Development and application of next generation lanthanide-based time-resolved luminescence microscopy

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract
One of the fundamental experimental strategies of modern biology is "perturb and observe". Investigators perturb a complex biological system and, by observing the consequences of their experimental change, infer the function of the perturbed component(s). In order for researchers to be confident in their conclusions, perturbation and observation should have sufficient levels of specificity and sensitivity. Here, I describe two chemical technologies -- one observational and the other perturbational -- that enable better studies of biomolecules in whole-body organisms by making possible the selective visualization of lanthanide luminescence and the pharmacological control of protein stability. In chapter 1 and 2, I discuss a next-generation system for time-resolved lanthanide imaging. As luminescent lanthanide complexes have emission lifetimes that are > 100,000-fold longer than those of organic fluorophores, they can be selectively detected over fluorescent background by time-gating, enabling autofluorescence-free micrographs. However, the optical microscopy of lanthanide probes has not yet achieved detection limits and acquisition speed suitable for most biological applications. I describe three factors that have been impeding the efficient visualization of lanthanide luminescence, and present simple but powerful solutions to the respective problems. I also show novel imaging applications of lanthanide complexes that exploit unique chemical and photophysical properties of these organometallic probes. In chapter 3, I discuss the development of destabilizing domains (DDs) that allow rapid, reversible, and tunable control of protein levels in model organisms that thrive best at 20-25 °C. By genetically appending our DD to a protein of interest, the expression level of resulting fusion protein was successfully modulated by a small molecule ligand in C. elegans.

Description

Type of resource text
Form electronic; electronic resource; remote
Extent 1 online resource.
Publication date 2016
Issuance monographic
Language English

Creators/Contributors

Associated with Cho, Ukrae
Associated with Stanford University, Department of Chemical and Systems Biology.
Primary advisor Chen, James Kenneth
Thesis advisor Chen, James Kenneth
Thesis advisor Lin, Michael Z
Thesis advisor Smolke, Christina D
Thesis advisor Wandless, Thomas
Advisor Lin, Michael Z
Advisor Smolke, Christina D
Advisor Wandless, Thomas

Subjects

Genre Theses

Bibliographic information

Statement of responsibility Ukrae Cho.
Note Submitted to the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology.
Thesis Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016.
Location electronic resource

Access conditions

Copyright
© 2016 by Ukrae Cho
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

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