Achilefu Group
Samuel Achilefu, Ph.D.
Project 4 - Nanomaterials for imaging and treatment of cardiovascular diseases
Professor of Radiology
Division of Radiological Sciences
Washington University in Saint Louis
4525 Scott Ave, CB 1150
St. Louis, MO 63110
phone: +1 314 362-8599
fax: +1 314 747-5191
Goals for the Current PEN Contract
Samuel Achilefu will be involved in Project 4.
Facilities
General Chemistry and analysis: Eleven fume hoods, including one hood dedicated to work with radioactive materials; three fully-automated analytical HPLC systems with autosampler (from Waters and Beckman Coulter); Gilson HPLC auto purification system GX-281; Biotage SP4 semipreparative flash chromatography system, 3 centrifuges; 2 lyophilizers; three peptide synthesizers, LC/MS system operating in ESI/MS and APCI/MS modes with UV-Vis and in NIR range and fluorescent detectors; and other instruments.
Spectroscopy: Instruments for spectroscopy include UV-Vis spectrophotometer (DU- 640, Beckman Coulter) equipped with thermostated Peltier hot/cold cuvette holder in the range 10-90oC, a Fluorolog-3 spectrofluorometer (Jobin Yvon Horiba) equipped with TCSPC, polarizers, and other accessories. Light sources include a Xenon lamp, Nanoleds 295, 370, 460, 560, 648, 700, 773 and 820 nm. The laboratory is also equipped with absorption spectrophotometer (DB-620 OLIS Inc.) with InGaAs detectors (800-1600 nm) equipped with a double monochromator.
Electrochemistry: The laboratory is equipped with a potentiostat/galvanostat (263A, Princeton Applied Research), set of electrodes and electrochemical cells for cyclic voltammetry.
In vivo imaging: ORL’s home built NIR small animal optical imaging instrument consist of a light tight chamber, expandable fiber-optic excitation setup, and a CCD camera with optical filter wheel for recording images. Other small animal imagers include a multi-modal Optical/Radiographic digital imaging system (IS4000MM, Kodak,) equipped with a cooled CCD camera, 2 halogen lamps and an enclosed 12 – 35 kVP Xray source and RAD PADD radiographic imaging module for digital radiography and planar scintigraphy. The ORL is equipped with a reflectance time-domain diffuse optical tomography system, eXplore Optix, from Advanced Research Technologies Inc. The system has a 780 nm pulsed laser diode with a repetition frequency of 80 MHz and a time resolution of 250 ps. Image reconstruction and analysis provide fluorescence intensity and fluorescence lifetime maps.
Biology/Biochemistry: The biology/biochemistry section of the ORL is equipped with four laminar flow hoods,. Microscopy includes: Olympus Fluoview 1000 Confocal Microscope: with unique NIR spectroscopy capabilities. Currently installed laser sources are: Argon Ion: 458nm /488nm/515nm, HeNe: 543nm/633nm, Laser Diode: 785nm. The custom laser diode light source module permits confocal imaging of the fluorophores optimized for deep tissue imaging in the near infrared spectral region. Olympus BX 51 Fluorescence Microscope: Upright Research Microscope: This microscope has a 12.5 megapixel camera and ability to create a single in focus image from various images at different focal planes. In addition the software helps capture phase contrast, brightfield or darkfield image and overlay it with the fluorescence image.
Pathology: The ORL is equipped with a vibratory microtome for thin slicing (100 μm) of fresh and fixed tissues, an incubator, a Millipore MultiScreen Vacuum apparatus for receptor binding assays, a robotic liquid handler, and a small animal gas anesthesia system.
People
Samuel I. Achilefu, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator
Professor of Radiology
Division of Radiological Sciences
Washington University School of Medicine
phone: +1 314 362-8599
fax: +1 314 747-5191
achilefu@wustl.edu
Walter J. Akers, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Radiology
Division of Radiological Sciences
Washington University School of Medicine
phone:+1 314 286-2015
fax: +1 314 747-5191
akersw@mir.wustl.edu
Mikhail Y. Berezin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Radiology
Division of Radiological Sciences
Washington University School of Medicine
phone: +1 314 747-0701
fax: +1 314 747-5191
berezinm@mir.wustl.edu
Sharon Bloch
Senior Scientist
Division of Radiological Sciences
Washington University School of Medicine
phone: +1 314 747-0699
fax: +1 314 747-5191
blochs@wustl.edu
Rui Tang
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Division of Radiological Sciences
Washington University School of Medicine
phone: +1 314 747-0659
fax: +1 314 747-5191
rtang@wustl.edu