Imaging technology helps understand how cell division mistakes lead to human disorders

Innovative imaging technology supplied by Image Solutions (UK) Ltd (Imsol) is helping scientists at the University of Sussex’s Centre for Genome Damage and Stability (CGDS) to get a better understanding of how mistakes made during the process of cell division can lead to disorders and diseases within humans.

The CGDS houses 16 research groups, all focused on different aspects of DNA damage responses and genome instability. One of the groups, managed by Wellcome Trust

Senior Fellow Dr Helfrid Hochegger, uses Imsol’s DeltaVision Core and Personal DV imaging systems in order to better understand the activities of enzymes known as kinases. Successful cell separation depends on kinase activity and as a result they are one of the most studied of all enzyme families.

In order to track these markers through the cell, Dr Hochegger and his team have to take 60 images through 300nm-thick slices of living tissue in just 30 seconds. In addition, the images have to be taken with a very short exposure time of just 50mS as any longer would damage the cells that are being studied.

Imsol’s DeltaVision Core is designed to increase a laboratory’s ability to image more probes and samples over longer periods of time than any competitive imaging system, while the Personal DV is an integrated, bench-top solution designed for speed and economy. 

For further information, visit www.imsol.co.uk

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