Lipid bilayer arrays: Cyclically formed and measured

Artificial lipid bilayers have many uses. They are well established for scientific studies of reconstituted ion channels, used to host engineered pore proteins for sensing, and can potentially be applied in DNA sequencing. Droplet bilayers have significant technological potential for enabling many of these applications due to their compatibility with automation and array platforms. To further develop this potential, we have simplified the formation and electrical measurement of droplet bilayers using an apparatus that only requires fluid dispensation. We achieved simultaneous bilayer formation and measurement over a 32‐element array with ～80% yield and no operator input following fluid addition. Cycling these arrays resulted in the formation and measurement of 96 out of 120 possible bilayers in 80 minutes, a sustainable rate that could significantly increase with automation and greater parallelization. This turn‐key, high‐yield approach to making artificial lipid bilayers requires no training, making the capability of creating and measuring lipid bilayers and ion channels accessible to a much wider audience. In addition, this approach is low‐cost, parallelizable, and automatable, allowing high‐throughput studies of ion channels and pore proteins in lipid bilayers for sensing or screening applications.     

Feeding strategies enhance high cell density cultivation and protein expression in milliliter scale bioreactors

Miniature bioreactors under parallel fed‐batch operations are not only useful screening tools for bioprocess development but also provide a suitable basis for eventual scale‐up. In this study, three feeding strategies were investigated: besides the established intermittent feeding by a liquid handler, an optimized microfluidic device and a new enzymatic release system were applied for parallel fed‐batch cultivation of Escherichia coli HMS174(DE3) and BL21(DE3) strains in stirred‐tank bioreactors on a 10 mL scale. Lower fluctuation in dissolved oxygen (DO) and higher optical densities were measured in fed‐batch processes applying the microfluidic device or the enzymatic glucose/fructose release system (conversion of intermittently added sucrose by an invertase), but no difference in dry cell weights (DCW) were observed. With all three feeding strategies high cell densities were realized on a milliliter scale with final optical density measured at 600 nm (OD₆₀₀) of 114–133 and final DCW concentrations of 69–70 g L^–1. The effect of feeding strategies on the expression of two heterologous proteins was investigated. Whereas no impact was observed on the expression of the spider silk protein eADF4(C16), the fluorescence of enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP) was reproducibly lower, if an intermittent glucose feed was applied. Thus, the impact of feeding strategy on expression is strongly dependent on the E. coli strain and/or expressed protein. As a completely continuous feed supply is difficult to realize in miniature bioreactors, the enzymatic release approach from this study can be easily applied in all microfluidic system to reduce fluctuations of glucose supply and DO concentrations.     

Aqueous biphasic cancer cell migration assay enables robust,high‐throughput screening of anti‐cancer compounds

Migration of tumor cells is a fundamental event implicated in metastatic progression of cancer. Therapeutic compounds with the ability to inhibit the motility of cancer cells are critical for preventing cancer metastasis. Achieving this goal requires new technologies that enable high‐throughput drug screening against migration of cancer cells and expedite drug discovery. We report an easy‐to‐implement, robotically operated, cell migration microtechnology with the capability of simultaneous screening of multiple compounds. The technology utilizes a fully biocompatible polymeric aqueous two‐phase system to pattern a monolayer of cells containing a cell‐excluded gap that serves as the migration niche. We adapted this technology to a standard 96‐well plate format and parametrically optimized it to generate highly consistent migration niches. The analysis of migration is done automatically using computerized schemes. We use statistical metrics and show the robustness of this assay for drug screening and its sensitivity to identify effects of different drug compounds on migration of cancer cells. This technology can be employed in core centers, research laboratories, and pharmaceutical industries to evaluate the efficacy of compounds against migration of various types of metastatic cancer cells prior to expensive animal tests and thus, streamline anti‐migratory drug screening.     

qPCR array检测高糖对胆固醇合成基因表达的影响

目的:高血糖易引起胆固醇在体内积聚,增加糖尿病合并动脉粥样硬化性心血管疾病的患病风险。本文通过建立稳定的实时定量PCR芯片(Real-time quantitative polymerasechain reaction array,qPCR array)检测方案,研究高糖对小鼠肝癌细胞Hepa1-6胆固醇合成基因表达的影响,探讨胆固醇合成基因在糖尿病大血管并发症发展中的作用机制。方法:以不同浓度葡萄糖(5、15、30mmo/L)和不同时间(0、6、12、18、24 h),刺激肝癌细胞Hepa1-6,利用qPCR array检测其胆固醇合成基因的表达差异。结果:与5mmol/L相比,高糖组(15、30 mmo/L)处理细胞18 h后,胆固醇合成基因CYP51、EBP、NSDHL、SQLE、FDFT1和PMVK的表达上调(P0.05),呈现剂量依赖性。与0 h相比,15 mmol/L高糖处理细胞12 h,CYP51、EBP和SQLE mRNA表达量上调(P0.01)。至24 h,CYP51、EBP降至0 h水平,而SQLE的表达量继续增加;NSDHL在12 h表达无差异,至18 h表达量发生上调(P0.05)。结论:该qPCR array检测方案能特异性检测胆固醇合成基因的表达量。高糖能够促进胆固醇合成基因的表达,使细胞内胆固醇积聚,这可能是糖尿病患者容易发生动脉粥样硬化的原因。这提示我们将胆固醇合成基因作为药物靶点可能延缓糖尿病动脉粥样硬化进展。     

噪声和高温对机体健康影响的复合效应

当今社会随着经济和科技的发展,多种有害职业因素往往共同存在于同一岗位。复合因素对机体健康影响的相互作用包括四种情况:协同作用、相加作用、拮抗作用和无关作用。噪声和高温作为有害的职业因素常存在于同一岗位,那么噪声复合高温对机体健康会产生怎样的影响,这两种环境因素是否存在复合效应?文献报道不一。噪声和高温联合对听觉系统、心血管系统、神经系统的影响可能表现为协同、相加、拮抗和无关作用,对呼吸系统的影响表现为拮抗作用,目前,研究结果不一致主要原因是实验条件和暴露方法的不一致。我们认为将来的研究热点集中在噪声和高温联合产生复合效应的条件及剂量反应关系研究、机制及防治措施研究,噪声和高温联合对其他系统如消化、免疫系统是否存在复合效应也值得深入研究。     

苯那普利联合氯沙坦治疗早期糖尿病肾病的临床研究

目的：研究苯那普利联合氯沙坦对2型糖尿病肾病（diabetic nephropathy,DN）患者肾功能以及血浆脂联素（adiponectin,APN）和高敏C反应蛋白（highsensitivity-C responseprotein,hs-CRP）的影响。方法：选择我院心血管内科住院的2型糖尿病肾病患者42例,均符合早期糖尿病肾病的诊断标准,给予苯那普利10-20mg治疗3个月后,给予苯那普利10mg联合氯沙坦50mg-100mg再治疗3个月,检测和比较治疗前后患者血肌酐（Scr）和24小时尿蛋白定量（24h—UPE）以及血浆hs-CRP和APN水平。结果：苯那普利治疗3个月后,患者的Scr、24h—UPE和hs-CRP水平较治疗前明显降低;血浆APN水平较治疗前明显升高,差异均有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。而苯那普利联合氯沙坦再治疗3个月后,患者的Scr、24h-UPE水平和hs-CRP水平较苯那普利治疗3月时更低,血浆APN水平较苯那普利治疗3个月时更高,差异均有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。结论：苯那普利联合氯沙坦治疗可更好地保护早期糖尿病肾病患者的肾功能,这可能与其提高血浆APN水平和降低CRP水平有关。     

集成干扰素突变体IIFN/165S的构建及其生物学评价

目的:通过定点突变,构建集成干扰素(IIFN/165S),以期获得高效的新型药物分子.方法:采用PCR体外定点突变技术,使集成干扰素IIFN基因的第165位密码子由CGT突变为AGT.扩增片段克隆入pET-23b表达载体,重组质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3).在LB培养基中培养,经IPTG诱导表达的IIFN/165S经包涵体变性、复性以及层析纯化后,经SDS-PAGE、Western blot和MALDI-TOF-MS分析,用WISH-VSV系统进行抗病毒活性测定同时应用流式细胞术检测细胞凋亡率.结果:IIFN/165S以包涵体形式表达.纯化后,IIFN/165S的纯度大于95％,分子量为18172,比活性(7.63±0.22)×108 IU/mg,诱导细胞凋亡率呈剂量依赖.结论:构建了IIFN/165S的表达载体,并成功地在大肠杆菌中表达,获得了高纯度高活性突变分子IIFN/165S.     

一种新型的油樟叶片总RNA提取方法

以油樟叶为试材,比较Trizol法、皂土法、CTAB法、Tris-SDS-异硫氰酸胍法等传统方案提取总RNA,发现效果都不理想.本文针对油樟叶片富含油脂、多酚、多糖的特点,开创性地使用了一种改良的总RNA提取流程:首次增加预处理液、乙酸乙酯抽提来减少油脂、多酚和多糖对裂解液粘稠度的影响,提取过程中使用二氯甲烷代替三氯甲烷增加对疏水性杂质的清除效果,使用混合型高盐溶液多次脱糖,结果表明使用改良的新型方法获得的油樟叶片总RNA条带清晰无明显降解,测得的A260/A280和OD260/OD230均在2.0左右,产物得率约580 μg/g,通过RT-PCR扩增出了油樟18S rRNA基因序长为113bp的特异条带,说明这种改良的新型方法获得的RNA完整性、纯度和产率都远高于常规RNA提取方法,研究探索出一种新型油樟叶片总RNA的提取方法.