Fluorescent Nanodiamond – A Novel Nanomaterial for In Vivo Applications

2011 ◽  
Vol 1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitin Mohan ◽  
Bailin Zhang ◽  
Cheng-Chun Chang ◽  
Liling Yang ◽  
Chao-Sheng Chen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTFluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) with a size in the range of 10 – 100 nm have been produced by ion irradiation and annealing, and isolated by differential centrifugation. Single particle spectroscopic characterization with confocal fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy indicates that they are photostable and useful as an alternative to far-red fluorescent proteins for bioimaging applications. We demonstrate the application by performing in vivo imaging of bare and bioconjugated FND particles (100 nm in diameter) in C. elegans and zebrafishes and exploring the interactions between this novel nanomaterial and the model organisms. Our results indicate that FNDs can be delivered to the embryos of both organisms by microinjection and eventually into the hatched larvae in the next generation. No deleterious effects have been observed for the carbon-based nanoparticles in vivo. The high fluorescence brightness, excellent photostability, and nontoxic nature of the nanomaterial have allowed long-term imaging and tracking of embryogenesis in the organisms.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer K Heppert ◽  
Daniel J Dickinson ◽  
Ariel M Pani ◽  
Christopher D Higgins ◽  
Annette Steward ◽  
...  

Fluorescent protein tags are fundamental tools used to visualize gene products and analyze their dynamicsin vivo. Recent advances in genome editing have enabled precise insertion of fluorescent protein tags into the genomes of diverse organisms. These advances expand the potential ofin vivoimaging experiments, and they facilitate experimentation with new, bright, photostable fluorescent proteins. Most quantitative comparisons of the brightness and photostability of different fluorescent proteins have been madein vitro, removed from biological variables that govern their performance in cells or organisms. To address the gap we quantitatively assessed fluorescent protein propertiesin vivoin an animal model system. We generated transgenicC. elegansstrains expressing green, yellow, or red fluorescent proteins in embryos, and we imaged embryos expressing different fluorescent proteins under the same conditions for direct comparison. We found that mNeonGreen was not brightin vivoas predicted based onin vitrodata, but that mNeonGreen is a better tag than GFP for specific kinds of experiments, and we report on optimal red fluorescent proteins. These results identify ideal fluorescent proteins for imagingin vivoinC. elegansembryos, and they suggest good candidate fluorescent proteins to test in other animal model systems.


Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Goudeau ◽  
Catherine S Sharp ◽  
Jonathan Paw ◽  
Laura Savy ◽  
Manuel D Leonetti ◽  
...  

Abstract We create and share a new red fluorophore, along with a set of strains, reagents and protocols, to make it faster and easier to label endogenous C. elegans proteins with fluorescent tags. CRISPR-mediated fluorescent labeling of C. elegans proteins is an invaluable tool, but it is much more difficult to insert fluorophore-size DNA segments than it is to make small gene edits. In principle, high-affinity asymmetrically split fluorescent proteins solve this problem in C. elegans: the small fragment can quickly and easily be fused to almost any protein of interest, and can be detected wherever the large fragment is expressed and complemented. However, there is currently only one available strain stably expressing the large fragment of a split fluorescent protein, restricting this solution to a single tissue (the germline) in the highly autofluorescent green channel. No available C. elegans lines express unbound large fragments of split red fluorescent proteins, and even state-of-the-art split red fluorescent proteins are dim compared to the canonical split-sfGFP protein. In this study, we engineer a bright, high-affinity new split red fluorophore, split-wrmScarlet. We generate transgenic C. elegans lines to allow easy single-color labeling in muscle or germline cells and dual-color labeling in somatic cells. We also describe a novel expression strategy for the germline, where traditional expression strategies struggle. We validate these strains by targeting split-wrmScarlet to several genes whose products label distinct organelles, and we provide a protocol for easy, cloning-free CRISPR/Cas9 editing. As the collection of split-FP strains for labeling in different tissues or organelles expands, we will post updates at doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3993663


2004 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 384-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Schenk ◽  
Sergey Ivanchenko ◽  
Carlheinz Röcker ◽  
Jörg Wiedenmann ◽  
G. Ulrich Nienhaus

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumit Kumar Sonkar ◽  
Mitrajit Ghosh ◽  
Manas Roy ◽  
Ameerunisha Begum ◽  
Sabyasachi Sarkar

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian C. Herbert ◽  
Olivia Brohlin ◽  
Tyler Galbraith ◽  
Candace Benjamin ◽  
Cesar A. Reyes ◽  
...  

<div> <div> <div> <p>Icosahedral virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from bacteriophages Qβ and PP7 encapsulating small-ultra red fluorescent protein (smURFP) were produced using a versatile supramolecualr capsid dissassemble-reassemble approach. The generated fluorescent VLPs display identical structural properties to their non-fluorescent analogs. Encapsulated smURFP shows indistinguishable photochemical properties to its unencapsulated counterpart, exhibits outstanding stability towards pH, and produces bright in vitro images following phagocytosis by macrophages. In vivo imaging allows biodistribution to be imaged at different time points. Ex vivo imaging of intravenously administered encapsulated smURFP reveleas localization in the liver and </p> </div> </div> <div> <div> <p>kidneys after 2 h blood circulation and substantial elimination constructs as non-invasive in vivo imaging agents. </p> </div> </div> </div>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiryl Piatkevich ◽  
Hanbin Zhang ◽  
Stavrini Papadaki ◽  
Xiaoting Sun ◽  
Luxia Yao ◽  
...  

Abstract Recent progress in fluorescent protein development has generated a large diversity of near-infrared fluorescent proteins, which are rapidly becoming popular probes for a variety of imaging applications. To assist end-users with a selection of the right near-infrared fluorescent protein for a given application, we will conduct a quantitative assessment of intracellular brightness, photostability, and oligomeric state of 19 near-infrared fluorescent proteins in cultured mammalian cells. The top-performing proteins will be further validated for in vivo imaging of neurons in C. elegans, zebrafish, and mice. We will also assess the applicability of the selected NIR FPs for expansion microscopy and two-photon imaging.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wadim J. Kapulkin

ABSTRACTFormation of proteinaceous deposits composed of abnormally aggregated proteins characterizes a range of pathological conditions. Proteinaceous inclusions detected in the neurodegenerative conditions such Huntington’s chorea (HD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are often referred as pathognomic and regarded as causally implicated. Despite of differences in aetiology and underlying genetics, rare cases of combined HD and AD were reported and described as admixed proteinopathies. Mixed proteopathies are characterized by the co-occurrence of at least two types of abnormal aggregation-prone variants; pathological deposition of proteinaceous inclusions might however, affect different cell populations. Here, combining plaques derived from human ß-amyloid with mutant HTT-like polyglutamine inclusions in a cell-autonomous manner, we report on the Caenorhabditis elegans model for admixed proteinopathy of Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s type. We show both types of intracellular foci are formed in vivo: non-amyloidic extended polyglutamine derived inclusions and distinguish those from the presence of mature ß- amyloid fibers. We found that polyglutamines expanded above pathogenic threshold and ß-amyloid act synergistically to promote the progression of proteotoxicity in a temperature dependent manner. We further, implicate the hsp-1 (the predominant C. elegans chaperone interacting with ER-routed Aß42) modulate the proteotoxic insults observed in combined proteopathy model. Our results demonstrate how the in vivo model of admixed proteopathy could be utilized to probe for human pathogenic variants confined to the same cellular type. In that perspective expanded aggregation-prone polyglutamines appended with fluorescent proteins could be regarded as ‘pathogenic probes’ useful in the proteotoxicity assays i.e. involving ß-amyloid and possibly other comparable models of disease-associated aggregation prone variants.We anticipate models of combined proteopathies will be informative regarding the underlying pathogenesis and provide the sensitized background for sophisticated screening. For example the combinatorial effects of multiple pathogenic aggregation-prone variants could be tested against mutant backgrounds and pharmacological compounds. Furthermore, we surmise the postulated synergistic actions might explain some of the overlaps in observed progression of clinical symptoms in HD and AD. We also formulate the conjecture regarding the polyQ containing proteins as a contributing factor in degenerative conditions associated with increased ß-amyloid formation and deposition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. dmm046110
Author(s):  
Kim A. Caldwell ◽  
Corey W. Willicott ◽  
Guy A. Caldwell

ABSTRACTThe global burden of neurodegenerative diseases underscores the urgent need for innovative strategies to define new drug targets and disease-modifying factors. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has served as the experimental subject for multiple transformative discoveries that have redefined our understanding of biology for ∼60 years. More recently, the considerable attributes of C. elegans have been applied to neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Transgenic nematodes with genes encoding normal and disease variants of proteins at the single- or multi-copy level under neuronal-specific promoters limits expression to select neuronal subtypes. The anatomical transparency of C. elegans affords the use of co-expressed fluorescent proteins to follow the progression of neurodegeneration as the animals age. Significantly, a completely defined connectome facilitates detailed understanding of the impact of neurodegeneration on organismal health and offers a unique capacity to accurately link cell death with behavioral dysfunction or phenotypic variation in vivo. Moreover, chemical treatments, as well as forward and reverse genetic screening, hasten the identification of modifiers that alter neurodegeneration. When combined, these chemical-genetic analyses establish critical threshold states to enhance or reduce cellular stress for dissecting associated pathways. Furthermore, C. elegans can rapidly reveal whether lifespan or healthspan factor into neurodegenerative processes. Here, we outline the methodologies employed to investigate neurodegeneration in C. elegans and highlight numerous studies that exemplify its utility as a pre-clinical intermediary to expedite and inform mammalian translational research.


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