New publication in Nature Communications

New publication in Nature Communications

News, Publications
Our paper entitled “Direct Detection of a Single Photon by Humans” by Tinsley J. N. et. al., has been published in Nature Communications. In this study we have shown that humans are capable of detecting a single photon onto their eyes with a probability above chance. This was done by developing a quantum light source based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) which can generate single-photon states of light and combining it with a state-of-the-art psychophysics procedure. Thereby we could show that the human visual system including the post-processing performed by the retina and the brain can detect a single photon incident onto the eye. Read the publication or a short summary. Please have also a look at the Nature News article by Davide Castelvecchi as well as the articles on…
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New publication in J. Phys. Chem. B

News, Publications
Together with our colleagues at the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics at the University of Chicago, we have developed a method using infrared spectroscopy and atomistic modeling that would allow to better understand the mechanism behind the extreme ion selectivity and transport properties in ion channels. Our findings have recently been published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. [caption id="attachment_1312" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Location of the potassium channel KcsA in the cell membrane of bacteria. The schematic illustration on the right shows the changes in strength and direction of vibrational coupling inside the filter depending on the ion species, as found by the study. @David S. Goodsell & RCSB Protein Data Bank[/caption] Ion channels are essential structures of life. Ion channels are specialized pores in the cell membrane and move charged…
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New Publication in Analytical Chemistry

News, Publications
Together with our collaborator Markus Arndt we published in Analytical Chemistry on how to improve Laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) for natural biochromophores. This methodology might enable us to use fragile biomolecules in Quantum-enhanced metrology experiments. Link to Paper or look up other publications of our group. Ugur Sezer, Lisa Wörner, Johannes Horak, Lukas Felix, Jens Tüxen, Christoph Götz, Alipasha Vaziri, Marcel Mayor, and Markus Arndt Laser-induced acoustic desorption of natural and functionalized biochromophores Anal. Chem., 2015, 87 (11), pp 5614–5619 (Download)
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New Paper in eLife on a Non-Conventional Translocation Mechanism for Motor Proteins

News, Publications
Motors proteins of the conserved kinesin-14 family have important roles in mitotic spindle organization and chromosome segregation. Previous studies have indicated that kinesin-14 motors are non-processive enzymes, working in the context of multi-motor ensembles that collectively organize microtubule networks. Here we show that the yeast kinesin-14 Kar3 generates processive movement as a heterodimer with the non-motor proteins Cik1 or Vik1. By analyzing the single-molecule properties of engineered motors we demonstrate that the non-catalytic domain has a key role in the motility mechanism by acting as a 'foothold' that allows Kar3 to bias translocation towards the minus end. This mechanism rivals the speed and run length of conventional motors, can support transport of the Ndc80 complex in vitro and is critical for Kar3 function in vivo. Our findings provide an example for…
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New Paper in Biomedical Optics Express

News, Publications
Our recent paper "Optimizing and extending light-sculpting microscopy for fast functional imaging in neuroscience" on the improvement of our previously published imaging technique can be accessed via this Website. [caption id="attachment_1218" align="alignright" width="1020"] Experimental setup and various modalities of light sculpting microscopy.[/caption]  
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New publication in Nature Methods

New publication in Nature Methods

News, Publications
Our recent paper on "Simultaneous whole-animal 3D imaging of neuronal activity using light-field microscopy” was published today in Nature Methods. Using light-field deconvolution microscopy for functional biological imaging, we were able to simultaneous  record the activity of the entire nervous system of C. elegans and showed whole brain imaging in zebrafish larvae at 20Hz volume rate.  Click here for further information.
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New Publication in Nature Methods

Publications
Our recent paper on "Brain-wide 3D imaging of neuronal activity Caenorhabditis elegans with sculpted light" was published today in Nature Methods. Here, we introduce wide-field temporal focusing (WF-TEFO), a two-photon technique, which is based on light-sculpting and enables recording the activity of the majority of neurons in the head ganglia of C. elegans with high temporal and spatial resolution. Click here to read the abstract or browse the research section on our homepage, to read more about the new technique which enables neurobiologists to acquire realtime 3D-videos of active neurons (see video below).
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New Nature Publication online

New Nature Publication online

Publications
We are happy to announce, that David Cisneros - a shared Postdoc of our group and the lab of Jan-Michael Peters at the IMP Vienna - has contributed to a recent Nature publication which sheds light on the organization of chromosome structure and segregation: Wapl is an essential regulator of chromatin structure and chromosome segregation These findings reveal that the stability of cohesin–DNA interactions is an important determinant of chromatin structure, and indicate that cohesin has an architectural role in interphase chromosome territories.
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