• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권9호
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• pp.904-910
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• 2009

The development of effective cellular imaging requires a specific labeling method for targeting, tracking, and monitoring cellular/molecular events in the living organism. For this purpose, we studied the cellular uptake of isocyanide-functionalized silver and gold nanoparticles by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Inside a single mammalian cell, we could monitor the intracellular behavior of such nanoparticles by measuring the SERS spectra. The NC stretching band appeared clearly at ${\sim}2,100cm^{-1}$ in the well-isolated spectral region from many organic constituents between 300 and 1,700 or 2,800 and $3,600cm^{-1}$. The SERS marker band at ${\sim}2,100cm^{-1}$ could be used to judge the location of the isocyanide-functionalized nanoparticles inside the cell without much spectral interference from other cellular constituents. Our results demonstrate that isocyanide-modified silver or gold nanoparticle-based SERS may have high potential for monitoring and imaging the biological processes at the single cell level.

• BMB Reports
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.65-72
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• 2013

In situ detection of RNAs is becoming increasingly important for analysis of gene expression within and between intact cells in tissues. International genomics efforts are now cataloging patterns of RNA transcription that play roles in cell function, differentiation, and disease formation, and they are demon-strating the importance of coding and noncoding RNA transcripts in these processes. However, these techniques typically provide ensemble averages of transcription across many cells. In situ hybridization-based analysis methods complement these studies by providing information about how expression levels change between cells within normal and diseased tissues, and they provide information about the localization of transcripts within cells, which is important in understanding mechanisms of gene regulation. Multi-color, single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH) is particularly useful since it enables analysis of several different transcripts simultaneously. Combining smFISH with immunofluorescent protein detection provides additional information about the association between transcription level, cellular localization, and protein expression in individual cells.

• BMB Reports
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• 제54권10호
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• pp.489-496
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• 2021

Chromatin has highly organized structures in the nucleus, and these higher-order structures are proposed to regulate gene activities and cellular processes. Sequencing-based techniques, such as Hi-C, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) have revealed a spatial segregation of active and inactive compartments of chromatin, as well as the non-random positioning of chromosomes in the nucleus, respectively. However, regardless of their efficiency in capturing target genomic sites, these techniques are limited to fixed cells. Since chromatin has dynamic structures, live cell imaging techniques are highlighted for their ability to detect conformational changes in chromatin at a specific time point, or to track various arrangements of chromatin through long-term imaging. Given that the imaging approaches to study live cells are dramatically advanced, we recapitulate methods that are widely used to visualize the dynamics of higher-order chromatin structures.

• 정보저장시스템학회논문집
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.17-21
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• 2013

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows non-invasive, cross-sectional optical imaging of biological tissue with high spatial resolution and acquisition speed. In principle, it is analogous to ultrasound imaging, but uses near-infrared light instead of ultrasound, measuring the time-delay of back-scattered light from within biological tissue. Compared to ultrasound imaging, it exhibits superior spatial resolution (1~10 um) and high sensitivity. Therefore, OCT has been applied to a wide range of applications such as cellular imaging, ophthalmology and cardiology. Here, we describe a novel application of OCT technology in visualizing microneedles embedded in tissue that is developed to deliver drugs into the dermis without the injection mark in the human skin. Detailed three-dimensional structural images of microneedles and biological tissues were obtained. Examining structural modification of microneedles and tissues during insertion process would enable to evaluate performance of various types of microneedles in situ.

• 대한핵의학회지
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.198-204
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• 2004

Tumor cell proliferation is considered to be a useful prognostic indicator of tumor aggressiveness and tumor response to therapy but in vitro measurement of individual proliferation is complex and tedious work. PET imaging provides a noninvasive approach to measure tumor growth rate in situ. Early approaches have used $^{18}F$-FDG or methionine to monitor proliferation status. These 2 tracers detect changes in glucose and amino acid metabolism, respectively, and therefore provide only an indirect measure of proliferation status. More recent studies have focused on DNA synthesis itself as a marker of cell proliferation. Cell lines and tissues with a high proliferation rate require high rates of DNA synthesis. $[^{11}C]Thymidine$ was the first radiotracer for noninvasive imaging of tumor proliferation. The short half-life of $^{11}C$ and rapid metabolism of $[^{11}C]Thymidine$ in vivo make the radiotracer less suitable for routing use. Halogenated thymidine analogs such as 5-iodo-2-deoxyuridine (IUdR) can be successfully used as cell proliferation markers for in vitro studies because these compounds are rapidly incorporated into newly synthesized DNA. IUdR has been evaluated as a potential in vivo tracer in nuclear medicing but the image qualify and the calculation of proliferation rates are impaired by its rapid in vivo degradation. Hence, the thymidine analog $3'-deoxy-3'-^{18}F-fluorothymidine$ (FLT) was recently introduced as a stable proliferation marker with a suitable nuclide half-life and stable in vivo. $[^{18}F]FLT$ is phosphorylated to 3-fluorothymidine monophosphate by thymidine kinase 1 and reflects thymidine kinase 1 activity in proliferating cell. $[^{18}F]FLT$ PET is feasible in clincal use and well correlates with cellular proliferation. Choline is a precursor for the biosynthesis of phospholipids (in particular, phosphatidylcholine), which is the essential component of all eukaryotic cell membranes and $[^{11}C]choline$, which is a new marker for cellular proliferation.

• BMB Reports
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• 제55권3호
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• pp.113-124
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• 2022

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has greatly advanced our understanding of cellular heterogeneity by profiling individual cell transcriptomes. However, cell dissociation from the tissue structure causes a loss of spatial information, which hinders the identification of intercellular communication networks and global transcriptional patterns present in the tissue architecture. To overcome this limitation, novel transcriptomic platforms that preserve spatial information have been actively developed. Significant achievements in imaging technologies have enabled in situ targeted transcriptomic profiling in single cells at single-molecule resolution. In addition, technologies based on mRNA capture followed by sequencing have made possible profiling of the genome-wide transcriptome at the 55-100 ㎛ resolution. Unfortunately, neither imaging-based technology nor capture-based method elucidates a complete picture of the spatial transcriptome in a tissue. Therefore, addressing specific biological questions requires balancing experimental throughput and spatial resolution, mandating the efforts to develop computational algorithms that are pivotal to circumvent technology-specific limitations. In this review, we focus on the current state-of-the-art spatially resolved transcriptomic technologies, describe their applications in a variety of biological domains, and explore recent discoveries demonstrating their enormous potential in biomedical research. We further highlight novel integrative computational methodologies with other data modalities that provide a framework to derive biological insight into heterogeneous and complex tissue organization.

• 대한임상검사과학회지
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.1-17
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• 2020

조직병리학에서 현미경을 이용한 삼차원적 접근법은, 이차원 단면의 조직 슬라이드에서 박절 과정 중 부차적으로 발생하는 공간정보의 손실로 인하여 확인하기 어려웠던, 조직 내부 분자들의 공간적 배열, 상호결합, 구조적인 형태와 이들의 통합적인 공간적 정보체로서, 조직 내에 복잡하게 얽혀진 다양한 정보를 풀어내는데 있어서 복합적인 데이터를 제시하여 준다. 이광자 현미경(two-photon microscope)과 자동화된 보정환(correction collar)이 탑재된 고성능 대물렌즈의 개발과 같은 광학장비 영역의 발전은 조직투명화 과정을 거치지 않은 두꺼운 시료의 이미징에 있어서 광학적인 이론과 실체 사이에 존재하는 격차를 줄이는데 기여하였다고 할 수 있다. 하지만, 대물렌즈의 길어진 작동범위(working distance)와 최적화된 고강도 레이저의 사용으로 얻게 되는 이점들은 세포 내 각 구성요소의 굴절률(refractive index) 차이로 인하여 증가되는 빛의 분산(light scattering) 현상으로 인해 자연스럽게 감소하게 된다. 조직투명화 기술이 처음 등장하였던 초창기 시도되던 간단한 굴절률 일치화(RI matching) 기법에서부터 현대의 최첨단 통합 조직 투명화 기술에 이르기 까지를 관찰하여 볼 때, 형태학적인 변화없이 조직의 투명도를 높이는 것과, 내재적으로 또는 고정과정 중에 유래되어 혼합된 자가형광 노이즈를 효과적으로 제거하는것이 선명한 이미지를 얻기 위한 주요한 고려대상이라고 할 수 있다. CLARITY는 장비에 기반한 조직투명화 기법으로서 임상 조직병리 실험실에서 처리되는 동결절편과 포르말린에 고정된 검체 모두의 투명화를 위한 실험실 작업흐름(workflow) 통합 및 일상적인 실험절차와 호환이 가능할 것으로 보여진다.