Therapeutic treatment and imaging of live cancer cells and bacteria

在未来六年内进行的研究将首先包括暴露于各种治疗性治疗的活癌细胞系的光学成像。这项工作将在很大程度上依赖于我们开发的光学显微镜成像技术，该技术可以对难以检测到的未标记样品进行成像。无标记成像的一个主要优点是消除了可能与荧光标记或将外来颗粒注入样本相关的潜在生物异常。待探索的疗法将包括药物、X射线辐射、UV-可见光疗法及其组合。将特别强调不需要药物援助的光疗法。迄今为止，这种选择的研究很少，但副作用较少，并减少了对已经服用处方药的患者发生不良化学相互作用的机会。当获得伦理许可后，治疗研究将扩展到使用针吸活检获得的活组织的研究。 还将继续研究暴露于定量剂量的短波长紫外线和可见光的细菌死亡率。这项工作对细菌和病毒的无药物灭菌具有影响，并提供了一个独特的机会来研究光诱导的化学键断裂对生殖单细胞物种生物学特性的影响。此外，我们将继续研究高功率可见激光在去除表面细菌生物膜和菌斑方面的功效。 目前使用虹鳟鱼鱼种作为试验物种对水毒性进行量化的研究将扩大到包括开发一种便携式实验室设施，可以运送到偏远地点对流出物进行生物监测。采样地点将包括正在运行的工业场所、市政水处理场所和可能仍在影响供水系统的废弃场所。还将设计和建造一个基于使用水蚤而不是鳟鱼的试验站。水蚤作为测试物种提供了几个优势，成本较低，系统尺寸较小，并减少伦理问题。

Research to be carried out in the next six years will consist firstly of the optical imaging of live cancer cell lines exposed to various therapeutic treatments. The work will rely heavily on an optical microscope imaging technique we have developed that can image difficult to detect untagged samples. A major advantage of untagged imaging is the elimination of potential biological abnormalities that can be associated with fluorescence tagging or with the injection of foreign particles into the specimen. Therapies to be explored will include drug, x-ray radiation, UV-visible light therapy, and combinations thereof. Particular emphasis will be placed on light therapy that does not require drug assistance. This option has been poorly investigated to date but offers fewer side effects and reduces the chance of adverse chemical interactions to patients already on a prescription drug regimen. When ethical clearance has been obtained, the therapy studies will be extended to the investigation of live tissues obtained using needle biopsy.     Research will also be continued in the investigation of the mortality of bacteria exposed to quantified doses of short wavelength UV and visible light. This work has implications for drug free sterilization against bacteria and viruses and offers a unique opportunity to examine the effects of light induced chemical bond breaking on the biological properties of reproductive single cell species. Also, we will continue to examine the efficacy of high power visible laser light in the removal of bacterial biofilms and plaques from surfaces.   Current research on the quantification of water toxicity using rainbow trout fingerlings as test species will be extended to include the development of a portable lab facility that can be transported to remote sites for the biological monitoring of effluent. Sites to be sampled will include operational industrial sites, municipal water treatment sites, and abandoned sites that may still be influencing the water system. A test station based on the use of daphnia instead of trout will also be designed and constructed. Daphnia as a test species offer several advantages in terms of lower costs, smaller system size, and reduced ethics issues.