Copper association with iron sulfide magnetosomes in a magnetotactic bacterium

Greigite (Fe₃S₄) and pyrite (FeS₂) particles in the magnetosomes of a many-celled, magnetotactic prokaryote (MMP), common in brackish-to-marine, sulfidic, aquatic habitats, contained relatively high concentrations of copper which ranged from about 0.1 to 10 atomic per cent relative to iron. In contrast, the greigite particles in the magnetosomes of a curved magnetotactic bacterium collected from the same sampling site did not contain significant levels of copper. The ability of the MMP to biomineralize copper within its magnetosomes appeared to be limited to that organism and dependent upon the site from which it was collected. Although the chemical mechanism and physiological function of copper accumulation in the magnetosomes of the MMP is unclear, the presence of copper is the first evidence that another transition metal ion could be incorporated in the mineral phase of the magnetosomes of a magnetotactic bacterium.Abbreviation MMP many-celled magnetotactic prokaryote     

Aptamer-functionalized quantum dots as theranostic nanotools against cancer and bacterial infections: A comprehensive overview of recent trends

Aptamers (Apts) are synthetic nucleic acid ligands that can be engineered to target various molecules, including amino acids, proteins, and pharmaceuticals. Through a series of adsorption, recovery, and amplification steps, Apts are extracted from combinatorial libraries of synthesized nucleic acids. Using aptasensors in bioanalysis and biomedicine can be improved by combining them with nanomaterials. Moreover, Apt-associated nanomaterials, including liposomes, polymeric, dendrimers, carbon nanomaterials, silica, nanorods, magnetic NPs, and quantum dots (QDs), have been widely used as promising nanotools in biomedicine. Following surface modifications and conjugation with appropriate functional groups, these nanomaterials can be successfully used in aptasensing. Advanced biological assays can use Apts immobilized on QD surfaces through physical interaction and chemical bonding. Accordingly, modern QD aptasensing platforms rely on interactions between QDs, Apts, and targets to detect them. QD-Apt conjugates can be used to directly detect prostate, ovarian, colorectal, and lung cancers or simultaneously detect biomarkers associated with these malignancies. Tenascin-C, mucin 1, prostate-specific antigen, prostate-specific membrane antigen, nucleolin, growth factors, and exosomes are among the cancer biomarkers that can be sensitively detected using such bioconjugates. Furthermore, Apt-conjugated QDs have shown great potential for controlling bacterial infections such as Bacillus thuringiensis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, Campylobacter jejuni, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium. This comprehensive review discusses recent advancements in the design of QD-Apt bioconjugates and their applications in cancer and bacterial theranostics.     

The Effect of Carrier Distribution on Performance of ENZ-Based Electro-Absorption Modulator

Recently, epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) has been emerging as an important field of research which is the study of light-matter interactions in the presence of materials with zero permittivity. Since in many scientific works the uniform model of carrier distribution of Indium tin oxide (ITO) has been utilized, we want to investigate ENZ effect in ITO material and the effect of accurate carrier distribution on the performance of a modulator. For this reason, an electro-absorption (EA) modulators with a new configuration based on silicon slot modulator with indium thin oxide material is proposed. To study the effect of ENZ effect in ITO, the semiconductor model (realistic model) is utilized to model the carrier distribution in the ITO material. In this model, there is not any assumption. As a result, by applying the gate voltage, the insertion loss is increased 1.61 dB/μm in comparison with unbiased conditions. Also, the uniform model is used. Compared with the realistic model, the extinction ratio and figure-of-merit significantly enhance based on the uniform model, but the trends of results like insertion loss are so far from the realistic model. It can be found that the realistic model is reliable and the results are closer to reality.

     

Evaluation of serum level of substance P and tissue distribution of NK-1 receptor in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is known as the most common form of malignancies in the world and its occurrence is annually increasing. Due to the relatively high death rates in patients, finding better diagnostic and prognostic factors are required. Substance P (SP) belongs to the tachykinin family that acts as an immunomodulator by binding to the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R). The interaction of SP with NK1R might be involved in tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and migration. Hence, this study was aimed to evaluate the serum SP level and tissue distribution of NK1Rs in CRC. Also, we assessed the relationship between tissue distribution of NK1R and some different tumor characteristics, including tumor size, and lymph node status. Recruiting 38 patients primarily diagnosed with CRC, the tissue distribution of NK1R was immunohistochemically evaluated in tumor tissues and their adjacent normal tissue. The serum level of SP was measured using an ELISA method in both cases and healthy control group. The SP value was significantly increased in the serum of patients in comparison with the healthy group (p?=?0.001). Tumor tissues expressed a higher number of NK1R than adjacent normal tissues (p?=?0.01) considering both the percentage of stained cells and intensity of staining. However, there was not any statistically significant relevance between NK1R distribution and tumor characteristics. The SP/NK1R system is involved in tumorigenesis of CRC, and might be suggested as a potent prognostic or diagnostic factor, or a new target in the treatment of CRC.

     

A sensitive fluorescent nanosensor for chloramphenicol based on molecularly imprinted polymer‐capped CdTe quantum dots

A novel fluorescent nanosensor using molecularly imprinted silica nanospheres embedded CdTe quantum dots (CdTe@SiO₂@MIP) was developed for detection and quantification of chloramphenicol (CAP). The imprinted sensor was prepared by synthesis of molecularly imprinting polymer (MIP) on the hydrophilic CdTe quantum dots via reverse microemulsion method using small amounts of solvents. The resulting CdTe@SiO₂@MIP nanoparticles were characterized by fluorescence, UV–vis absorption and FT‐IR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. They preserved 48% of fluorescence quantum yield of the parent quantum dots. CAP remarkably quenched the fluorescence of prepared CdTe@SiO₂@MIP, probably via electron transfer mechanism. Under the optimal conditions, the relative fluorescence intensity of CdTe@SiO₂@MIP decreased with increasing CAP by a Stern–Volmer type equation in the concentration range of 40–500 µg L^–1. The corresponding detection limit was 5.0 µg L^–1. The intra‐day and inter‐day values for the precision of the proposed method were all <4%. The developed sensor had a good selectivity and was applied to determine CAP in spiked human and bovine serum and milk samples with satisfactory results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Freezing Stress on the Expression of Fatty Acid Desaturase (FAD2, FAD6 and FAD7) and Beta-Glucosidase (BGLC) Genes in Tolerant and Sensitive Olive Cultivars

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - In this study, the effect of freezing stress on expression of fatty acid desaturases (FAD2-2, FAD6 and FAD7) and beta-glucosidase (BGLC) genes was investigated...     

Novel trastuzumab-DM1 conjugate: Synthesis and bio-evaluation

Antibody-drug conjugates are now of considerable interest and are recommended for the treatment of cancers. Linkers are having a crucial role in potency and efficacy of these drugs. Herein, for the first time, we have used a water-soluble poly-ethylene glycol based linker (succinimidyl-[(N-maleimido propionamido)-diethyleneglycol] [SM(PEG)2]) for lysine amide coupling of DM1 drug to trastuzumab considering evaluation of the effect of using a hydrophilic linker on physicochemical and biological properties of the resulting conjugate in comparison to the conjugate containing succinimidyl 4-(N-maleimidomethyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylate (SMCC) linker, which has a relative hydrophobic nature. The physicochemical properties of synthesized conjugates were investigated in terms of drug to antibody ratio, size variants and free drug quantities. In vitro biological activity of trastuzumab-DM1 conjugates was assessed on breast cancer cell lines expressing different levels of HER2 using binding affinity, antiproliferative, apoptosis, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) assays. Synthesized conjugate containing hydrophilic linker, showed higher drug to antibody ratio, no aggregated form and higher cellular toxicity in comparison to SMCC bearing conjugate. Binding affinity and ADCC potential of conjugates was not affected upon the usage of hydrophilic linker. In conclusion, application of SM(PEG)2 for coupling of DM1 to trastuzumab enhance desirable characteristics of the resulting conjugate.     

Participation of bone marrow derived cells in cutaneous wound healing

Bone marrow has long been known to be a source of stem cells capable of regeneration of the hematopoeitic system. Recent reports, however, have indicated that bone marrow might also contain early stem cells that can differentiate into other organ tissues such as skin. While these studies have illustrated that bone marrow stem cells could find their way to the skin, they have not addressed the dynamics of how bone marrow stem cells might participate in the homeostatis and regeneration of skin. In this report we followed green fluorescent protein (GFP) labeled bone marrow transplanted into non-GFP mice in order to determine the participation of bone marrow stem cells in cutaneous wounds. Our results indicate that there are a significant number of bone marrow cells that traffic through both wounded and non-wounded skin. Wounding stimulated the engraftment of bone marrow cells to the skin and induced bone marrow derived cells to incorporate into and differentiate into non-hematopoietic skin structures. This report thus illustrates that bone marrow might be a valuable source of stem cells for the skin and possibly other organs. Wounding could be a stimulus for bone marrow derived stem cells to travel to organs and aid in the regeneration of damaged tissue.     

Modeling-Enabled Characterization of Novel NLRX1 Ligands

Nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat containing (NLR) family are intracellular sentinels of cytosolic homeostasis that orchestrate immune and inflammatory responses in infectious and immune-mediated diseases. NLRX1 is a mitochondrial-associated NOD-like receptor involved in the modulation of immune and metabolic responses. This study utilizes molecular docking approaches to investigate the structure of NLRX1 and experimentally assesses binding to naturally occurring compounds from several natural product and lipid databases. Screening of compound libraries predicts targeting of NLRX1 by conjugated trienes, polyketides, prenol lipids, sterol lipids, and coenzyme A-containing fatty acids for activating the NLRX1 pathway. The ligands of NLRX1 were identified by docking punicic acid (PUA), eleostearic acid (ESA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to the C-terminal fragment of the human NLRX1 (cNLRX1). Their binding and that of positive control RNA to cNLRX1 were experimentally determined by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. In addition, the ligand binding sites of cNLRX1 were predicted in silico and validated experimentally. Target mutagenesis studies demonstrate that mutation of 4 critical residues ASP677, PHE680, PHE681, and GLU684 to alanine resulted in diminished affinity of PUA, ESA, and DHA to NLRX1. Consistent with the regulatory actions of NLRX1 on the NF-κB pathway, treatment of bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM)s with PUA and DHA suppressed NF-κB activity in a NLRX1 dependent mechanism. In addition, a series of pre-clinical efficacy studies were performed using a mouse model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. Our findings showed that the regulatory function of PUA on colitis is NLRX1 dependent. Thus, we identified novel small molecules that bind to NLRX1 and exert anti-inflammatory actions.     

Phylogenetic status of Vavilovia formosa (Fabaceae-Fabeae) based on nrDNA ITS and cpDNA sequences

The phylogenetic status of the monotypic genus Vavilovia was studied using nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL-F and trnS-G regions. The results from the analysis of each dataset and the combined dataset, revealed that Vavilovia is closely related to Pisum, forming a group that is sister to Lathyrus. The molecular data and some morphological and biological characteristics strongly indicate that Vavilovia should be subsumed under Pisum, as Pisum formosum.