| Paul Urayama | Faculty Profile » |
Research Area:
Biophysics
Experiment / Theory:
Experiment
Research Summary:
My laboratory develops and applies methods of fluorescence-based metabolic sensing and microscopy imaging to piezophysiological studies. With the biosphere’s average pressure at 400 atm, understanding pressure effects in biological systems is of both fundamental and applied interest. While the physico-chemical basis for pressure effects is well established, the effects of pressure on complex systems, such as on cellular metabolism, have yet to be fully explored.
Figure caption:
Out-of-focus signal is a major source of blurring in microscope imaging. We are applying state-of-the-art approaches, like optical sectioning via structured illumination (Neil, et al., Optics Letters, 22:1905 (1997)), to studies of biological systems under high pressures. Top: Fibers imaged using conventional microscopy, showing many out-of-focus fibers. Middle: Structured illumination using a grating pattern (vertical stripes). Bottom: Such images are used to obtain an optically-sectioned image. Out-of-focus fibers have been removed from the image, improving spatial resolution.
Graduate program in Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology
Recent Publications:
(Undergraduate students are underlined. Graduate students in italics.)
P. Urayama, E.W. Frey, and S.R. Savage. Fluorescent probe dyes for metabolic-ion sensing under high hydrostatic pressures, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: High-Pressure Bioscience and Biotechnology, 1189: 104-112 (2010).
H.M. DePedro, P. Urayama. Using LysoSensor Yellow/Blue DND-160 to sense acidic pH under high hydrostatic pressures, Analytical Biochemistry, 384: 359-361 (2009).
S.B. Keller, J.A. Dudley, K. Binzel, J. Jasensky, H.M. DePedro, E.W. Frey, P. Urayama. A calibration approach for rapid fluorescence lifetime determination for applications using time-gated detection and finite pulse width excitation, Analytical Chemistry, 80: 7876-7881 (2008).
P. Urayama, E.W. Frey, M.J. Eldridge. A fluid handling system with finger-tightened connectors for biological studies at kilo-atmosphere pressures, Review of Scientific Instruments, 79: 046103 (2008). doi:10.1063/1.2907245
T. Haver, E.C. Raber, P. Urayama. An application of spatial deconvolution to a capillary-based high-pressure chamber for fluorescence microscopy imaging, Journal of Microscopy, 230: 363-371 (2008).