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Illinois State University use NTA in their Development of Novel Bioanalytical Assays
NanoSight reports on how Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, NTA, is being used in the development of novel bioanalytical assays at Illinois State University.
Speeding up the detection and identification of viruses is one of the areas of new research of Illinois State University Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jeremy Driskell. This has been recognised by the US Department of Defense in their recent award of a major grant. Reliable and accurate nanoparticle composition is important in such work.
Here, Dr Driskell describes how he has used various techniques.
Talking about his current work, Dr Driskell says "Our research group is focused on the development of novel bioanalytical assays which includes detection of nucleic acids, proteins, and whole viruses. While other groups aim to improve assay sensitivity or detection limits, our central focus is on reducing assay speed and complexity. We are currently using gold nanoparticles and gold filters to develop assays utilising surface- enhanced Raman spectroscopy for detection. In the process of characterising the gold nanoparticles and monitoring the modification steps required for the SERS assays, we found that particle sizing techniques such as Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) could also be used for assay readout. This finding and application is detailed in our recent publication in the Analyst."
Dr Driskell continued: "We began by using DLS to characterise gold nanoparticles that we modify with Raman reporter molecules and antibodies. This was a simple means of detecting particle aggregation as a result of surface modification and is more sensitive than colorimetric detection, which we found was not useful for conditions that invoked slight aggregation. When we learned of NanoSight and NTA, we compared the data to DLS. For our purposes, NTA gave a much more accurate representation of the actual particle sizes in our solutions. DLS would frequently indicate aggregation of a nanoparticle population while NTA revealed few large aggregates while the majority of the particles remained monodisperse. Ultimately we concluded it was a better technique to give us a better understanding of nanoparticle composition (aggregates compared with individual particles) in terms of absolute numbers."
MORE INFO. 176
Temperature Stage used for Biodegradable and Biocompatible Polymer Research at the CNR
Linkam Scientific Instruments report on the use of their popular THMS600 stage for polymer research at the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers (CNR), Italy.
A group of scientists from the CNR is investigating the melting kinetics of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), a natural thermoplastic polymer with mechanical properties comparable to synthetic polymers.
The Linkam THMS600 stage fitted to a Zeiss polarised light microscope was used to study PHB. Initially samples were heated above the melting point, at 185°C, 190°C, 192°C, or 195°C, in order to erase previous thermal and mechanical history followed by cooling at 5°C/min after 3 minutes at the high temperature. It was observed that a high number of spherulites develop when the polymer is melted at 185°C for 3 minutes but contrasted to very low spherulite development at >192-193°C. It was concluded that melting below 192°C does not result in complete melting of the crystals, and so the nucleation density is very high in the subsequent crystallisation step. It is theorised that the partially unmelted polymer retains a large memory of previous crystal order, and so the residual chain portions act as nucleation centres and result in a high nucleation density and a small spherulite size.
The team has found that some of the effects reported in literature as caused by degradation are actually related to non-completely melted structures. They found the chain degradation attained upon exposure at high temperatures has much lesser influence on crystallisation kinetics than incomplete melting, with some effects detectable on the spherulitic morphology and on the final degree of crystallinity.
Dott.ssa Maria Laura Di Lorenzo, one of the scientists working on the PHB research, added "the best feature of our Linkam stage is the fast heating/cooling rates, not accessible with other stages that we have in our laboratory."
The Linkam THMS600 stage is one of the most widely used microscope stages on the market and is used in many applications where high heating/freezing rates and 0.1°C accuracy are needed.
MORE INFO. 177
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