New microscope enables 'super' science
July 6, 2011 By Steve Offner in Medical research
Using the only microscope of its kind in Australia, medical scientists have seen for the first time the inner workings of T-cells, the front-line troops that alert our immune system to go on the defensive against germs and other invaders in our bloodstream.
The discovery overturns prevailing understanding, identifying the exact molecular switch that spurs T-cells into action a breakthrough that could lead to treatments for a range of conditions from auto-immune diseases to cancer.
The findings, by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), are reported this week in the high-impact journal Nature Immunology.
Studying a cell protein important in early immune response, the researchers led by Associate Professor Katharina Gaus from UNSWs Centre for Vascular Research at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre, used Australias only microscope capable of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to image the protein molecule-by-molecule to reveal the immunity switch.
The technology is a major breakthrough for science, Dr. Gaus said. Currently there are only half a dozen of the super microscopes in use around the world.
Previously you could see T-cells under a microscope but you couldnt see what their individual molecules were doing, Dr. Gaus said.
Using the new microscope the scientists were able to image molecules as small as 10 nanometers. Dr. Gaus said that what the team found overturns the existing understanding of T-cell activation.
Previously it was thought that T-cell signalling was initiated at the cell surface in molecular clusters that formed around the activated receptor.
In fact, what happens is that small membrane-enclosed sacks called vesicles inside the cell travel to the receptor, pick up the signal and then leave again, she said.
Dr. Gaus said the discovery explained how the immune response could occur so quickly.
There is this rolling amplification. The signalling station is like a docking port or an airport with vesicles like planes landing and taking off. The process allows a few receptors to activate a cell and then trigger the entire immune response, she said.
PhD candidate David Williamson, whose research formed the basis of the paper, said the discovery showed what could be achieved with the new generation of super-resolution fluorescence microscopes.
"In conventional microscopy, all the target molecules are lit up at once and individual molecules become lost amongst their neighbours its like trying to follow a conversation in a crowd where everyone is talking at once.
With our microscope we can make the target molecules light up one at a time and precisely determine their location while their neighbours remain dark. This 'role call' of all the target molecules means we can then build a 'super resolution' image of the sample, he said.
The next step was to pinpoint other key proteins to get a complete picture of T-cell activity and to extend the microscope to capture 3-D images with the same unprecedented resolution.
Being able to see the behaviour and function of individual molecules in a live cell is the equivalent of seeing atoms for the first time. It could change the whole concept of molecular and cell biology, Mr Williamson said.
Other research team members were physicist Dr. Dylan Owen, cell biologists Dr Jérémie Rossy and Dr Astrid Magenau, from the Center for Vascular Research, and Professor Justin Gooding and Matthias Wehrmann, from UNSWs School of Chemistry and the Australian Centre for Nanomedicine.
Provided by
University of New South Wales
-
Super microscope used to pinpoint body's immunity 'switch'
Jun 05, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
New cell type offers new hope
Jun 14, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Revealing the inner workings of cells with newly developed Raman microscopy technique
May 27, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Scientists trick bacteria with small molecules
Oct 07, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Marijuana use suppresses immune functions, study shows
Dec 03, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Why is zone 1 in liver more prone to ischemic injury?
14 hours ago
-
How can there be villous adenoma in colon, if there are no villi there
May 22, 2013
-
How can there be a term called "intestinal metaplasia" of stomach
May 21, 2013
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Study reveals new mechanism for estrogen suppression of liver lipid synthesis
By discovering the new mechanism by which estrogen suppresses lipid synthesis in the liver, UC Irvine endocrinologists have revealed a potential new approach toward treating certain liver diseases.
Medical research
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
MRI-based measurement helps predict vascular disease in the brain
Aortic arch pulse wave velocity, a measure of arterial stiffness, is a strong independent predictor of disease of the vessels that supply blood to the brain, according to a new study published in the June issue the journal ...
Medical research
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Antibiotics: A new understanding of sulfonamide nervous system side effects
Since the discovery of Prontosil in 1932, sulfonamide antibiotics have been used to combat a wide spectrum of bacterial infections, from acne to chlamydia and pneumonia. However, their side effects can include serious neurological ...
Medical research
4 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Scientists discover molecule triggers sensation of itch
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as ...
Medical research
4 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
|
Discarded immune cells induce the relocation of stem cells
Spanish researchers have discovered that the daily clearance of neutrophils from the body stimulates the release of hematopoietic stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, according to a report published today ...
Medical research
6 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Controlling mood through the motions of mitochondria
(Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined ...
Statin use is linked to increased risk of developing diabetes, warn researchers
Treatment with high potency statins (especially atorvastatin and simvastatin) may increase the risk of developing diabetes, suggests a paper published today in BMJ.
Consumers largely underestimating calorie content of fast food
People eating at fast food restaurants largely underestimate the calorie content of meals, especially large ones, according to a paper published today in BMJ.
Future doctors unaware of their obesity bias
Two out of five medical students have an unconscious bias against obese people, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The study is published online ahead of print in the Journal of ...
WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus
International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head ...
Research identifies a way to make cancer cells more responsive to chemotherapy
Breast cancer characterized as "triple negative" carries a poor prognosis, with limited treatment options. In some cases, chemotherapy doesn't kill the cancer cells the way it's supposed to. New research from Western University ...
Jul 06, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (3)
Obviously more complex problems for evolutionary adherents to solve.
It's getting to be intolerable to hang onto the evolutionary myth as more and more complexity rears it's head inside the body. Signalling at this level with this kind of precision and specificity is a major stumbling block for any random process to achieve. Good luck with the hand-waving explanations for how it came about.