We report quantitative measurements of two-, three-, and four-photon excitation action cross sections of several commonly used fluorophores and fluorescent proteins at three different excitation wavelengths of 800 nm, 1300 nm, and 1680 nm. The measured cross section values are consistent with simple quantum mechanic estimations. These values indicate that the optimum repetition rate for deep tissue 3-photon microscopy is approximately 1 to 2 MHz. We further demonstrate that it is feasible to perform 4-photon fluorescence microscopy of GFP labeled microglia in mouse brain in vivo at 1700 nm. 4-photon excitation increases the accessibility of fluorophores at the long wavelength spectral window of 1700 nm.

Das Beste aus drei Welten: Ein System bestehend aus Goldnanostäbchen mit Poly(styrol‐alt‐maleinsäure)‐Hülle (siehe Bild; pink), dem Photosensibilisator Indocyaningrün (schwarz) und Antikörpern (grüne „Y“) lässt sich nicht nur für die photodynamische Therapie und als hyperthermisches Reagens zur Zerstörung maligner Zellen einsetzen, sondern wirkt simultan auch als Kontrastfarbstoff zur Bildgebung von Zellen im Nah‐Infrarot.

Self-aggregation of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)1-induced antiapoptotic factor (TIAF1) is known in the nondemented human hippocampus, and the aggregating process may lead to generation of amyloid β (Aβ) for causing neurodegeneration. Here, we determined that overexpressed TIAF1 exhibits as aggregates together with Smad4 and Aβ in the cancer stroma and peritumor capsules of solid tumors. Also, TIAF1/Aβ aggregates are shown on the interface between brain neural cells and the metastatic cancer cell mass. TIAF1 is upregulated in developing tumors, but may disappear in established metastatic cancer cells. Growing neuroblastoma cells on the extracellular matrices from other cancer cell types induced production of aggregated TIAF1 and Aβ. In vitro induction of TIAF1 self-association upregulated the expression of tumor suppressors Smad4 and WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WOX1 or WWOX), and WOX1 in turn increased the TIAF1 expression. TIAF1/Smad4 interaction further enhanced Aβ formation. TIAF1 is known to suppress SMAD-regulated promoter activation. Intriguingly, without p53, self-aggregating TIAF1 spontaneously activated the SMAD-regulated promoter. TIAF1 was essential for p53-, WOX1- and dominant-negative JNK1-induced cell death. TIAF1, p53 and WOX1 acted synergistically in suppressing anchorage-independent growth, blocking cell migration and causing apoptosis. Together, TIAF1 shows an aggregation-dependent control of tumor progression and metastasis, and regulation of cell death.

A profound remodeling of the extracellular matrix occurs in many epithelial cancers. In ovarian cancer, the minor collagen isoform of Col III becomes upregulated in invasive disease. Here we use second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging microscopy to probe structural differences in fibrillar models of the ovarian stroma comprised of mixtures of Col I and III. The SHG intensity and forward-backward ratios decrease with increasing Col III content, consistent with decreased phasematching due to more randomized structures. We further probe the net collagen α-helix pitch angle within the gel mixtures using what is believed to be a new pixel-based polarization-resolved approach that combines and extends previous analyses. The extracted pitch angles are consistent with those of peptide models and the method has sufficient sensitivity to differentiate Col I from the Col I/Col III mixtures. We further developed the pixel-based approach to extract the SHG signal polarization anisotropy from the same polarization-resolved image matrix. Using this approach, we found that increased Col III results in decreased alignment of the dipole moments within the focal volume. Collectively, the SHG measurements and analysis all indicate that incorporation of Col III results in decreased organization across several levels of collagen organization. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the collagen isoforms comingle within the same fibrils, in good agreement with ultrastructural data. The pixel-based polarization analyses (both excitation and emission) afford determination of structural properties without the previous requirement of having well-aligned fibers, and the approaches should be generally applicable in tissue.

Investigating quantum confinement in graphene under ambient conditions remains a challenge. In this study, we present graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) that show excitation-wavelength-independent photoluminescence. The luminescence color varies from orange-red to blue as the GOQD size is reduced from 8 to 1 nm. The photoluminescence of each GOQD specimen is associated with electron transitions from the antibonding π (π*) to oxygen nonbonding (n-state) orbitals. The observed quantum confinement is ascribed to a size change in the sp(2) domains, which leads to a change in the π*-π gap; the n-state levels remain unaffected by the size change. The electronic properties and mechanisms involved in quantum-confined photoluminescence can serve as the foundation for the application of oxygenated graphene in electronics, photonics, and biology.

The best of three worlds: Gold nanorods coated with poly(styrene‐alt‐maleic acid) (see picture; pink), the photosensitizer indocyanine green (black), and antibodies (green “Y”) serve not only as photodynamic therapy and hyperthermia agents to destroy malignant cells, but they also act as optical contrast agents to simultaneously to monitor cells by imaging in the near‐IR region.

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The high correlation between FSHG and BSHG fiber direction for large AR values shows that BSHG imaging can provide qualitative and quantitative information of the extent of structural changes in a keratoconic cornea. The ability to use BSHG for diagnosing and monitoring stroma abnormalities, even when cornea transparency is retained, demonstrates the clinical potential of this method: