Synchrotron Techniques and Research: Objectives at the K-Edge (Novel Investigations of the Role of Sulfur in Stroke Pathogenesis using Synchrotron Bas

I didn't understand this one but someone will. From the 2011 Canadian Stroke Congress.
page 66 here:
http://www.strokecongress.org/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/CSC_Abstracts.pdf
Our goal is to use synchrotron radiation and sophisticated spectroscopic techniques to generate spatial maps of sulfur distribution and its chemical forms in rodent models of stroke, to guide the development of biomarkers of stroke pathology, provide insight into current neuroprotective treatments, and aid in designing novel treatment strategies. Thiols, disulfides, and sulfoxides have been strongly implicated with peroxidative damage following stroke, and taurine may play a pertinent role as a neurotransmitter/modulator for several key neuronal pathways.
We will reveal our initial results of an explorative study of the capabilities of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), at the sulfur K-edge, to investigate the role of sulfur containing molecules in the brain following ischemic insult.
Initial experiments were conducted at the Stanford synchrotron radiation lightsource (SSRL), using XAS at thesulfur K-edge (2460-2490 eV). Air-dried, formalin-fixed, freeze-dried, and frozen tissue sections (10-μm-thick) were analysed to determine the most suitable sample preparation method. Characteristic spectral signatures
were determined for micro-dissected brain regions (brain stem, cerebellum, hippocampus), and the sulfur speciation compared between control (sham operated) and diseased animals at 12 hours or 7 days post global cerebral ischemia (rat 2-vessel occlusion model). The results reveal for the first time, in-situ, the thiol, disulfide,
sulfoxide, taurine, and sulfate composition of healthy and postischemic brain tissue. Our results parallel those obtained with conventional assays, with the advantage that our method will shortly be applied with an imaging capability to determine spatial distribution across brain regions of varying susceptibility to ischemia (Canadian
Light Source). Future studies will image the distribution of the sulfur species, at sub-cellular resolution (< 1 μm), in the same tissue sample. Specifically, this method will allow thiol/disulfide ratios, sulfoxide accumulation, and the role of taurine as a neurotransmitter/modulator in ischemic brain injury and neuroplasticity to be studied as never before.