label for super‐resolution imaging and constitutes a new scaffold for far‐red fluorogenic molecules.
HyphaTracker: An ImageJ toolbox for time-resolved analysis of spore germination in filamentous fungi
(2018)
The dynamics of early fungal development and its interference with physiological signals and environmental factors is yet poorly understood. Especially computational analysis tools for the evaluation of the process of early spore germination and germ tube formation are still lacking. For the time-resolved analysis of conidia germination of the filamentous ascomycete Fusarium fujikuroi we developed a straightforward toolbox implemented in ImageJ. It allows for processing of microscopic acquisitions (movies) of conidial germination starting with drift correction and data reduction prior to germling analysis. From the image time series germling related region of interests (ROIs) are extracted, which are analysed for their area, circularity, and timing. ROIs originating from germlings crossing other hyphae or the image boundaries are omitted during analysis. Each conidium/hypha is identified and related to its origin, thus allowing subsequent categorization. The efficiency of HyphaTracker was proofed and the accuracy was tested on simulated germlings at different signal-to-noise ratios. Bright-field microscopic images of conidial germination of rhodopsin-deficient F. fujikuroi mutants and their respective control strains were analysed with HyphaTracker. Consistent with our observation in earlier studies the CarO deficient mutant germinated earlier and grew faster than other, CarO expressing strains.
Opioid receptors (ORs) are classified among the oldest and best investigated drug targets due to their fundamental role in the treatment of pain and related disorders. ORs are divided in three conventional subtypes (μ, κ, δ) and the non‐classical nocicepetin receptor. All ORs are family A G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs), and are located on the cell surface. Modern biophysical methods use light to investigate physiological processes at organismal, cellular and subcellular level. Many of these methods rely on fluorescent ligands, thus highlighting their importance. This review addresses the advancements in the development of opioid fluorescent ligands and their use in biological, pharmacological and imaging applications.