Cell Nuclei Have Lower Refractive Index And Mass Density Than Cytoplasm

Condensed Matter journal club

Cell Nuclei Have Lower Refractive Index And Mass Density Than Cytoplasm

  • Event time: 11:30am
  • Event date: 13th May 2016
  • Speaker: (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
  • Location: Room 2511,

Event details

Abstract

Common perception regards the nucleus as a densely packed object with higher refractive index (RI) and mass density than the surrounding cytoplasm. Here, the volume of isolated nuclei is systematically varied by electrostatic and osmotic conditions as well as drug treatments that modify chromatin conformation. The refractive index and dry mass of isolated nuclei is derived from quantitative phase measurements using digital holographic microscopy (DHM). Surprisingly, the cell nucleus is found to have a lower RI and mass density than the cytoplasm in four different cell lines and throughout the cell cycle. This result has important implications for conceptualizing light tissue interactions as well as biological processes in cells.
J. Biophotonics pages 1-9 (2016)
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Authors

M Schürmann, J Scholz, P Müller, J Guck, CJ Chan

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