Brief Communications in 2011

Incorporation of one-dimensional imaging capability into a parallel microfluidic flow cytometer allows fast, low-resolution acquisition of images that permit classification of cells by automated analysis of preselected features.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells are generated with episomal plasmid vectors at increased efficiency using non-transforming L-Myc and knockdown of p53. Also in this issue, Chen et al. report defined conditions for human cell reprogramming and culture.

Short hairpin RNAs, expressed from microRNA scaffold–containing vectors, efficiently silence gene expression in female germ cells as well as somatic cells in the fly. A genome-wide resource is being developed.

Rapid, high-resolution, label-free Fourier-transform infrared imaging of biological samples is made possible by combining multiple synchrotron beams with wide-field detection.

Classifiers trained on a large microarray gene expression dataset can assess pluripotency in query samples of human cells.

A microfluidic mixing device for multiple, rapid and automated single-molecule measurements permits the study of macromolecule properties under varying environmental conditions. Also in this issue, Gambin et al. present another microfluidic mixing device for rapid single-molecule measurements.

A laminar flow mixing microfluidic device enables single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) kinetic measurements with a time resolution of 0.2 ms, enabling the study of early binding-coupled folding and unfolding events of an intrinsically disordered protein, α-synuclein. Also in this issue, Kim et al. describe another microfluidic mixing device for single-molecule experiments.

Changing the codon sequence in Caenorhabditis elegans genes allows fine-tuning of transgene expression from high to low expression. The same strategy is likely applicable for Drosophila melanogaster and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Microscope control software allowed automatic machine learning-based detection of rare events in living cells and unattended operation of complex imaging assays. Performance was demonstrated by detailed analysis of processes during transient mitotic stages.

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy is a quantitative, label-free imaging method to map fat distribution and accumulation with high spatial resolution and sensitivity at both cellular and organism levels.

In vivo calcium imaging at multiple depths simultaneously is shown using multifocal two-photon microscopy and spatiotemporal multiplexing. This technique involves scanning the sample with multiple beams in parallel at different axial planes and is applied to monitor neuronal network activity in multiple cortical layers of an anesthetized mouse.

Single-molecule fluorescence experiments with microsecond time resolution are made possible using a photoprotection cocktail that reduces dye blinking and bleaching with a combination of dissolved oxygen, a triplet quencher and a free-radical scavenger.