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03 Nov 07
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Until now it has been impossible to accurately measure the levels of important chemicals in living brain cells in real time and at the level of a single cell. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Plant Biology and Stanford University are the first to overcome this obstacle by successfully applying genetic nanotechnology using molecular sensors to view changes in brain chemical levels. The sensors alter their 3-dimensional form upon binding with the chemical, which is then visible via a process known as fluorescence resonance energy transfer, or FRET. In a new study, the nanosensors were introduced into nerve cells to measure the release of the neurotransmitter glutamate -- the major brain chemical that increases nerve-cell activity in mammalian brains.
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"The fluorescent imaging technique allows us to see living cells do their jobs live and in color,"
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is like two musical tuning forks, which have the same tone," Okumoto continued. "If you excite one, it gives a characteristic tone. If you bring the second fork close to the first one, it will also start to give you a tone even though they do not touch. This is resonance energy transfer."
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FRET
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we could see this activity under the microscope by watching the color change. We stimulated the neurons and watched them secrete glutamate in response. We also saw the removal of the glutamate as the neurons returned to normal ready to fire again."
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