The development of quantitative methods to directly observe individual molecules in solution, attached to surfaces, in the membrane of live cells or more recently inside live cells, has been a major advance in this last decade. We can now study how individual cellular components interact to form a cell and how this can go awry in disease.
My group (and collaborators) has focussed on developing these methods and applying them to biological/biomedical problems difficult or impossible to solve using conventional methods. We use scanning ion conductance microscopy for nanoscale imaging of live cells, controlled delivery of molecules to the cell surface and chemical mapping.
We have also developed single molecule fluorescence to detect interactions of molecules in the test-tube and on cells. These methods can be used to gain new molecular insights, as illustrated by our recent work on the role of proteins aggregates in neurodegenerative disease and the molecular basis of the immune response.
RELEVANT PAPERS
Single-molecule Imaging of Individual Amyloid Protein Aggregates in Human Biofluids ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2016, 7, 399.
Imaging and Characterisation of the Surface of Live Cellls Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2011 15, 696.
E dk10012@cam.ac.uk
T 01223 336481
W www.klenermangroup.co.uk