Home
Technology Platform
Research

Anastassiadis
Beyer
Brand
Corbeil
Hoflack
Müller
Pisabarro
Schäffer
Schroeder
Schwille
Seidel
Stewart
Weidinger


Teaching
Press and Public
Conferences
People
Contact

Intranet
Impressum

Schwille Group

(Visit the group site)

Scientific Profile

Our group is primarily concerned with the development and application of novel spectroscopic and microscopic techniques for the quantitative investigation of sparse and single molecules in solution and living cells. Additionally, we aim for the design of appropriate fluorescence-based protein and enzyme assays for rapid but ultrasensitive characterization. In addition to basic research, the integration of such ultrasensitive detection modules in so-called lab-on-a-chip microfluidic structures is pursued, to facilitate manipulation of minute analyte quantities, subsequent to multiparameter fluorescence analysis. The ultimate goal here is to rapidly and efficiently select cells and molecules with desired characteristics from large heterogeneous libraries.

Motivation and Techniques

Scientific discoveries are often stimulated by the invention of new scientific tools. The enormous progress in the life sciences in recent years is a direct result of the emergence of new powerful bioanalytical technologies. At the dawn of the modern proteomics age, methods are required which greatly simplify the quantitative analysis of protein dynamics and interactions. Ideally, different kinds of proteins should be directly and simultaneously observed in their native environment, i.e., the living cell or even organism, at physiological, i.e. mostly submicromolar, concentrations. Single molecule fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy, relatively young disciplines at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology, provide excellent conditions for such investigations. During the past years, confocal fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and related techniques have enabled us to study a masnifold of different parameters such as diffusion and transport rates, molecular association and dissociation, enzyme dynamics and intramolecular dynamics in vitro, but also in the living cell. Employing cross-correlation schemes and nonlinear fluorescence excitation modes, many different fluorescent species can be observed simulateously. Fluorescence lifetime and anistotropy measurements can further be integrated as they add even more information. In the context of basic cell biological research, these novel techniques open up fascinating perspectives to unravel complex intracellular processes involving multiple species of biomolecules, such as signal transduction and protein trafficking with high spatial and temporal precision. Besides the scientific relevance for single molecule analysis in physics, chemistry and biology, these techniques are of increasing importance also in pharmacologic drug screening. One challenge here is the miniaturized manipulation and selection of biomolecules with respect to their individual properties. The requirement of only minute amounts of analytes without having to synchronize their dynamics, and the possibility to distinguish subpopulations of molecular species which would in bulk analysis be hidden in a statistic mean, open up great perspectives for high-throughput screening applications. To this end, we combine our detection modules with home-designed microfluidic structures of various transparent materials, fabricated by means of standard litographic processes.

See also www.biophysik-dresden.de.


Selected Publications

2005 Chiantia S., Kahya N., Schwille P. (2005) Dehydration damage of domain-exhibiting supported bilayers: an AFM study on the protective effects of disaccharides and other stabilizing substances. Langmuir. 2005; 21(14):6317-23.

Kim S.A., Heinze K.G., Bacia K., Waxham M.N., Schwille P. (2005) Two -photon cross-correlation analysis of intracellular reactions with variable stoichiometry, Biophys J. 2005 88(6), 4319-4336

Kahya N., Scherfeld D., and Schwille P. (2005) Differential lipid packing abilities and dynamics in giant unilamellar vesicles composed of saturated glycerophospholipids, sphingomyelin and cholesterol, Chem. Phys. Lipids in press

Bacia K., Schwille P., and Kurzchalia T. (2005) Sterol structure determines the separation of phases and the curvature of the liquid-ordered phase in model membranes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 102(9), 3272-3277

Schwille, P., Kahya, N., Bacia, K. (2005) Lipid and Protein Partitioning Between Raft and Non-Raft Lipid Mixtures, Chapter in: Protein-Lipid Interactions, Wiley-VCH, ed. Lukas K. Tamm, in press

Berezhna S. Schaefer S. Heintzmann R. Jahnz M. Boese G. Deniz A. Schwille P. (2005) New effects in polynucleotide release from cationic lipid carriers revealed by confocal imaging, fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy and single particle tracking BBA -Biomembranes, 1669(2):193-207

Dittrich, P.S., Jahnz, M., and Schwille, P. (2005) A New Embedded Process for Compartmentalized Cell-free Protein Expression and On-line Detection in Microfluidic Devices, ChemBioChem, 6, 811-814 Stagi, M., Dittrich, P.S., Frank N., Iliev, A.I., Schwille, P. and Neumann, H. (2005) Breakdown of axonal synaptic vesicle precursor transport by microglial nitric oxide, J. Neuroscience, 25, 352-362

Jahnz M., and Schwille P. (2005) A Novel Homogenous Assay for Topoisomerase II Action and Inhibition, ChemBioChem, 6(5), 920-926.

Jahnz, M., Schwille, P., (2005) An ultrasensitive site-specific DNA recombination assay based on dual-color fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy, Nucleic Acids Research. 33(6):E60.

Gordon, S.P. Berezhna, S., Scherfeld, D., Kahya, N., and Schwille, P. (2005) Characterization of Interaction between Cationic Lipid-Oligonucleotide Complexes and Cellular Membrane Lipids Using Confocal Imaging and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy, Biophys. J. 88: 305-316

Kohl T. and Schwille P. (2005) Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy with autofluorescent proteins. Adv. Biochem. Biotechnol., in press

Becker, W., Bergmann, A., Haustein, E., Petrasek, Z., Schwille, P., Biskup, C., Anhut, T., Riemann, I., K�ig, K. (2005) Fluorescence lifetime images and correlation spectra obtained by multi-dimensional TCSPC. Proceedings of Spie, 5700, 2005 in press

Becker, W., Bergmann, A., Haustein, E., Petrasek, Z., Schwille, P., Biskup, C., Anhut, T., Riemann, I., K�ig, K. (2005) Fluorescence lifetime images and correlation spectra obtained by multi-dimensional TCSPC. Mic. Res. Tech., 2005 in press

Kohl, T. Haustein, E. Schwille, P. (2005) Determining protease activity in vivo by fluorescence cross-correlation analysis. Biophysical Journal in press

Schwille, P., Heinze, K. G., Dittrich, P., Haustein, E. (2005) Two-photon Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy. In Biomedical Optical Imaging. Fujimoto, J. G. and Farkas, D. (Hrsg.). Oxford University Press, 2005.