Nottingham Trent University

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

Fecal Glucocorticoid Analysis: Non-invasive Adrenal Monitoring in Equids

Kelly Yarnell¹, Rebecca S. Purcell², Susan L. Walker²

¹School of Animal Rural and Environmental Science, Nottingham Trent University, ²Chester Zoo, Upton-by-Chester

Adrenal activity can be assessed in the equine species by analysis of feces for corticosterone metabolites. The method offers a non-invasive option to assess long term patterns in both domestic and free ranging horses. This protocol describes the enzyme linked immunoassay involved and the associated biochemical validation.

Bioengineering

Large-area Scanning Probe Nanolithography Facilitated by Automated Alignment and Its Application to Substrate Fabrication for Cell Culture Studies

I-Ning Lee^*1,2, Joseph Hosford^*1, Shuai Wang³, John A. Hunt⁴, Judith M. Curran², William P. Heath³, Lu Shin Wong¹

¹Manchester Institute of Biotechnology & School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, ²School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, ³School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, ⁴School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University

Here we present a protocol for wide-area scanning probe nanolithography enabled by the iterative alignment of probe arrays, as well as the utilization of lithographic patterns for cell-surface interaction studies.

Engineering

Monitoring Conformational Dynamics of Single Unmodified Proteins using Plasmonic Nanotweezers

Saaman Zargarbashi^1,2, Lei Xu¹, Christopher J. Mellor², Mohsen Rahmani¹, Cuifeng Ying¹

¹Advanced Optics and Photonics Laboratory, Department of Engineering, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, ²School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham

Plasmonic nanotweezers use localized surface plasmon resonance in gold nanostructures to trap single nanoparticles, including proteins, within a nanometer-scale optical field. Changes in the scattered signal reveal protein presence and conformational dynamics, enabling monitoring without fluorophore modifications or surface tethering.