Charactarization techniques of particular proteins in cerebellar cortex using acoustic impedance microscope

Two-dimensional acoustic impedance imaging is useful for observation of living organs without invasion. Because acoustic impedance is proportional to sonic speed and density, organelle having larger density, e.g. nucleus, showed higher impedance. We have proved that cerebellar cortical layers and Purjinje cell bodies were identified using the acoustic impedance microscopy. In order to visualize the distribution of specific functional proteins in acoustic imaging, we proposed direct or complex-including heavy metal treatment to elevate the density and acoustic impedance of a particular protein. Heavy metal binding was useful for acoustic impedance imaging; however, metal binding to a protein molecule was not always specific. To observe the distribution of wanted molecules, we investigated two types of heavy metal binding materials; one was p-cymene ruthenium (Ru)-binding calcium channel binding peptides, and another was cadmiun nanocrystal binding antibodies, QdotTM. We could observe the characterized acoustic area by both p-cymene Ru-binding peptide treatment and Qdot treatment, whereas specimen plate was required hydrophobic condition to stabilize acoustic impedance. We suggest that a metal-binding reagent would be useful for specialization of an acoustic imaging.