New Way of Seeing Cells — Drs. Matthew Levy and Erik Snapp have received a grant from the Single Cell Analysis Program of the National Institutes of Health’s Common Fund, whose goal is to support transformative, high-risk/high-reward research that addresses specific knowledge gaps. Currently, there are no tools available to visualize unmodified endogenous secretory proteins in live cells, since existing technologies rely on either genetically engineering proteins with fluorescent tags or preservation methods that require killing the cells prior to labeling of target proteins. Drs. Levy and Snapp will address this gap in single-cell imaging tools by developing their proposed Secretory Targeting Aptamer Beacons (STAB) technology, which uses fluorescently labeled aptamers, a nucleic acid-based small molecule, that can enter live cells and bind to a specific protein. This technology would be used to visualize the presence and level of secretory proteins -- which are robust markers for many diseases -- that could be used for both laboratory and clinical diagnostic purposes. Dr. Levy is assistant professor of biochemistry and Dr. Snapp is associate professor of anatomy and structural biology.
Posted on: Wednesday, January 02, 2013