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Science 14 April 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5771, pp. 228 - 230
DOI: 10.1126/science.1127566
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Perspective

Living Cells as Test Tubes

X. Sunney Xie,* Ji Yu, Wei Yuan Yang

The combination of specific probes and advanced optical microscopy now allows quantitative probing of biochemical reactions in living cells. On selected systems, one can detect and track a particular protein with single-molecule sensitivity, nanometer spatial precision, and millisecond time resolution. Metabolites, usually difficult to detect, can be imaged and monitored in living cells with coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy. Here, we describe the application of these techniques in studying gene expression, active transport, and lipid metabolism.

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: xie{at}chemistry.harvard.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Single-molecule Chemistry and Biology Special Feature: New directions in single-molecule imaging and analysis.
W. E. Moerner (2007)
PNAS 104, 12596-12602
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From imaging to understanding: Frontiers in Live Cell Imaging, Bethesda, MD, April 19-21, 2006.
Y.-l. Wang, K. M. Hahn, R. F. Murphy, and A. F. Horwitz (2006)
J. Cell Biol. 174, 481-484
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)