Publications by authors named "F Delille"

Exerting forces on biomolecules inside living cells would allow us to probe their dynamic interactions in their native environment. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles represent a unique tool capable of pulling on biomolecules with the application of an external magnetic field gradient; however, their use has been restricted to biomolecules accessible from the extracellular medium. Targeting intracellular biomolecules represents an additional challenge due to potential nonspecific interactions with cytoplasmic or nuclear components.

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Dynamics with an orientational degree of freedom are fundamental in biological events. Probes with polarized luminescence enable a determination of the orientation. Lanthanide-doped nanocrystals can provide more precise analysis than quantum dots due to the nonphotoblinking/bleaching nature and the multiple line-shaped emission.

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Our understanding of the physical principles organizing the genome in the nucleus is limited by the lack of tools to directly exert and measure forces on interphase chromosomes in vivo and probe their material nature. Here, we introduce an approach to actively manipulate a genomic locus using controlled magnetic forces inside the nucleus of a living human cell. We observed viscoelastic displacements over micrometers within minutes in response to near-piconewton forces, which are consistent with a Rouse polymer model.

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Article Synopsis
  • Inorganic nanocrystals like gold and iron oxide have unique properties that make them useful for cancer diagnostics and therapy.
  • The surface coating of these nanoparticles is key to their stability in biological fluids and allows them to be tailored for specific targeting functions.
  • This review focuses on how the surface chemistry of these nanocrystals affects their behavior in the body, influencing their stability, interactions with proteins, and effectiveness in targeting tumors.
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