Peter
Eaton - NanoBio Imaging Unit
I am an
"Investigador Auxiliar" (Assistant Researcher) at the
REQUIMTE, working in the Chemistry Department of the University of
Porto (NanoBio Group).
The NanoBio group does not have a
webpage yet, but is headed by Eulália Pereira. The interests
of the group include the preparation, characterisation, and
application of new nanoparticles, as well as the study of their
interactions with biological targets. My research focuses on the use
of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to study a variety of biological
and chemical systems. These include nanoparticle-DNA interactions,
organometallic vesicle structure, bacterial morphology and
nanomechanics, superparamagnetic nanoparticles, malarial
hepatocytes, Langmuir-Blodgett films and proteoliposome structure. I
am also developing a new quantum dot-based biosensor.
News
Malaria Paper
We have published a new paper relating some studies we’ve made of the development of the malaria parasite, plasmodium within liver cells (hepatocytes),
using AFM. This is the first time anyone has ever studied the parasite in liver cells using AFM. In fact, there have only been a couple of studies
of hepatocyte sat all. Our work reports not just AFM imaging but also nanomechanical measurements of the infected cells.
The results show that it’s possible to observe the growth and multiplication of plasmodium within the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) as it grows, and
that this affects cell membrane texture.
But more importantly, we saw dramatic and significant changes in cells stiffness in infected cells. 48 hours after infection, the cells had stiffened
by approximately ten times. This effect was seen in the main body of the cell, away from the location of the PV. This suggests that it is a reaction of the cell
to the presence of the parasite. this is the first time that cell stiffness changes upon malaria infection have been seen in hepatic cells.
The paper has been published in Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, and can be found at:
P. Eaton, V. Zuzarte-Luis, M. M. Mota, N. C. Santos, M. Prudêncio, Infection by Plasmodium changes shape and stiffness of hepatic cells Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine 8(1), 17-19 (2012).
Requimte Hands-on Minicourse on Atomic Force Microscopy 2011
"Without any doubt I will recommend it for everybody which is interested in AFM" - 2011 student.
The 2011 edition of the AFM course was held between 14th and 16th september.
The students learned about:
Thanks very much to AFM Workshop for sponsoring the course!
Example Images
Here are just a few example images measured with the new TTAFM instrument on a variety of samples.
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New Instrument Page
There is a page describing our new AFM instrument over at afmhelp.com. On the Requimte page you can find information on both the Lisbon and Porto instruments. On our page our instrument (Long Beach) is described, and there are also operating protocols and procedures. There is also a booking calendar, so you can see when the instrument's busy.
Best SPM Image at IMC17
At the 17th International Microscopy Congress (IMC17) in Rio de Janeiro, I won the 1st place prizee for best SPM image (Life Sciences). The collage of the winners is shown below. Once again, thanks to Gonçalo Dória for providing the sample.
Also at the conference, both Maria Feio and Ana Pereira gave excellent and well-received oral presentations, featuring AFM images obtained in our lab. Well done to both of them!
FCT
PROJECT FUNDED
The
FCT has decided to fund our proposed project "Multifunctional
Nanoparticles for Clinical Diagnosis". The evaluators
recommended funding of 86,400 Euros for this project. The project
will begin in January 2011, and there will be two BI grants
available after that, one for nanoparticle synthesis and one for
biosensor development. The project is to be carried out jointly with
the group of Pedro Baptista from CIGMH, UNL, Lisbon. Thanks to all
the co-applicants!
OUR
NEW AFM JUST ARRIVED!
This
week, our new AFM that I built in California, arrived in Porto. I
have unpacked and assembled it, and got the first test images.
Here
are a couple of pictures of the system, on the left the AFM head,
and on the right an image of the acquisition software. For more
details about the new AFM, contact me at peter.eaton@fc.up.pt. Some
example images will follow soon.
NEW
PAPER ACCEPTED
Neves
et al, "New insights into the use of magnetic force microscopy
to discriminate between magnetic and nonmagnetic
nanoparticles"
Nanotechnology 21 (2010) 305706. This article
can be accessed at: http://stacks.iop.org/0957-4484/21/305706
During
the next thrity days or so, the article will be free to access, as
long as you log in to IOP Science.
This article shows explicitly
for the first time, how the presence of non-magnetic nanoparticles
is detected by MFM. This is a problem, since some previous results
were rather ambiguous, and may not have shown magnetic fields at
all. We show how real magnetic effects can be differentiated from
"fake" MFM images, and that the fake images are
electrostatic in nature. We also give some idea of the sorts of
particles MFM can detect, and the distance it can detect them from.
Congratulations to Cristina!
BOOK
AVAILABLE
My
book is now available for preorder on amazon.com, click below to go
to the relevant pages.
ANOTHER
IMAGE IN CALENDAR
One
of our AFM images (measured by Cristina Neves and I) was featured in
the Veeco SPM 2010 calendar - the image shows a malarial mosquito
eye - the image was named "Looking for Lunch" by Veeco:
BOOK
WRITING FINISHED
Work
on my book has now finished. It is called "Atomic Force
Microscopy", written along with Paul West and it will be
published in 2010. More details can be found at afmhelp.com.
IMAGE
IN SCIENTEC CALENDAR
One
of our AFM images was featured in Scientec customer calendar for
January 2009 - the image shows nanoparticle gene sensors interacting
with target dsDNA:
Vacancies
We require a student (Master’s level, by September),
to take on a BI (research grant) here in synthesis of fluorescent nanoparticles for the biosensor. Click here
to download the “edital”.
For this post we ideally want someone with synthetic skills, but interests in nanotechnology and /or molecular biology will be an advantage.
Applications should be made by email to me at peter.eaton@fc.up.pt, including a full CV.
Click here for more details on the ERACAREERS website.
We
don't have any other positions open currently, but if you are
interested in a project concerning AFM, please contact me.
In
particular, we are keen to find candidates, at doctoral or
post-doctoral level to study atomic force microscopy of bacteria.
Biographical
Information and Other Materials
My CV and publication list are available here: CV and Publications List
Here is my FTIR Spectroscopy Tutorial: Go to FTIR Tutorial
I have a list of Frequently Asked Questions (a FAQ) about AFM here: AFM FAQ
