• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.510-514
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• 1997

We studied the interaction of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) with single stranded poly(dA) using optical spectroscopic methods, including absorption, circular dichroism (CD), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The temperature-dependent conformation of poly(dA) was also investigated. The conformation of poly(dA) varied with temperature, which is explained by the stacking-destacking process of the adenine bases, resulting from the sugar conformation. The hypochromicity and red-shift in the absorption spectroscopy, the lack of CD change in the drag absorption region, and the fluorescence behavior, especially a great accessibility of the I2 quencher to the poly(dA)-bound DAPI, suggest that DAPI binds to the outside of poly(dA). The Job plot for the DAPI-poly(dA) mixture demonstrated that a stoichiometry of one DAPI molecule binds to the one phosphate of poly(dA).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.783-790
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• 2007

The immobilization of proteins and their molecular interactions on various polymer-modified glass substrates [i.e. 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS), 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTS), poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA), chitosan (CHI), glutaraldehyde (GA), 3-(trichlorosilyl)propyl methacrylate (TPM), 3'-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS), glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and poly-l-lysine (PL).] for potential applications in a nanoarray protein chip at the single-molecule level was evaluated using prismtype dual-color total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (dual-color TIRFM). A dual-color TIRF microscope, which contained two individual laser beams and a single high-sensitivity camera, was used for the rapid and simultaneous dual-color detection of the interactions and colocalization of different proteins labeled with different fluorescent dyes such as Alexa Fluor® 488, Qdot® 525 and Alexa Fluor® 633. Most of the polymer-modified glass substrates showed good stability and a relative high signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio over a 40-day period after making the substrates. The GPTS/CHI/GA-modified glass substrate showed a 13.5-56.3% higher relative S/N ratio than the other substrates. 1% Top-Block in 10 mM phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.4) showed a 99.2% increase in the blocking effect of non-specific adsorption. These results show that dual-color TIRFM is a powerful methodology for detecting proteins at the single-molecule level with potential applications in nanoarray chips or nano-biosensors.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1025-1028
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• 2010

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.841-846
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• 2016

Local protein synthesis mediates precise spatio-temporal regulation of gene expression for neuronal functions such as long-term plasticity, axon guidance and regeneration. To reveal the underlying mechanisms of local translation, it is crucial to understand mRNA transport, localization and translation in live neurons. Among various techniques for mRNA analysis, fluorescence microscopy has been widely used as the most direct method to study localization of mRNA. Live-cell imaging of single RNA molecules is particularly advantageous to dissect the highly heterogeneous and dynamic nature of messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) complexes in neurons. Here, we review recent advances in the study of mRNA localization and translation in live neurons using novel techniques for single-RNA imaging.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.583-589
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• 2011

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a sophisticated and an accurate analytical technique used to study the diffusion of molecules in a solution at the single-molecule level. FCS is strongly affected by many factors such as the stability of the excitation power, photochemical processes, mismatch between the refractive indices, and variations in the cover glass thickness. We have studied FCS near the surface of a cover glass by using rhodamine 123 as a fluorescent probe and have observed that the surface has a strong influence on the measurements. The temporal autocorrelation of FCS decays with two characteristic times when the confocal detection volume is positioned near the surface of the cover glass. As the position of the detection volume is moved away from the surface, the FCS autocorrelation becomes one-component decaying; the characteristic time of the decay is the same as the faster-decaying component in the FCS autocorrelation near the surface. This observation suggests that the faster component can be attributed to the free diffusion of the probe molecules in the solution, while the slow component has its origin from the interaction between the probe molecules and the surface. We have characterized the surface contribution to the FCS measurements near the surface by changing the position of the detection volume relative to the surface. The influence of the surface on the diffusion of the probe molecules was monitored by changing the chemical properties of the surface. The surface contribution to the temporal autocorrelation of the FCS strongly depends on the chemical nature of the surface. The hydrophobicity of the surface is a major factor determining the surface influence on the free diffusion of the probe molecules near the surface.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.153-158
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• 1996

The effects of $\alpha$- and $\beta$-cyclodextrins (CD) on the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) behavior of p-N,N'-dimethylaminobenzoic acid (DMABA) in buffered aqueous solution have been investigated by examining formation and decay behaviors of the TICT-typical dual fluorescence. The ratio of the TICT emission to the normal emission (I$_a$/I$_b$) increases linearly $\alpha$-CD concentration increases, while in the presence of $\beta$-CD it shows nonlinear dependences on the CD concentration. The analysis of the CD-dependent changes of the I$_a$/I$_b$ and absorption spectra demonstrates formation of 1:1 inclusion complexes between DMABA and CDs. The decay time of the normal emission (ca. 700 ps) is little affected by the formation of $\alpha$-CD inclusion complex, whereas it increases upto ca. 1.6 ns upon formation of $\beta$-CD inclusion complex. The TICT emission for the $\beta$-CD inclusion complex exhibits two decay components while it shows a single component for the $\alpha$-CD inclusion complex, indicating formation of one or two types of inclusion complex in the presence of $\alpha$-CD or $\beta$-CD, respectively. These results are attributed to the CD cavity size dependence on patterns of complexation between CDs and DMABA. The CD size dependences of the TICT fluorescence properties with the orientation of the guest molecule demonstrate that the specific hydrogen bonding between the carboxylic acid group and water plays an important role in the excited-state TICT.

• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.281-300
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• 2019

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was first discovered in 1974 by an unexpected Raman signal increase from Pyridine adsorbed on rough Ag electrode surfaces by the M. Fleishmann group. M. Moskovits group suggested that this phenomenon could be caused by surface plasmon resonance (SPR), which is a collective oscillation of free electrons at the surface of metal nanostructures by an external light source. After about 40 years, the SERS study has attracted great attention as a biomolecule analysis technology, and more than 2500 new papers and 500 review papers related to SERS topic have been published each year in recently. The advantages of biomaterials analysis using SERS are as follows; ① Molecular level analysis is possible based on unique fingerprint information of biomolecule, ② There is no photo-bleaching effect of the Raman reporters, allowing long-term monitoring of biomaterials compared to fluorescence microscopy, ③ SERS peak bandwidth is approximately 10 to 100 times narrower than fluorescence emission from organic phosphor or quantum dot, resulting in higher analysis accuracy, ④ Single excitation wavelength allows analysis of various biomaterials, ⑤ By utilizing near-infrared (NIR) SERS-activated nanostructures and NIR excitation lasers, auto-fluorescence noise in the visible wavelength range can be avoided from in vivo experiment and light damage in living cells can be minimized compared to visible lasers, ⑥ The weak Raman signal of the water molecule makes it easy to analyze biomaterials in aqueous solutions. For this reason, SERS is attracting attention as a next-generation non-invasive medical diagnostic device as well as substance analysis. In this review, the principles of SERS and various biomaterial analysis principles using SERS analysis will be introduced through recent research papers.