Investigations into the extent of structuring present in phosphonium based ionic liquids (ILs) have been carried out using photochromic molecular probes. Three spiropyran derivatives containing hydroxyl (BSP-1), carboxylic acid (BSP-2) and aliphatic chain (C(14)H(29)) (BSP-3) functional groups have been analysed in a range of phosphonium based ionic liquids and their subsequent physico-chemical...

Stem-loop (hairpin) DNA oligomer probes provide increased specificity of target recognition as compared with linear DNA probes. Invention of molecular beacons, a variant of stem-loop oligonucleotides, which are able to fluoresce upon hybridization but are ‘‘dark’’ in the absence of the target, made possible real-time monitoring of hybridization process. A variety of robust assays using diverse,...

F emtosecond visible and IR analogues of multiple-pulse NMR techniques provide snapshot probes of molecular structure and vibrational motions, interactions, and relaxation processes (1). The work of Larsen et al. (2) in a recent issue of PNAS makes a novel application of 2D IR spectroscopy to a rotaxane system whose mechanically interlocked architecture is often used in nanoscale molecular mach...

Detection of genomic copy number changes has been an important research area, especially in cancer. Several high-throughput technologies have been developed to detect these changes. Features that are important for the utility of technologies assessing copy number changes include the ability to interrogate regions of interest at the desired density as well as the ability to differentiate the two...

Visualization of biological processes and pathologic conditions at the cellular and tissue levels largely relies on the use of fluorescence intensity signals from fluorophores or their bioconjugates. To overcome the concentration dependency of intensity measurements, evaluate subtle molecular interactions, and determine biochemical status of intracellular or extracellular microenvironments, flu...

background: cytogenetic analysis, y-chromosome microdeletion screening, fish techniques and other genetic methods have helped in finding the causes of infertility in azoospermic or severe oligoazoospermic cases in the last decade. objective: in the present study, we characterized an abnormal y-chromosome, detected as a mosaic in an azoospermic male ascertained for infertility. materials and met...

Lectins are biomolecules with high affinity and narrow range of specificity for defined sugar residues so that they can be used as selective probes for the detection of glycoconjugate glycosylation. A large number of lectins with differing specificities have been identified and found in a variety of plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Due to their high specificity and multiple functions, lec...

BACKGROUND Optical imaging (OI) techniques such as bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging have been widely used to track diseases in a non-invasive manner within living subjects. These techniques generally require bioluminescent and fluorescent probes. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of using radioactive probes for in vivo molecular OI. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS By taking the advan...

Mechanical stimuli profoundly alter cell fate, yet the mechanisms underlying mechanotransduction remain obscure because of a lack of methods for molecular force imaging. Here to address this need, we develop a new class of molecular tension probes that function as a switch to generate a 20- to 30-fold increase in fluorescence upon experiencing a threshold piconewton force. The probes employ imm...