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Methods to characterize the dispersability of carbon nanotubes and their length distribution
2012, Krause, Beate, Mende, Mandy, Petzold, Gudrun, Boldt, Regine, Pötschke, Petra
Two main properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) materials are discussed in this contribution. First, a method to characterize the dispersability of CNT materials in aqueous surfactant solutions in presented, which also allows conclusions towards the dispersability in other media, like polymer melts. On the other hand it is shown, how the length of CNTs before and after processing, e.g., after melt mixing with thermoplastics, can be quantified. Both methods are illustrated with examples and the practical relevance is shown. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Possibilities and Limitations of Photoactivatable Cytochalasin D for the Spatiotemporal Regulation of Actin Dynamics
2020, Nair, Roshna V., Zhao, Shifang, Terriac, Emmanuel, Lautenschläger, Franziska, Hetmanski, Joseph H.R., Caswell, Patrick T., del Campo, Aranzazu
The study of the actin cytoskeleton and related cellular processes requires tools to specifically interfere with actin dynamics in living cell cultures, ideally with spatiotemporal control and compatible with real time imaging. A phototriggerable derivative of the actin disruptor Cytochalasin D (CytoD) is described and tested here. It includes a nitroveratryloxycarbonyl (Nvoc) photoremovable protecting group (PPG) at the hydroxyl group at C7 of CytoD. The attachment of the PPG renders Nvoc-CytoD temporarily inactive, and enables light-dosed delivery of the active drug CytoD to living cells. This article presents the full structural and physicochemical characterization, the toxicity analysis. It is complemented with biological tests to show the time scales (seconds) and spatial resolution (cellular level) achievable with a UV source in a regular microscopy setup