Expertise and Services: evaluation of anti-cancer treatments in 2D and 3D cell cultures. Separation, identification, and quantification of compounds in a chemical mixture. Studies of tissue structure with polarimetric second harmonic generation (SHG), third harmonic generation (THG) and multiphoton excitation fluorescence (MPF) imaging. Imaging and investigation of biological samples, including cancerous and other pathological samples. Characterization of nanoparticles and nanomaterials by steady state absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy methods, optical visualization of their accumulation in biological samples. Determination of photophysical properties and photochemical activity of organic chromophores and fluorophores in the solid state, in solutions and model biological environments.
Instruments and accessories:
Cell laboratory: nSafe Class II biological safety cabinet for on-site cell work. Separate agreements are necessary before any radionuclides are taken in.
Liquid nitrogen cooled gamma-ray spectrometer (GR-1019, Canberra) for radionuclide evaluation.
Portable 96-well plate reader (Boynoy) for cell viability assessments at remote irradiation facilities
High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system (P580A HPG, Dionex) for separation, identification, and quantification of biologically relevant compounds in a chemical mixture. Undergoing system upgrades: additional fluorescence detector and fraction collector are being connected to the system.
Home-build nonlinear polarimetric microscope based on femtosecond oscillator (FLINT, Light Conversion, Ltd., pulse duration 100 fs, repetition rate 76 MHz, central wavelength at 1030 nm) with single-photon counting photomultiplier tube (PMT) (H10682-210, Hamamatsu) and second, third harmonics, and multiphoton fluorescence (MPF) signal detection for biomedical imaging, full nonlinear Stokes-Mueller polarimetry (NSMP) measurements with submicron resolution. Data processing and analysis is performed using custom software written on MATLAB and Python.
Fluorescence microscope (Eclipse 80i, Nikon). Phase contrast and dark field modes are available.
UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometers: Luminescence spectrometer (LS55, Perkin Elmer) for examination of samples in excitation and emission modes in the 200 to 800 nm wavelength range; Fiber spectrometers (AvaSpec-2048 and AvaSpec-USL2048L, Avantes, and USB2000, Ocean Optics) for measurements of material transmission and absorption in the 200-1100 nm wavelength range; Spectrofluorimeter (USB2000, Ocean Optics) with bifurcated fiber for contact fluorescence measurements of solid and liquid samples from 350 nm to 1100 nm.