Fluorescence microscopy allows specific target detection down to the level of single molecules and has become an enabling tool in biological research. To transduce the biological information to an imageable signal, we have developed a variety of fluorescent probes, such as organic dyes or fluorescent proteins with different colors. Despite their success, a limitation on constructing small fluor...

Silver nanoclusters composed of only a few metal atoms present appealing properties such as fluorescence. We have previously reported on aqueous solutions of this fluorophore using poly(methacrylic acid) as scaffold and their sensing properties. Here we report on the preparation of organic solutions of fluorescent silver nanoclusters by quantitative transfer from aqueous solution to an immiscib...

Subcellular microenvironment plays a crucial role in maintaining cell homeostasis being hydration an essential parameter to monitor the variations of lipid organization biological membranes. Fluorescent microenvironment-sensitive probes are stimuli-responsive molecules and able change their fluorescence profile according properties (polarity, hydration, microviscosity tension). Here we present ...

A recent screen of a combinatorial library of fluorescent compounds discovered fluorescent dyes that were able to distinguish myoblasts from differentiated myotubes. New fluorescent dyes that respond to biologically relevant changes in cell state or type are useful as stains in a wide variety of biological experiments, including high-throughput screens for chemical and genetic regulators. Combi...

There is an increasing interest for nanomaterials in biomedical applications and in this work, nanoparticles of gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) have been investigated as a novel contrast agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Relaxation properties have been studied in aqueous solutions as well as in cell culture medium and the nanoparticles have been explored as cell labeling agents. The fluoresc...

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) was applied for quantitative screening of cDNA expression libraries in bacteria for rare fluorescent protein encoding cDNAs. Rare fluorescent cells, observed at a frequency of 1 in 200,000 bacteria in a cDNA expression library constructed from Astrangia lajollaensis, were detected, enriched, and purified by sorting, yielding three distinct green fluore...