James F. Hainfeld

Updated: January 24, 2005 Dr. James F. Hainfeld is the President/CEO and founder of Nanoprobes. He has pioneered the use of metal nanoparticles as labels and probes for biological structures and processes for over twenty years, and first introduced gold clusters as immunolabels. Nanoparticles containing gold, iridium, tungsten, uranium, platinum and silver were adapted for use in biological systems. Many of these were studied at the molecular level and by electron microscopy. He co-developed with Vice President Frederic Furuya the very useful Nanogold cluster. He also discovered Enzyme Metallography, a sensitive detection method using enzymes to deposit metals, now being used in clinical cancer tests. Dr. Hainfeld holds a B.S.E. (Electrical Engineering) from Princeton University and a Ph.D. (Chemistry / Biochemistry) from the University of Texas at Austin where he worked with D. J. DeRosier and L. J. Reed, and was a postdoctoral fellow with A. V. Crewe and T. L. Steck (Biophysics/Biology) at the University of Chicago. He then joined the Biology Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1976. Dr. Hainfeld was nationally elected to serve as Counsellor to The Histochemical Society, and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. His experience includes synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization, electron and light microscopy, NMR, cell culture, implantation of tumors in mice, tail vein injections, dissections, biodistribution studies, and analytic techniques, such as FTIR, mass and atomic absorption spectrometry. He has conducted radioimmunotherapy studies using radioactive gold clusters, and use of natural gold nanoparticles in Photon Activated Therapy. His interests also include MRI, where he has synthesized novel magnetic nanoparticle contrast agents. His current research is focused on medical uses of metal nanoparticles as contrast agents for X-ray and MRI for heart disease and tumor detection, use of nanoparticles for cancer therapy, development of new labels for light and electron microscopy, sensitive detection methods, and fusion protein drug development. He has obtained 11 patents and has over 100 reviewed publications.

Dr. Hainfeld also holds joint appointments at Brookhaven National Laboratory and as Adjunct Professor at Stony Brook University (State University of New York).

E-mail Dr. Hainfeld at hainfeld@nanoprobes.com

Recent Publications

• "Interobserver Interpretative Reproducibility of GOLDFISH, A First Generation Gold-Facilitated Auto-metallographic Bright Field In Situ Hybridization Assay for HER-2/neu Amplification in Invasive Mammary Carcinoma:" Tubbs, R.: Skacel, M.; Pettay, J.; Powell, R.; Myles, J.; Hicks, D.; Sreenan, J.; Roche, P.; Stoler, M. H., and Hainfeld, J.; Am. J. Surg. Pathol., 26, 908-913 (2002).

• "Gold-Facilitated in Situ Hybridization: A Bright-Field Autometallographic Alternative to Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization for Detection of HER-2/neu Gene Amplification:" Tubbs, R.; Pettay, J.; Skacel, M.; Powell, R.; Stoler, M.; Roche, P., and Hainfeld, J.; Am. J. Pathol., 160, 1589-1595 (2002).

• "DNA Nanowires:" Hainfeld, J. F.; ; Furuya, F. R.; Powell, R. D., and Liu, W.; Microsc. Microanal., 7, (Suppl. 2: Proceedings) (Proceedings of the Fifty-Ninth Annual Meeting, Microscopy Society of America); Bailey, G. W.; Price, R. L.; Voelkl, E., and Musselman, I. H., Eds.; Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 1034-1035 (2001).
  • See the complete paper

• "Gold Cluster Crystals:" Hainfeld, J. F.; Furuya, F. R., and Wall, J. S.; Microsc. Microanal., 6, (Suppl. 2: Proceedings) (Proceedings of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Meeting, Microscopy Society of America); Bailey, G. W.; McKernan, S; Price, R. L.; Walck, S. D.; Charest, P.-M., and Gauvin, R., Eds.; Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 326-327 (2000).
  • See the complete paper

• Linderoth, N. A.; Simon, M. N.; Hainfeld, J. F., and Sastry, S. Binding of antigenic peptide to the endoplasmic reticulum-resident protein gp96/GRP94 heat shock chaperone occurs in higher order complexes. Essential role of some aromatic amino acid residues in the peptide-binding site. J. Biol. Chem., 276, 11049-54 (2001).
  • Reprint (PDF) (courtesy of the Journal of Biological Chemistry).
  • Abstract (courtesy of the Journal of Biological Chemistry).

• "New frontiers in gold labeling:" Hainfeld, J. F., and Powell, R. D.; J. Histochem. Cytochem., 48, 471-480 (2000).
  • Abstract (from JHC Online).

• Mayer, G.; Leone, R. D.; Hainfeld, J. F., and Bendayan, M. Introduction of a novel HRP substrate-Nanogold probe for signal amplification in immunocytochemistry. J. Histochem. Cytochem., 48, 461-70 (2000).
  • Abstract (from JHC Online).

• Gutierrez, E.; Powell, R. D.; Furuya, F. R.; Hainfeld, J. F.; Schaaf, T. G.; Shafigullin, M. N.; Stephens, P. W., and Whetten, R. L. Greengold, a giant cluster compound of unusual eletronic structure. Eur. J. Phys., D., 9, 647-651 (1999).

• Hainfeld, J. F.; Liu, W.; Halsey, C. M. R.; Freimuth, P., and Powell, R. D. Ni-NTA-Gold Clusters Target His-Tagged Proteins. J. Struct. Biol., 127, 185-198 (1999).
  • Abstract (html) (courtesy of the Journal of Structural Biology).

• Hainfeld, J. F.; Liu, W., and Barcena, M. ATP-Gold. J. Struct. Biol., 127, 120-134 (1999).
  • Abstract (html) (courtesy of the Journal of Structural Biology).

• Powell, R. D.; Halsey, C. M. R.; Liu, W; Joshi, V. N., and Hainfeld, J. F. Giant Platinum Clusters: 2 nm Covalent Metal Cluster Labels. J. Struct. Biol., 127, 177-184 (1999).
  • Abstract (html) (courtesy of the Journal of Structural Biology).

• "Metallosomes:" Hainfeld, J. F.; Furuya, F. R., and Powell, R. D.; J. Struct. Biol., 127, 152-160 (1999).
  • Abstract (html) (courtesy of the Journal of Structural Biology).

• Cheng, N.; Conway, J. F.; Watts, N. R.; Hainfeld, J. F.; Joshi, V.; Powell, R. D.; Stahl, S. J.; Wingfield, P. E., and Steven, A. C.. Tetrairidium, a 4-atom Cluster, is Readily Visible as a Density Label in 3D Cryo-EM Maps of Proteins at 10 - 25 Å Resolution. J. Struct. Biol., 127, 169-176 (1999).
  • Abstract (html) (courtesy of the Journal of Structural Biology).

• Powell, R. D.; Joshi, V. N.; Halsey, C. M. R.; Hainfeld, J. F.; Hacker, G. W.; Hauser-Kronberger, C.; Muss, W. H., and Takvorian, P. M.. Combined Cy3 / Nanogold conjugates for immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization; Proc. 57^th Ann. Mtg., Micros. Soc. Amer.; G. W. Bailey, W. G. Jerome, S. McKernan, J. F. Mansfield, and R. L. Price (Eds.); Springer-Verlag, New York, NY; 1999, 478-479.
  • See the complete paper

• Hainfeld, J. F.; Powell, R. D.; Stein, J. K.; Hacker, G. W.; Hauser-Kronberger, C.; Cheung, A. L. M., and Schofer, C.. Gold-based autometallography; Proc. 57^th Ann. Mtg., Micros. Soc. Amer.; G. W. Bailey, W. G. Jerome, S. McKernan, J. F. Mansfield, and R. L. Price (Eds.); Springer-Verlag, New York, NY; 1999, 486-487.
  • See the complete paper

• Gutierrez, E.; Powell, R. D.; Hainfeld, J. F., and Takvorian, P. M. A Covalently Linked 10 nm Gold Immunoprobe; Proc. 57^th Ann. Mtg., Micros. Soc. Amer.; G. W. Bailey, W. G. Jerome, S. McKernan, J. F. Mansfield, and R. L. Price (Eds.); Springer-Verlag, New York, NY; 1999, 1324-1325.
  • See the complete paper

• Mosseson, M. W.; Siebenlist, K. R.; Meh, D. A.; Wall, J. S., and Hainfeld, J. F. The location of the carboxy-terminal region of gamma chains in fibrinogen and fibrin D domains. Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA, 95, 10511-10516 (1998).
  • Abstract (html)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).
  • Reprint (PDF)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).

• Powell, R. D.; Halsey, C. M. R., and Hainfeld, J. F. Combined fluorescent and gold immunoprobes: reagents and methods for correlative light and electron microscopy. Microscopy Research and Technique, 42, 2 (1998).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Wall, J. S., Hainfeld, J. F., and Simon, M. N. Scanning transmission electron microscopy of nuclear structures. Methods Cell Biol., 53, 139-164 (1998).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F., and Powell, R. D.. Nanogold Technology: New frontiers in gold labeling. Cell Vision, 4, 408-432 (1997).

• Tracz, E., Dickson, D. W., Hainfeld, J. F., and Ksiezak-Reding, H. Paired helical filaments in corticobasal degeneration: the fine fibrillary structure with NanoVan. Brain Res., 773, 33-44 (1997).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Powell, R. D., Halsey, Carol M. R., Spector, D. L., Kaurin, S. L., McCann, J., and Hainfeld, J. F. A covalent fluorescent-gold immunoprobe: "simultaneous" detection of a pre-mRNA splicing factor by light and electron microscopy. J. Histochem. Cytochem., 45, 947-956 (1997).
  • Reprint (PDF) from JHC Online.
  • See the abstract from JHC Online.
  • Details

• Zehbe, I., Hacker, G.W., Su, H., Hauser-Kronberger, C., Hainfeld, J.F., and Tubbs, R.: Sensitive in situ hybridization with catalyzed reporter deposition, streptavidin-Nanogold, and silver acetate autometallography. Detection of single-copy human papillomavirus. Am. J. Pathol. 150, 1553-1561 (1997).
  Abstract (courtesy of the American Journal of Pathology
  • New In Situ Hybridization Reagent: Details

• Gregori, L., Hainfeld, J. F., Simon, M. N., and Goldgaber, D. Binding of amyloid beta protein to the 20S proteasome. J. Biol. Chem., 272, 58-62 (1997).
  • Reprint (PDF) (courtesy of the Journal of Biological Chemistry).
  • Abstract (courtesy of the Journal of Biological Chemistry).

• Hainfeld, J. F. Labeling with nanogold and undecagold: techniques and results. Scanning Microsc. Suppl., 10, 309-22; discussion 322-5.(1996).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F.: Gold Liposomes. In Proc 54th Ann. Mtg. Micros. Soc. Amer., G. W. Bailey, J. M. Corbett, R. V. W. Dimlich, J. R. Michael and N. J., Zaluzec (Eds.). San Francisco Press, San Francisco, CA, pp. 898-899 (1996).
  • See the complete paper

• Hacker, G. W., Zehbe, I., Hainfeld, J., Graf, A.-H., Hauser-Kronberger, C., Schiechl, A., Su, H., and Dietze, O.: High performance Nanogold®-in situ hybridization and its use in the detection of hybridized and PCR-amplified microscopical preparations; In Proc 54th Ann. Mtg. Micros. Soc. Amer., G. W. Bailey, J. M. Corbett, R. V. W. Dimlich, J. R. Michael and N. J., Zaluzec (Eds.). San Francisco Press, San Francisco, CA, pp. 896-897 (1996).

• Hacker, G. W.; Zehbe, I.; Hainfeld, J.; Sällström, J.; Hauser-Kronberger, C.; Graf, A.-H.; Su, H.; Dietze, O., and Bagasra, O; High-Performance Nanogold® In Situ Hybridization and In Situ PCR. Cell Vision, 3, 209 (1996).

• Hainfeld, J. F. Colloidal gold and cancer therapy. Scanning Microscopy, 9, 239 (1995).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F., and Furuya, F. R. Aldehyde clusters for molecular labeling. Proc. 53rd Ann. Mtg. Micros. Soc. Amer.; Bailey, G. W.; Ellisman, M. H.; Hennigar, R. A., and Zaluzec, N. J. (eds.); Jones and Begell, New York, NY, p. 858 (1995).
  • See the complete paper

• Hainfeld, J., and Furuya, F. R. Silver enhancement of Nanogold and Undecagold. In: Immunogold-Silver Staining: Principles, Methods and Applications. M. A. Hayat, ed., pp. 72-91, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL (1995).

• Hainfeld, J. F. Gold covalently bound to antibodies. J. Micros. Soc. Amer., 1, 87-92 (1995).

• Yang, Y. S.; Datta, A.; Hainfeld, J. F.; Furuya, F. R.; Wall, J. S.,and Frey, P. A. Mapping the lipoyl groups of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex by use of gold cluster labels and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Biochemistry, 33, 9428-37 (1994).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F., Furuya, F. R., Carbone, K., Simon, M., Lin, B., Braig, K., Horwich, A. L., Safer, D., Blechsmidt, B., Sprinzl, M., Ofengand, J., and Boublik, M. High-resolution gold labeling. Proc. 51st Ann. Mtg. Micros. Soc. Amer.; G. W. Bailey, Bentley, J., and Small, J. A. (Eds.); San Francisco Press, San Francisco, CA, p. 330-331 (1993).

• Braig, K., Simon, M., Furuya, F., Hainfeld, J., and Horwich, A. L. A polypeptide bound by the chaperonin groEL is is localized within a central cavity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90, 3978-3982 (1993).
  • Abstract (html)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).
  • Reprint (PDF)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).

• Blechschmidt, B., Jahn, W., Hainfeld, J. F., Sprinzl, M., and Boublik, M. Visualization of a ternary complex of the Escherichia coli Phe-tRNAPhe and Tu.GTP from Thermus thermophilus by scanning transmission electron microscopy. J. Struct. Biol., 110, 84-89 (1993).
  • Abstract (html) (courtesy of the Journal of Structural Biology).

• Hainfeld, J. F. Uranium-loaded apoferritin with antibodies attached: Molecular design for uranium neutron capture therapy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89, 11064-11068 (1992).
  • Abstract (html)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).
  • Reprint (PDF)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).

• Hainfeld, J. F. Site specific cluster labels. Ultramicroscopy, 46, 135-144 (1992).

• Hainfeld, J. F., and Furuya, F. R. A 1.4-nm gold cluster covalently attached to antibodies improves immunolabeling. J. Histochem. Cytochem., 40, 177-184 (1992).
  • Abstract (from JHC Online).

• Sosinsky, G. E., Francis, N. R., DeRosier, D. J., Wall, J. S., Simon, M. N., and Hainfeld, J. F. Mass determination and estimation of subunit stoichiometry of the bacterial hook-basal body flagellar complex of Salmonella typhimurium by scanning transmission electron microscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89, 4801-4805 (1992).
  • Abstract (html)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).
  • Reprint (PDF)(courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).

• Kolsky, K. L., Mausner, L. F., Hainfeld, J. F., Meinken, G. E., and Srivastava, S. C. Gold-199 production for use as a radiolabel of gold cluster immunoconjugates. J. Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals, 30, 211-213 (1991).

• Hainfeld, J. F., Sprinzl, M., Mandiyan, V., Tumminia, S. J., and Boublik, M. Localization of a specific nucleotide in yeast tRNA by scanning transmission electron microscopy using an undecagold cluster. J. Struct. Biol., 107, 1-5 (1991) (Cover picture).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Thomas, D. J., Wall, J. S., Hainfeld, J. F., Kaczorek, M., Booy, F. P., Trus, B. L., Eiserling, F. A., and Steven, A. C. gp160, the envelope glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1, is a dimer of 125-kilodalton subunits stabilized through interactions between their gp41 domains. J. Virol., 65, 3797-3803 (1991).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Watts, N. R. M., Hainfeld, J., and Coombs, D. H. Localization of the proteins gp7, gp8, and gplO in the bacteriophage T4 baseplate with colloidal gold F(ab')₂ and undecagold Fab' conjugates. J. Mol. Biol., 216, 315-325 (1990).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F., Lipka, J. J., and Quaite, F. E. A high-resolution tungstate membrane label. J. Histochem. Cytochem., 38, 1793-1803 (1990).
  • Abstract (from JHC Online).

• Hainfeld, J. F., Foley, C. J., Maelia, L. E., and Lipka, J. J. Eleven tungsten atom cluster labels: High-resolution, site-specific probes for electron microscopy. J. Histochem. Cytochem., 38, 1787-1793 (1990).
  • Abstract (from JHC Online).

• Hainfeld, J. F., Foley, C. F., Srivastava, S. C., Mausner, L. F., Feng, N. I., Meinken, G. E., and Steplewski, Z. Radioactive gold cluster immunoconjugates: Potential agents for cancer therapy. Nucl. Med. Biol., 17, 287-294 (1990).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F. Undecagold-antibody method. In: Colloidal Gold: Principles, Methods and Applications. M. A. Hayat, ed., Vol. 2, pp. 413-429, Academic Press, San Diego, CA (1989).

• Hainfeld, J. F. Gold cluster-labelled antibodies. Nature, 333, 281-282 (1988).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F. and Wall, J. S. High resolution electron microscopy for structure and mapping. In: Biotechnology and the Human Genome: Innovations and Impact, A. D. Woodhead and B. J. Barnhart, eds , Basic Life Sciences, Vol 46, pp 131-147, Plenum Press, New York (1988).
  • Details (from Medline)

• Furuya, F. R., Miller, L. L., Hainfeld, J. F., Christopfel, W. C., and Kenny, P. W. Use of Ir4(CO)11 to measure the lengths of organic molecules with a scanning transmission electron microscope. J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 110, 641-643 (1988).

• Hainfeld, J. F. A small gold-conjugated antibody label: Improved resolution for electron microscopy. Science, 236, 450-453 (l987).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Monson, K. L., Wall, J. S., and Hainfeld, J. F. Visiblility and stability of a 12-tungsten atom complex in the scanning transmission electron microscope. Ultramicroscopy, 21, 147-156 (1987).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Hainfeld, J. F. and Wall, J. S. Mapping the domains of molecules and complexes by mass and heavy atom loading. In: Recent advances in Electron and Light Optical Imaging in Biology and Medicine, A. P. Somlyo, ed., Vol. 483, pp. 181-187. New York Academy of Sciences, New York (1986).
  • Details (from Medline)

• Wall, J. S. and Hainfeld, J. F. Mass mapping with the scanning transission electron microscope. Ann. Rev. Biophys. Biophys. Chem., 15, 355-376 (1986) .
  • Details (from Medline)

• Lipka, J.J., Hainfeld, J.F. and Wall, J.S. Undecagold labeling of a glycoprotein: STEM Visualization of an undecagold phosphine cluster labeling the carbohydrate sites of human haptoglobin-hemoglobin complex. J. Ultrastruct. Res., 84, 120 (1983) .
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Safer, D., Hainfeld, J. F., Wall, J. S., and Riordan, J. Biospecific labeling with undecagold: Visualization of the biotin binding sites on avidin. Science, 218, 290-291 (1982).
  • Abstract (from Medline)

• Wall, J. S., Hainfeld, J. F., Bartlett, P. A., and Singer, S. J. Observation of an undecagold cluster compound in the scanning transmission electron microscope. Ultramicroscopy, 8, 397-402 (1982).