Deutsch
Macromolecular complexes in solution
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We employ the single molecule technique of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) to investigate the size, conformational changes and aggregation behavior of fluorescently labeled macromolecules in solutions and in living cells. The method is based on detecting the fluctuations of the fluorescent light intensity caused by the diffusion of the fluorescent species through a small observation volume (<1µm3), formed by the focus of a confocal microscope. A correlation analysis of these fluctuations provide information on the diffusion rate of the species and therefore on their size and the properties of the environment. Among others, we study synthetic polymers and copolymers, dendrimers, proteins and DNAs. Furthermore, we pay special attention on the formation of vesicles, micelles and other types of polymeric nanoparticles as they can be used as efficient and target specific drug carriers. FCS can monitor the loading of such polymeric nanocariers with fluorescent dyes (model for drug molecules) or labeled RNA/DNA and answer following questions:
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| Left: Schematic of the FCS basic principle. Right: typical FCS autocorrelation curves for small dye molecule and polymeric nanocarrier loaded with dye molecules | ||
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| Contact: Kaloian Koynov | ||
