NanoAnalyzer: An emerging technology to analyse life at the nanoscale

谢菲尔德大学(TUoS)的研究人员致力于了解细胞之间的交流方式。我们还研究了人类细胞和细菌在感染期间是如何相互作用的。我们已经证明，细胞之间的交流是通过释放非常小的颗粒(称为纳米颗粒)来实现的，这种颗粒含有充当信息的分子。细菌和人类细胞也可以通过这种方式进行交流。我们还研究这些颗粒，以便设计人造纳米颗粒，这种纳米颗粒可以携带可用于治疗癌症等疾病的分子。为了研究天然和人造纳米颗粒，我们需要专门的设备，使我们能够测量它们包含的颗粒大小、浓度和分子信息。然而，我们目前在TUoS没有使我们能够实现这一点的设备。该应用程序的目的是获得资金，以购买一种名为NanoAnalyzer的独特仪器，该仪器使用激光来测量通过机器的颗粒的大小和数量。NanoAnalyzer还可以检测绿色和红色荧光颗粒，这使我们能够标记纳米颗粒中包含的分子信息。购买这种仪器对于确保TUOS保持在纳米颗粒研究的前沿是必不可少的。

Researchers at The University of Sheffield (TUoS) are focused on understanding how cells talk to each other. We also investigate how human cells and bacteria interact during infection. We have already shown that cells talk to each other by releasing very small particles (known as nanoparticles), which contain molecules that act as messages. Bacteria and human cells can also communicate in this way. We also study these particles so that we can design artificial nanoparticles, which can carry molecules that can be used in the treatment of diseases such as cancer. To study natural and artificial nanoparticles, we require specialist equipment that allows us to measure the particle size, concentration and molecular messages they contain. However, we do not currently have equipment at TUoS that allows us to achieve this. The aim of this application is to secure funding to purchase a unique instrument called the NanoAnalyzer, which uses lasers to measure the size and number of particles that pass through the machine. The NanoAnalyzer can also detect green and red fluorescent particles, which allows us to tag the molecular messages contained in nanoparticles. Purchasing this instrument is essential to ensure that TUoS remains at the forefront of nanoparticle research.