Boronic Acid-Based Glucose Detection for Liver Three-Dimensional Cellular Models.

Liver 3D cell models are regularly employed as a screening platform for predicting the metabolic safety of drugs, by monitoring the physiological responses of the spheroids, through the measurement of relevant markers of normal liver physiology, notably glucose. Measuring glucose levels within the spheroids and their surroundings provides insight into the metabolic homeostasis of liver cells and may be employed as an indication of potential drug-induced toxicity. Several ortho-aminomethyl phenylboronic acid (PDBA) glucose sensors have been developed.

Photo-transformable genetically-encoded optical probes for functional highlighting in vivo.

Studying the brain requires knowledge about both structure (i.e., connectome) and function of its constituents (neurons and glia alike).

Mitochondrial function parameters as a tool for tailored drug treatment of an individual with psychosis: a proof of concept study.

Pharmacological treatment of mental disorders is currently decided based on "trial and error" strategy. Mitochondrial multifaceted dysfunction is assumed to be a major factor in the pathophysiology and treatment of schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). This study aimed to explore the feasibility of using a profile of mitochondrial function parameters as a tool to predict the optimal drug for an individual patient (personalized medicine).

Red Photoactivatable Genetic Optical-Indicators.

Emerging genetically-encoded Ca-indicators (GECIs) are intensiometric reporters that increase in fluorescence when bound to Ca; highly suited for studying calcium-signaling in many cell types, notably neurons. Today, major efforts are devoted toward optimizing red-emitting [red fluorescent protein (RFP)-based] GECIs (R-GECI), as these provide several advantages over GFP-based reporters, for instance, increased imaging depth, reduced photodamage by longer imaging wavelengths and, in principle, are better suited for use with prevalent blue-absorbing optogenetic tools (e.g.