X-ray fluorescence imaging reveals subcellular biometal disturbances in a childhood neurodegenerative disorder.

ABSTRACT: Biometals such as zinc, iron, copper and calcium play key roles in diverse physiological processes in the brain, but can be toxic in excess. A hallmark of neurodegeneration is a failure of homeostatic mechanisms controlling the concentration and distribution of these elements, resulting in overload, deficiency or mislocalization. A major roadblock to understanding the impact of altered biometal homeostasis in neurodegenerative disease is the lack of rapid, specific and sensitive techniques capable of providing quantitative subcellular information on biometal homeostasis in situ. Recent advances in X-ray fluorescence detectors have provided an opportunity to rapidly measure biometal content at subcellular resolution in cell populations using X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy (XFM). We ap

SUBMITTER: Grubman A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4070600 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature