The progress of genomic technologies enables systematic analysis of biological samples at the molecular level. Although these techniques provide important insights into the living process, all the data regarding DNA sequence variations or RNA transcript levels of cells will only provide a partial picture. It can be expected that in many if not the majority of disease cases proteomics are necessary to complete the picture. This holds especially true for the diagnosis of complex diseases and improved risk stratifications, and biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity are the key. Biomarkers are a class of biological molecules with characteristic features which can be measured and visualized. They have an outstanding role in the identification of normal and diseased states. Moreover, they can give informations whether a disease is just occurring or in progression, and, thus are parameters for diagnostics, prognosis and in the assessment of sequential events.

Download complete paper

Research and many applications in life science including biology, biotechnology and medicine rely on molecular recognition patterns. The identification of histological structure of organs is one aspect, and recognizing the basic mechanisms of life is another aspect. Thus, a wide range of instruments and application techniques are needed. A main topic of structural analysis is covered by microscopical imaging from the nanometer to the millimeter scale. In this context, molecular labelings with specific probes are predominant.

Download complete paper

Fluorescent probes are efficient tools and enable the detection of particular components in complex structures of organs including live cells. Under the condition of specific molecular interactions, fluorochrome labeled ligands allow the selective localization of cell compounds including antigens, nucleic acid structures or other molecules. Fluorescent techniques are especially useful to localize the intra- and extracellular position of biomarkers in the course of gene expression, during cytoplasmic synthesis and migration.

Download complete paper