Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

7 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Chemistry

Layer-by-layer Synthesis and Transfer of Freestanding Conjugated Microporous Polymer Nanomembranes

Peter Lindemann¹, Yannick Träutlein¹, Christof Wöll¹, Manuel Tsotsalas¹

¹Institute of Functional Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

In this paper we describe the interfacial synthesis of conjugated microporous polymers (CMP) on sacrificial substrates, and the dissolution of the substrate for the preparation of freestanding CMP nanomembranes. In addition, we will describe how the fragile nanomembranes can be transferred to other substrates.

Neuroscience

Stripe Assay to Study the Attractive or Repulsive Activity of a Protein Substrate Using Dissociated Hippocampal Neurons

Satoru Yamagishi¹, Gandhervin Kesavamoorthy¹, Martin Bastmeyer², Kohji Sato¹

¹Anatomy and Neuroscience, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, ²Cell and Neurobiology, Zoological Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

Axon guidance molecules regulate neuronal migration and targeted growth-cone navigation. We present a powerful method, the stripe assay, to assess the ability of guidance molecules to attract or repulse neurons. In this protocol, we demonstrate the stripe assay by showing FLRT2's ability to repel cultured hippocampal neurons.

Biology

Comparison of Tobacco Host Cell Protein Removal Methods by Blanching Intact Plants or by Heat Treatment of Extracts

Johannes F. Buyel^1,2, Jürgen Hubbuch³, Rainer Fischer^1,2

¹Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., ²Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, ³Department of Biomolecular Separation Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

Three heat precipitation methods are presented that effectively remove more than 90% of host cell proteins (HCPs) from tobacco extracts prior to any other purification step. The plant HCPs irreversibly aggregate at temperatures above 60 °C.

Bioengineering

Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass Residues in a Twin-screw Mixing Reactor

Axel Funke¹, Daniel Richter¹, Andreas Niebel¹, Nicolaus Dahmen¹, Jörg Sauer¹

¹Institute of Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

A procedure for thermochemical conversion of biomass residues is presented that aims at maximizing the yield of liquid products (fast pyrolysis). It is based on a technology proven on an industrial scale and especially suitable for treating a straw type of biomass.

Engineering

Adsorption Device Based on a Langatate Crystal Microbalance for High Temperature High Pressure Gas Adsorption in Zeolite H-ZSM-5

Wenjin Ding¹, Giulia Baracchini¹, Michael Klumpp², Wilhelm Schwieger², Roland Dittmeyer¹

¹Institute for Micro Process Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), ²Institute of Chemical Reaction Engineering, University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)

A protocol for high-temperature and high-pressure gas adsorption measurements on zeolite H-ZSM-5 using an adsorption measurement device based on a langatate crystal microbalance is presented. Prior to the adsorption measurements, the synthesis of zeolite H-ZSM-5 on the langatate crystal microbalance sensor by the steam-assisted crystallization (SAC) method is demonstrated.

Developmental Biology

Multimodal Hierarchical Imaging of Serial Sections for Finding Specific Cellular Targets within Large Volumes

Irene U. Wacker^1,2, Lisa Veith³, Waldemar Spomer^2,4, Andreas Hofmann^2,4, Marlene Thaler⁵, Stefan Hillmer⁶, Ulrich Gengenbach^2,4, Rasmus R. Schröder^1,2,3

¹Cryo Electron Microscopy, Centre for Advanced Materials, Universität Heidelberg, ²Heidelberg Karlsruhe Research Partnership (HEiKA), ³Cryo Electron Microscopy, BioQuant, Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, ⁴Institute for Automation and Applied Computer Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), ⁵Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, ⁶Electron Microscopy Core Facility, Universität Heidelberg

This protocol targets specific cells in tissue for imaging at nanoscale resolution using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Large numbers of serial sections from resin-embedded biological material are first imaged in a light microscope to identify the target and then in a hierarchical manner in the SEM.

JoVE Journal

Synthesis of Bimetallic Pt/Sn-based Nanoparticles in Ionic Liquids

Christine Dietrich^1,2, Georgios Uzunidis^1,2, Yannick Träutlein¹, Silke Behrens^1,2

¹Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), ²Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg

A protocol for the synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles in ionic liquids and the procedure of their catalytic testing in the selective hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes are described.