Submicrometer-size thermocouples at the tip of gold-coated glass micropipettes containing a platinum core were produced and tested. The response time of such thermocouples measured with different techniques appeared to be not bigger than a few microseconds. The calculations indicate that the spatial selectivity of this new class of thermocouple devices can be less than 2 pm along the pipette an...

Here we present a convenient method for easy hand selection of enzymatically isolated small tissues such as islets of Langerhans. Islets are continuously collected in a micropipette tip connected to a peristaltic pump. After entering the conical micropipette tip, the islets are quickly dragged up by solution flow, but this movement subsequently decreases as the flow rate decreases. Thus, the is...

A novel bioanalysis system based on immunochromatography was developed in connection with a nitrocellulose resin-modified micropipette tip, namely as ZipTip. The sandwich-type immunoassay was applied to our bioananalysis system. The first antibodies that were aspirated by the micropipette were immobilized on the immunochromatographic resin at the edge of micropipette tip. The blocking solution ...

Human granulocytes were stimulated by means of a micropipette, with an orifice of about 0.2 micrometer in diameter, which contained fMet-Leu-Phe at a concentration of 10(-5) M. The cells were reorientated by extending lamellipodia towards the source of the attractant, often within less than 10 s. Any part of the granulocyte, from the front to the tip of the tail, could be stimulated to produce ...

Robust biomechanical models are essential for the study of nuclear mechanics and deformation and can help shed light on the underlying mechanisms of stress transition in nuclear elements. Here, we develop a computational model for an isolated nucleus undergoing micropipette aspiration. Our model includes distinct components representing the nucleoplasm and nuclear envelope. The nuclear envelope...

Remote vasodilation caused by arteriolar microapplication of acetylcholine cannot be completely attributed to passive cell-cell communication of a hyperpolarizing signal. The present study was undertaken to ascertain whether a neural component may be involved in the remote response. In the cheek pouch of anesthetized hamsters, methacholine (100 microM) was applied to the arteriole by micropipet...