The Darling lab published two research articles in December demonstrating novel molecular techniques to probe cells. In a study published in Biotechniques, they broadened the utility of their established technique of the FITSAR (formaldehyde-fixed intracellular target-sorted antigen retrieval) method. It was previously established that protein can be isolated and characterized from freshly fixed cell populations by Western blotting with FITSAR. In “Processing fixed and stored adipose-derived stem cells for quantitative protein array assays,” they demonstrated that this method can be applied to fixed and stored samples (up to one month)  and is compatible with highly sensitive multiplex arrays (such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA). PhD candidate Jessica Sadick was the lead author.

In “Synthesis and characterization of a magnetically active 19F molecular beacon”, they sought to design and synthesize a novel molecular beacon for magnetic resonance detection of any desired target nucleotide sequence. Their study demonstrated that magnetic resonance-based assessment of mRNA expression is feasible through the use of a fluorine (19F) reporter and extends the possibilities for applying molecular beacon technology in living systems beyond fluorescence-based approaches.  The study was lead by current graduate student Megan Dempsey and former graduate student Hetal Marble, PhD. Collaborators from the Department of Chemistry Tun-Li Shen, PhD and Nicolas Fawzi, PhD were also authors of this work published in Bioconjugate Chemistry.

Eric Darling also recently contributed to the manuscript “Functional Properties of Chondrocytes and Articular Cartilage using Optical Imaging to Scanning Probe Microscopy“ published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research.