Optical approaches for in vivo neural monitoring using genetically-encoded fluorescent
molecular reporters offer a precious window on brain functions, and on the mechanisms of development, ageing or disease progression. Nonetheless, the existing methods are still shortsighted with respect to the complex biomolecular alterations that accompany these physiological and pathological dynamics. As...
Optical Tweezers exploit light to manipulate objects at the micro- and nanoscale, demonstrating to be a powerful tool for investigating the biological world. Force spectroscopy measurements with optical tweezers allow the application of controlled mechanical stimuli and displacements on individual molecules of DNA, RNA and proteins, while monitoring the time evolution of the system as it...
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are double-layered phospholipid vesicles having nanometric size that are rapidly gaining in popularity as biomarkers of various diseases, acting as cargoes of valuable information from the cell of origin [1]. Despite their value, their current use in clinical practice is still limited. Among the limiting factors, one of the most critical is their isolation. In...
The brain is the most complex and delicate organ in our body. Brain damage typically results in devastating outcomes and consequences not only for the patient's health but also for their quality of life. These effects are caused by the irreversible loss of neurons, building blocks of the brain responsible of signal transmission. Neuronal loss therefore leads to an alteration in communication...
Membrane contact sites (MCSs) enable different intracellular organelles to coordinate their activities, yet the small size and the dynamic nature of these regions hinder their study by current imaging techniques. By designing a series of reversible chemogenetic reporters based on improved, low-affinity variants of splitFAST, we analysed the dynamics of different MCSs at high spatiotemporal...
