University Assistant Professor of chemistry Andrew Marcus has created a new way to examine a cell’s behavior using a laser array and quickly pulsing light, named Fourier Imaging Correlation Spectroscopy.
University Assistant Professor of chemistry Andrew Marcus has created a new technique using light to study cellular materials in an effort to learn more about the structure and dynamics of molecular movement within cells.
Marcus is using the technique, which he named Fourier Imaging Correlation Spectroscopy, to study mitochondria, which are responsible for movement within the cell membrane. Mitochondria are important to study because they have a lot of metabolic processes and can give knowledge about certain diseases such as diabetes.”We now have a faster way to study a cell’s behavior, which should help push scientific technology further,” Marcus said.
The process involves illuminating a cell with a pattern of light millions of times per second, and studying the noise created by molecular motion, he said. This noise helps Marcus interpret cellular behavior.
Marcus’ work took three years to complete and is funded by the University, the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association.
Marcus said there are several advantages to using the FICS technique. One benefit is that it allows for the observation of molecular systems within better time resolutions. It is now possible to study proteins, which make up how all living things work, in microsecond time scales, he said.
“A lot of biological action happens in this time scale,” Marcus said.
FICS also allows scientists to study cells for longer periods of time without killing them, he said.
The finding is especially important to the medical field because using the system makes it easier to distinguish healthy cells from self-destructing cells, he said, adding that this knowledge will give pharmaceutical companies and the health industry added information about diseases.
Graduate student Michelle Knowles is also involved in the FICS research. Knowles, who has been involved with the work for over a year, works in Marcus’ lab and prepares cell slides and observes their movements.
“I hope to see this work carried out, so we can learn more about mitochondrial diseases in the future,” she said.
After developing FICS, Marcus joined with University professor Roderick Capaldi, an expert on mitochondria, to study the motion of mitochondria. Marcus said the two professors have been able to learn from each other’s areas of expertise.
Several graduate students are currently involved in the ongoing research, including Daciana Margineando, who studies the structure of the cell’s membrane in Capaldi’s lab.
“We’ve done the underground work, but now we want to address the biological questions,” she said.
Margineando works with a more traditional imaging technique called digital video fluorescence microscopy, which allows her to see the structures and observe the position of the mitochondria. By using both techniques, the researchers are able understand not only what the mitochondria look like, but what they are doing.
She hopes to see the research become more thorough so it will be possible to study the inside of other cell elements in order to understand the dynamics of cellular structures.