COMBINED FLUORESCENT AND GOLD IMMUNOPROBES

NEW MOLECULAR PROBES WILL BE USED TO COMBINE A FLUORESCENT COMPONENT AND A NOVEL, COVALENTLY LINKED GOLD PARTICLE WITH VERY LOW NON-SPECIFIC PROTEIN BINDING. THESE PROBES WILL BE USED TO STUDY NUCLEAR PROCESSES IN LIVING CELLS: THE FLUORESCENT MARKERS WILL ALLOW IMAGING OF DYNAMIC CELL PROCESSES AND 3-D NUCLEAR ARCHITECTURE AT A LEVEL OF SENSITIVITY UP TO AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OR MORE OVER CURRENT LEVELS IN THE CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE. THE GOLD PROBE WILL PROVIDE ULTRASTRUCTURAL DETAILS OF CELLS FROZEN AT A SPECIFIC STAGE OR OPTIMAL STAINING LEVEL. ELIMINATION OF STAINING PROCEDURES BETWEEN THE TWO OBSERVATIONS WILL ENABLE A NEW LEVEL OF ACCURACY IN CORRELATION BETWEEN RESULTS. THE NEW PROBES SHOULD COMBINE IMPROVED SENSITIVIES WITH PENETRATION UP TO 30 M INTO CELLS AND TISSUE SECTIONS. APPLICATIONS IN GENETICS AND DNA SEQUENCING WLL BE PURSUED.