The role of flow cytometry in medical mycology

The alarming increase in fungal diseases among hospitalized patients is a serious problem as these infections often have poor prognosis because of delayed diagnosis and lack of proper therapy. The rapid laboratory diagnosis of these diseases still remains problematic. The areas of concern include accurate identification of pathogenic fungi, rapid testing of their susceptibility to antifungals, and reliable determination of their interrelatedness to other clinical isolates. In the past few decades, flow cytometry has proven to be an adaptive technology platform for diagnostics. The applications encompass identification, serotyping, genotyping, susceptibility testing, and molecular pathogenesis studies. The recent revolution in the miniaturizing and customizing of instrumentation has now made this technology more accessible and affordable. In the near future, it is imperative to develop standardized protocols by means of interlaboratory comparisons and to share reagents for reproducibility studies. Flow cytometry remains highly attractive as an integrated application for myriad tasks in medical mycology laboratories.     

The role of sophisticated instruments in biological research: Examples from nuclear magnetic resonance

The development of NMR is described to illustrate the importance of new methodologies to solve biological problems.     

Information services in medical mycology

The need for information services in medical mycology is discussed. The information service provided by the Review of Medical and Veterinary Mycology is described and compared with other information services.     

Applications of nuclear magnetic resonance in parasitology

The basis of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) phenomenon is described in a classical framework with emphasis on magnetic nuclei of 1/2 spin, including 1H, 13C, and 31P. Biological applications of NMR spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are outlined briefly. NMR spectroscopic studies on parasitic protozoa, cestodes, nematodes, trematodes, and hymenopterous insect parasites are reviewed. NMR and MRI investigations on the pathophysiology of the host are also discussed, and the potential future of NMR applications in parasitology outlined.     

The utility of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in assisted reproduction

Infertility affects approximately 15–20% of individuals of reproductive age worldwide. Over the last 40 years, assisted reproductive technology (ART) has helped millions of childless couples. However, ART is limited by a low success rate and risk of multiple gestations. Devising methods for selecting the best gamete or embryo that increases the ART success rate and prevention of multiple gestation has become one of the key goals in ART today. Special emphasis has been placed on the development of non-invasive approaches, which do not require perturbing the embryonic cells, as the current morphology-based embryo selection approach has shortcomings in predicting the implantation potential of embryos. An observed association between embryo metabolism and viability has prompted researchers to develop metabolomics-based biomarkers. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy provides a non-invasive approach for the metabolic profiling of tissues, gametes and embryos, with the key advantage of having a minimal sample preparation procedure. Using NMR spectroscopy, biologically important molecules can be identified and quantified in intact cells, extracts or secretomes. This, in turn, helps to map out the active metabolic pathways in a system. The present review covers the contribution of NMR spectroscopy in assisted reproduction at various stages of the process.     

The application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to parasite metabolism

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has become a valuable tool for the study of metabolism in a wide variety of biological systems. Its inherent advantages are that it is non-destructive and non-invasive. Observations can be carried out not only on extracts and media but also on whole cells and whole tissues under varying conditions and over varying times. The information gained gives considerable insight into cellular metabolism. There has been, to date, relatively little literature on the application o f NMR to the biochemistry of parasites, presumably reflecting the paucity of interfaces between parasitologists and NMR practitioners as well as the inherent difficulties in obtaining sufficient parasite material for NMR experiments. These difficulties are being overcome and William O'Sullivan, Michael Edwards and Raymond Norton believe that NMR has a great deal to offer those interested in parasite metabolism. In particular, it has the capacity to turn up the unexpected, on important factor as so many parasites appear to have developed their own variations on orthodox metabolic pathways.     

High-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance studies of proteins

The combination of advanced high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques with high-pressure capability represents a powerful experimental tool in studies of protein folding. This review is organized as follows: after a general introduction of high-pressure, high-resolution NMR spectroscopy of proteins, the experimental part deals with instrumentation. The main section of the review is devoted to NMR studies of reversible pressure unfolding of proteins with special emphasis on pressure-assisted cold denaturation and the detection of folding intermediates. Recent studies investigating local perturbations in proteins and the experiments following the effects of point mutations on pressure stability of proteins are also discussed. Ribonuclease A, lysozyme, ubiquitin, apomyoglobin, alpha-lactalbumin and troponin C were the model proteins investigated.