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Collaborative Project on a Biochip-Based Olfactory System The biochip-based olfactory system is a collaborative project to develop a bioelectronic device that can detect chemicals with high sensitivity. This device makes use of olfactory neurons from dogs. The neurons will be connected to the input of a digital processorvia a microelectrode. The signal of the neurons will be analyzed by various methods including pattern recognition and neural network processing. CAMP Professor Maciej Markowski is responsible for developing a protocol for growing olfactory neurons and stem cells on the microelectrode. CAMP Professor Anja Mueller will use a biodegradable polymer to manage the connection of the neurons to the contact areas of the microelectrode. Professors Antonio Rubio and Jose-Luis Gonzalez, of the Electrical Engineering Department at U.P.C. in Barcelona, Spain, will develop the analysis of the neuron signals. Also CAMP Professor Richard Partch will work on a polymer for encasing the device, allowing water to be contained and oxygen to be exchanged.
Figure 7: A Biochip-Based Olfactory System
Professor Egon Matijevic' Prepares Nano- and Macro- Sized Particles for Medical Diagnostics Professor Egon Matijevic', the Victor K. LaMer Chair of Colloid and Surface Science at Clarkson University, and his group are synthesizing and characterizing uniform particles in sizes ranging from nanometers to micrometers for medical diagnostics. Two examples of this work are described. 1. Stable aqueous dispersions consisting of CdS nanoparticles, having modal diameters ranging between 2 and 8 nm, were prepared with amino-derivatized polysaccharides (aminodextrans, Amdex) as the stabilizing agents. These Amdex-CdS nanoparticle complexes could be activated and conjugated with antibody by conventional means. 1. The purified conjugate of the aminodextran-CdS nanoparticle complex with anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody was then mixed with a whole blood control, followed by indirect sheep animouse antibody - phycoerythrin (SAM-PE) labeling of washed cells incubated with T4-5X-Amdex-CdS. Red blood cells were then lysed and quenched and the resulting mixture, which was run on a flow cytometer with 488 nm argon ion laser excitation, suggested that the T4 antibody from the conjugate was present specifically on lymphocytes. 2. Uniform fluorescent microspheres of silica-dye have been prepared by coating preformed monodispersed silica particles with silica layers containing rhodamine 6G or acridine orange. The resulting dispersions exhibit intense fluorescence emission between 500 and 600 nm, over a broad excitation wavelength range of 460 to 550 nm, even with exceeding small amounts of dyes incorporated into the silica particles (10 - 30 ppm, expressed as the weight of the dye relative to the weight of the dry particles). The fluorescent particles can be prepared in micrometer diameters suitable for analyses using flow cytometry with 488 nm laser excitation.
CAMP Professor Ian Suni Works to Develop Biosensors for Detecting Biological Warfare Agents CAMP Professor Ian Suni, in collaboration with Professor Linda Luck from Clarkson University's Departments of Chemistry and Biology, is working on the development of biosensors for the detection of biological warfare agents, environmental toxins, and other proteins of analytical interest to the field of biotechnology. These biosensors involve surface arrays of chemisorbed proteins that undergo biological recognition events which induce detectable changes in mass, voltage and fluorescence. Natural proteins can also be altered by site-specific mutagenesis to introduce functional groups that improve detectability.
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