Analyst Blog

The latest issue of Analyst is online with three cover articles for you to enjoy.

Chung et al., Analyst, 2012, 137, 4921

The very informative front cover comes from Yu-Chang Tyan and Tze-Wen Chung from the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology and Kaohsiung Medical University, respectively, and colleagues from Taiwan. In their study they proposed a new approach for the detection of proteins to assess the response of fibroblasts to a material surface. Biomaterials play an important role in regenerative medicine and drug delivery, therefore the interactions between biomaterial surfaces and cells are important to characterize cell proliferation, differentiation and regeneration of tissues.

Assessing the responses of cellular proteins induced by hyaluronic acid-modified surfaces utilizing a mass spectrometry-based profiling system: Over-expression of CD36, CD44, CDK9, and PP2A
Ming-Hui Yang, Shiang-Bin Jong, Chi-Yu Lu, Yu-Fen Lin, Pei-Wen Chiang, Yu-Chang Tyan and Tze-Wen Chung
Analyst, 2012, 137, 4921-4933
DOI: 10.1039/C2AN35368G

Kaminskyj et al., Analyst, 2012, 137, 4934

We head to Canada for our inside front cover. Kathleen M. Gough and Susan G. W. Kaminskyj from the University of Manitoba and the University of Saskatchewan, together with colleagues have been studying the filamentous fungi Aspergillus. This fungi can can affect humans through their roles in biotechnology and recycling, and can also be responsible for disease.

What they have discovered is that Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) can provide chemical information on materials that are in close contact with appropriate metal substrates, in this case nanopatterned gold surfaces and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). They have created conditions for AuNP formation within and on the surface of Aspergillus nidulans hyphae in order to explore their potential for SERS analysis.

Proof-of-principle for SERS imaging of Aspergillus nidulans hyphae using in vivo synthesis of gold nanoparticles
Martin A. Prusinkiewicz, Fatemeh Farazkhorasani, James J. Dynes, Jian Wang, Kathleen M. Gough and Susan G. W. Kaminskyj
Analyst, 2012, 137, 4934-4942
DOI: 10.1039/C2AN35620A

Zhang et al., Analyst, 2012, 137, 4917

On the back cover of this month’s issue we showcase the work contributed by Weidong He, and Xiao Lin at the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Technology, and the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences who together with colleagues have studied the analytical expression of Coulombic interaction between a nanorod and a nanoparticle.

The evaluation of Coulombic interaction in the oriented-attachment growth of colloidal nanorods
Weidong He, Junhao Lin, Xiao Lin, Ning Lu, Ming Zhou and Kelvin H. L. Zhang
Analyst, 2012, 137, 4917-4920
DOI: 10.1039/C2AN35950B

All of these papers will be free to access for 6 weeks. So why not click through and have a read.

Front cover: Konorov et al., Analyst, 2012, 137, 4662-4668

The latest issue of Analyst is online, with three cover articles for you to enjoy.

Our stunning front cover comes from the groups of Professor Robin Turner and Professor Michael Blades at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Their study establishes the utility of Raman spectroscopy to non-invasively detect biologically relevant changes in live cells exposed to conditions known to trigger autophagy.

The centre image is a differential interference contrast image of two MCF-7 cells, a human breast cancer cell line, after being starved of glutamine for two days.

The surrounding four images are chemical maps based on Raman microspectroscopy of the same two cells rendered from chemically-selective band intensities that indicate the spatial distributions of DNA and RNA (upper-left); RNA only (upper-right); phospholipid (lower-left) mapped relative to nucleic acid; and hydroxyapatite (lower-right), which is a common marker for breast cancers and strongly associated with malignancy.

In each image, the red intensity indicates the highest concentration, blue the lowest.  The advantage of this type of chemical imaging, according to the authors, is that it is non-destructive and label-free.

Raman microspectroscopy of live cells under autophagy-inducing conditions
Stanislav O. Konorov, Mario A. Jardon, James M. Piret, Michael W. Blades and Robin F. B. Turner
Analyst , 2012, 137, 4662-4668
DOI: 10.1039/C2AN35477B

Inside front cover, Salter et al., Analyst, 2012, 137, 4669-4676

On the inside front cover, Dr Michael Hippler and colleagues from Sheffield University, UK, introduce a variant of cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (CERS) in which diode laser radiation at 635 nm is coupled into an external linear optical cavity composed of two highly reflective mirrors. Using optical feedback stabilisation, build-up of circulating laser power by three orders of magnitude occurs. Strong Raman signals are collected in forward scattering geometry.

The authors say CERS has the potential to become a new standard method to monitor Raman active species, in particular important homonuclear gases like nitrogen, oxygen or hydrogen that can not be easily detected by alternative spectroscopic techniques.

Cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with optical feedback cw diode lasers for gas phase analysis and spectroscopy
Robert Salter, Johnny Chu and Michael Hippler
Analyst , 2012, 137, 4669-4676
DOI: 10.1039/C2AN35722D

The image on the back cover is from Mridul Kanti Mandal and Kenzo Hiraoka of University of Yamanashi, Chuo, Japan, and their co-workers. They have developed a method to perform remote and direct sampling for mass spectrometry.

Back cover: Mandal et al., Analyst, 2012, 137, 4658-4661

They say that the method is easy to operate and versatile allowing any biological specimen to be sampled away from the instrument in a minimally invasive manner.

Solid probe assisted nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry for biological tissue diagnostics
Mridul Kanti Mandal, Kentaro Yoshimura, Subhrakanti Saha, Satoshi Ninomiya, Md. Obaidur Rahman, Zhan Yu, Lee Chuin Chen, Yasuo Shida, Sen Takeda, Hiroshi Nonami and Kenzo Hiraoka
Analyst , 2012, 137, 4658-4661
DOI: 10.1039/C2AN36006C

All these cover articles will be free to access until the end of October, and don’t forget to also take a look at this issue’s HOT articles.