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Autoradiography is a well-established method of nuclear imaging. When different radionuclides are present simultaneously, additional processing is needed to distinguish distributions of radionuclides. In this work, a method is presented where aluminium absorbers of different thickness are used to produce images with different cut-off energies. By subtracting images pixel-by-pixel one can generate images representing certain ranges of β-particle energies. The method is applied to the measurement of irradiated reactor graphite samples containing several radionuclides to determine the spatial distribution of these radionuclides within pre-defined energy windows. The process was repeated under fixed parameters after thermal treatment of the samples. The greyscale images of the distribution after treatment were subtracted from the corresponding pre-treatment images. Significant changes in the intensity and distribution of radionuclides could be observed in some samples. Due to the thermal treatment parameters the most significant differences were observed in the ³H and ¹⁴C inventory and distribution.
An amperometric biosensor using a substrate recycling principle was realized for the detection of low adrenaline concentrations (1 nM) by measurements in phosphate buffer and Ringer’s solution at pH 6.5 and pH 7.4, respectively. In proof-of-concept experiments, a Boolean logic-gate principle has been applied to develop a digital adrenaline biosensor based on an enzyme AND logic gate. The obtained results demonstrate that the developed digital biosensor is capable for a rapid qualitative determination of the presence/absence of adrenaline in a YES/NO statement. Such digital biosensor could be used in clinical diagnostics for the control of a correct insertion of a catheter in the adrenal veins during adrenal venous-sampling procedure.
Abstractauthoren Graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles were incorporated in temperature-sensitive Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogels. The nanoparticles increase the light absorption and convert light energy into heat efficiently. Thus, the hydrogels with GO can be stimulated spatially resolved by illumination as it was demonstrated by IR thermography. The temporal progression of the temperature maximum was detected for different concentrations of GO within the polymer network. Furthermore, the compatibility of PNIPAAm hydrogels with GO and cell cultures was investigated. For this purpose, culture medium was incubated with hydrogels containing GO and the viability and morphology of chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells was examined after several days of culturing in presence of this medium.
Light-stimulated hydrogel actuators with incorporated graphene oxide for microfluidic applications
(2015)
Lately there has been an increasing concern about uranium toxicity in some districts of Punjab State located in the North Western part of India after the publication of a report (Blaurock-Busch et al. 2010) which showed that the concentration of uranium in hair and urine of children suffering from physical deformities, neurological and mental disorder from Malwa region (Fig. 1) of Punjab State was manifold higher than the reference ranges. A train which connects the affected region with the nearby city of Bikaner which has a Cancer Hospital has been nicknamed as Cancer Express due to the frenzy generated on account of uranium related toxicity.
An amperometric enzyme biosensor has been applied for the detection of adrenaline. The adrenaline biosensor has been prepared by modification of an oxygen electrode with the enzyme laccase that operates at a broad pH range between pH 3.5 to pH 8. The enzyme molecules were immobilized via cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. The sensitivity of the developed adrenaline biosensor in different pH buffer solutions has been studied.
A new microfluidic assembly method for semiconductor-based biosensors using 3D-printing technologies was proposed for a rapid and cost-efficient design of new sensor systems. The microfluidic unit is designed and printed by a 3D-printer in just a few hours and assembled on a light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) chip using a photo resin. The cell growth curves obtained from culturing cells within microfluidics-based LAPS systems were compared with cell growth curves in cell culture flasks to examine biocompatibility of the 3D-printed chips. Furthermore, an optimal cell culturing within microfluidics-based LAPS chips was achieved by adjusting the fetal calf serum concentrations of the cell culture medium, an important factor for the cell proliferation.
Chelate stabilization of a titanium(IV)–salan alkoxide by ligand exchange with 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (dipic) resulted in heptacoordinate complex 3 which is not redox-active, stable on silica gel and has increased aqueous stability. 3 is highly toxic in HeLa S3 and Hep G2 and has enhanced antitumor efficacy in a mouse cervical-cancer model.
Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (hrHPV) can result in the formation of anogenital cancers. As hrHPV proteins E6 and E7 are required for cancer initiation and maintenance, they are ideal targets for immunotherapeutic interventions. Previously, we have described the development of DNA vaccines for the induction of HPV16 E6 and E7 specific T cell immunity. These vaccines consist of ‘gene-shuffled’ (SH) versions of HPV16 E6 and E7 that were fused to Tetanus Toxin Fragment C domain 1 (TTFC) and were named TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH. Gene-shuffling was performed to avoid the risk of inducing malignant transformation at the vaccination site. Here, we describe the preclinical safety evaluation of these candidate vaccines by analysis of their transforming capacity in vitro using established murine fibroblasts (NIH 3T3 cells) and primary human foreskin keratinocytes (HFKs). We demonstrate that neither ectopic expression of TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH alone or in combination enabled NIH 3T3 cells to form colonies in soft agar. In contrast, expression of HPV16 E6WT and E7WT alone or in combination resulted in effective transformation. Similarly, retroviral transduction of HFKs from three independent donors with both TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH alone or in combination did not show any signs of immortalization. In contrast, the combined expression of E6WT and E7WT induced immortalization in HFKs from all donors. Based on these results we consider it justified to proceed to clinical evaluation of DNA vaccines encoding TTFC-E6SH and TTFC-E7SH in patients with HPV16 associated (pre)malignancies.
Efficient FACS selection procedure for cells undergoing Flp-mediated site-specific conversions
(1998)
Transcription-promoting genomic sites in mammalia: their elucidation and architectural principles
(1998)
The transgeneticist's toolbox: novel methods for the targeted modification of eukaryotic genomes
(2000)
Investigation of TRPV1 loss-of-function phenotypes in transgenic shRNA expressing and knockout mice
(2008)
The contribution of altered post-transcriptional gene silencing to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus so far remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that expression of microRNA (miR)-143 and 145 is upregulated in the liver of genetic and dietary mouse models of obesity. Induced transgenic overexpression of miR-143, but not miR-145, impairs insulin-stimulated AKT activation and glucose homeostasis. Conversely, mice deficient for the miR-143–145 cluster are protected from the development of obesity-associated insulin resistance. Quantitative-mass-spectrometry-based analysis of hepatic protein expression in miR-143-overexpressing mice revealed miR-143-dependent downregulation of oxysterol-binding-protein-related protein (ORP) 8. Reduced ORP8 expression in cultured liver cells impairs the ability of insulin to induce AKT activation, revealing an ORP8-dependent mechanism of AKT regulation. Our experiments provide direct evidence that dysregulated post-transcriptional gene silencing contributes to the development of obesity-induced insulin resistance, and characterize the miR-143–ORP8 pathway as a potential target for the treatment of obesity-associated diabetes.
Meiotic functions of RAD18
(2011)
Obesity-induced overexpression of miR-802 impairs glucose metabolism through silencing of Hnf1b
(2013)
A High-Throughput Functional Complementation Assay for Classification of BRCA1 Missense Variants
(2013)
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogel films with incorporated graphene oxide (GO) were developed and tested as light-stimulated actuators. GO dispersions were synthesized via Hummers method and characterized toward their optical properties and photothermal energy conversion. The hydrogels were prepared by means of photopolymerization. In addition, the influence of GO within the hydrogel network on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The optical absorbance and the response to illumination were determined as a function of GO concentration for thin hydrogel films. A proof of principle for the stimulation with light was performed.
An enzyme-based multi-parameter biosensor is developed for monitoring the concentration of formate, d-lactate, and l-lactate in biological samples. The sensor is based on the specific dehydrogenation by an oxidized β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent dehydrogenase (formate dehydrogenase, d-lactic dehydrogenase, and l-lactic dehydrogenase, respectively) in combination with a diaphorase from Clostridium kluyveri (EC 1.8.1.4). The enzymes are immobilized on a platinum working electrode by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde (GA). The principle of the determination scheme in case of l-lactate is as follows: l-lactic dehydrogenase (l-LDH) converts l-lactate into pyruvate by reaction with NAD+. In the presence of hexacyanoferrate(III), the resulting reduced β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is then regenerated enzymatically by diaphorase. The electrochemical detection is based on the current generated by oxidation of hexacyanoferrate(II) at an applied potential of +0.3 V vs. an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. The biosensor will be electrochemically characterized in terms of linear working range and sensitivity. Additionally, the successful practical application of the sensor is demonstrated in an extract from maize silage.
Members of the species Bacillus pumilus get more and more in focus of the biotechnological industry as potential new production strains. Based on exoproteome analysis, B. pumilus strain Jo2, possessing a high secretion capability, was chosen for an omics-based investigation. The proteome and metabolome of B. pumilus cells growing either in minimal or complex medium was analyzed. In total, 1542 proteins were identified in growing B. pumilus cells, among them 1182 cytosolic proteins, 297 membrane and lipoproteins and 63 secreted proteins. This accounts for about 43% of the 3616 proteins encoded in the B. pumilus Jo2 genome sequence. By using GC–MS, IP-LC/MS and H NMR methods numerous metabolites were analyzed and assigned to reconstructed metabolic pathways. In the genome sequence a functional secretion system including the components of the Sec- and Tat-secretion machinery was found. Analysis of the exoproteome revealed secretion of about 70 proteins with predicted secretion signals. In addition, selected production-relevant genome features such as restriction modification systems and NRPS clusters of B. pumilus Jo2 are discussed.
We present an electromechanically coupled Finite Element model for cardiac tissue. It bases on the mechanical model for cardiac tissue of Hunter et al. that we couple to the McAllister-Noble-Tsien electrophysiological model of purkinje fibre cells. The corresponding system of ordinary differential equations is implemented on the level of the constitutive equations in a geometrically and physically nonlinear version of the so-called edge-based smoothed FEM for plates. Mechanical material parameters are determined from our own pressure-deflection experimental setup. The main purpose of the model is to further examine the experimental results not only on mechanical but also on electrophysiological level down to ion channel gates. Moreover, we present first drug treatment simulations and validate the model with respect to the experiments.
C-terminal truncation of a metagenome-derived detergent protease for effective expression in E. coli
(2010)
Recently, a new alkaline protease named HP70 showing highest homology to extracellular serine proteases of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Xanthomonas campestris was found in the course of a metagenome screening for detergent proteases (Niehaus et al., submitted for publication). Attempts to efficiently express the enzyme in common expression hosts had failed. This study reports on the realization of overexpression in Escherichia coli after structural modification of HP70. Modelling of HP70 resulted in a two-domain structure, comprising the catalytic domain and a C-terminal domain which includes about 100 amino acids. On the basis of the modelled structure the enzyme was truncated by deletion of most of the C-terminal domain yielding HP70-C477.
This structural modification allowed effective expression of active enzyme using E. coli BL21-Gold as the host. Specific activity of HP70-C477 determined with suc-l-Ala-l-Ala-l-Pro-l-Phe-p-nitroanilide as the substrate was 30 ± 5 U/mg compared to 8 ± 1 U/mg of the native enzyme. HP70-C477 was most active at 40 °C and pH 7–11; these conditions are prerequisite for a potential application as detergent enzyme. Determination of kinetic parameters at 40 °C and pH = 9.5 resulted in KM = 0.23 ± 0.01 mM and kcat = 167.5 ± 3.6 s⁻¹. MS-analysis of peptide fragments obtained from incubation of HP70 and HP70-C477 with insulin B indicated that the C-terminal domain influences the cleavage preferences of the enzyme. Washing experiments confirmed the high potential of HP70-C477 as detergent protease.
A large strain collection comprising antagonistic bacteria was screened for novel detergent proteases. Several strains displayed protease activity on agar plates containing skim milk but were inactive in liquid media. Encapsulation of cells in alginate beads induced protease production. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia emerged as best performer under washing conditions. For identification of wash-active proteases, four extracellular serine proteases called StmPr1, StmPr2, StmPr3 and StmPr4 were cloned. StmPr2 and StmPr4 were sufficiently overexpressed in E. coli. Expression of StmPr1 and StmPr3 resulted in unprocessed, insoluble protein. Truncation of most of the C-terminal domain which has been identified by enzyme modeling succeeded in expression of soluble, active StmPr1 but failed in case of StmPr3.
From laundry application tests StmPr2 turned out to be a highly wash-active protease at 45 °C. Specific activity of StmPr2 determined with suc-l-Ala-l-Ala-l-Pro-l-Phe-p-nitroanilide as the substrate was 17 ± 2 U/mg. In addition we determined the kinetic parameters and cleavage preferences of protease StmPr2.
Differentiation between Phaeocystis pouchetii (Har.) Lagerheim and Phaeocystis globosa Scherffel
(1987)
Developing a new production host from a blueprint: Bacillus pumilus as an industrial enzyme producer
(2014)
The metabolic activity of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells was observed using a light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS). The dependency toward different glucose concentrations (17–200 mM) follows a Michaelis–Menten kinetics trajectory with Kₘ = 32.8 mM, and the obtained Kₘ value in this experiment was compared with that found in literature. In addition, the pH shift induced by glucose metabolism of tumor cells transfected with the HPV-16 genome (C3 cells) was successfully observed. These results indicate the possibility to determine the tumor cells metabolism with a LAPS-based measurement device.
The light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) is a semiconductor-based potentiometric sensor using a light probe with an ability of detecting the concentration of biochemical species in a spatially resolved manner. As an important biomedical sensor, research has been conducted to improve its performance, for instance, to realize high-speed measurement. In this work, the idea of facilitating the device-level simulation, instead of using an equivalent-circuit model, is presented for detailed analysis and optimization of the performance of the LAPS. Both carrier distribution and photocurrent response have been simulated to provide new insight into both amplitude-mode and phase-mode operations of the LAPS. Various device parameters can be examined to effectively design and optimize the LAPS structures and setups for enhanced performance.
Clostridium propionicum is the only organism known to ferment β-alanine, a constituent of coenzyme A (CoA) and the phosphopantetheinyl prosthetic group of holo-acyl carrier protein. The first step in the fermentation is a CoA-transfer to β-alanine. Subsequently, the resulting β-alanyl-CoA is deaminated by the enzyme β-alanyl-CoA:ammonia lyase (Acl) to reversibly form ammonia and acrylyl-CoA. We have determined the crystal structure of Acl in its apo-form at a resolution of 0.97 Å as well as in complex with CoA at a resolution of 1.59 Å. The structures reveal that the enyzme belongs to a superfamily of proteins exhibiting a so called “hot dog fold” which is characterized by a five-stranded antiparallel β-sheet with a long α-helix packed against it. The functional unit of all “hot dog fold” proteins is a homodimer containing two equivalent substrate binding sites which are established by the dimer interface. In the case of Acl, three functional dimers combine to a homohexamer strongly resembling the homohexamer formed by YciA-like acyl-CoA thioesterases. Here, we propose an enzymatic mechanism based on the crystal structure of the Acl·CoA complex and molecular docking. Proteins 2014; 82:2041–2053. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Gram-positive endospore-forming bacterium Bacillus licheniformis can be found widely in nature and it is exploited in industrial processes for the manufacturing of antibiotics, specialty chemicals, and enzymes. Both in its varied natural habitats and in industrial settings, B. licheniformis cells will be exposed to increases in the external osmolarity, conditions that trigger water efflux, impair turgor, cause the cessation of growth, and negatively affect the productivity of cell factories in biotechnological processes. We have taken here both systems-wide and targeted physiological approaches to unravel the core of the osmostress responses of B. licheniformis. Cells were suddenly subjected to an osmotic upshift of considerable magnitude (with 1 M NaCl), and their transcriptional profile was then recorded in a time-resolved fashion on a genome-wide scale. A bioinformatics cluster analysis was used to group the osmotically up-regulated genes into categories that are functionally associated with the synthesis and import of osmostress-relieving compounds (compatible solutes), the SigB-controlled general stress response, and genes whose functional annotation suggests that salt stress triggers secondary oxidative stress responses in B. licheniformis. The data set focusing on the transcriptional profile of B. licheniformis was enriched by proteomics aimed at identifying those proteins that were accumulated by the cells through increased biosynthesis in response to osmotic stress. Furthermore, these global approaches were augmented by a set of experiments that addressed the synthesis of the compatible solutes proline and glycine betaine and assessed the growth-enhancing effects of various osmoprotectants. Combined, our data provide a blueprint of the cellular adjustment processes of B. licheniformis to both sudden and sustained osmotic stress.
The composition and physiochemical properties of aquatic-phase natural organic matter (NOM) are most important problems for both environmental studies and water industry. Laser desorption/ionization (LDI) mass spectrometry facilitated successful examinations of NOM, as humic and fulvic acids in NOM are readily ionized by the nitrogen laser. In this study, hydrophobic NOMs (HPO NOMs) from river, reservoir and waste water were characterized by this technique. The effect of analytical variables like concentration, solvent composition and laser energy was investigated. The exact masses of small molecular NOM moieties in the range of 200–1200 m/z were determined in reflectron mode. In addition, spectra of post-source-decay experiments in this range showed that some compounds from different natural NOMs had the same fragmental ions. In the large mass range of 1200–15 000 Da, macromolecules and their aggregates were found in HPO NOMs from natural waters. Highly humic HPO exhibited mass peaks larger than 8000 Da. On the other hand, the waste water and reservoir water mainly had relatively smaller molecules of about 2000 Da. The LDI-MS measurements indicated that highly humic river waters were able to form large aggregates and membrane foulants, while the HPO NOMs from waste water and reservoir water were unlikely to form large aggregates. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bacillus pumilus reveals a remarkably high resistance to hydrogen peroxide provoked oxidative stress
(2014)
Bacillus pumilus is characterized by a higher oxidative stress resistance than other comparable industrially relevant Bacilli such as B. subtilis or B. licheniformis. In this study the response of B. pumilus to oxidative stress was investigated during a treatment with high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide at the proteome, transcriptome and metabolome level. Genes/proteins belonging to regulons, which are known to have important functions in the oxidative stress response of other organisms, were found to be upregulated, such as the Fur, Spx, SOS or CtsR regulon. Strikingly, parts of the fundamental PerR regulon responding to peroxide stress in B. subtilis are not encoded in the B. pumilus genome. Thus, B. pumilus misses the catalase KatA, the DNA-protection protein MrgA or the alkyl hydroperoxide reductase AhpCF. Data of this study suggests that the catalase KatX2 takes over the function of the missing KatA in the oxidative stress response of B. pumilus. The genome-wide expression analysis revealed an induction of bacillithiol (Cys-GlcN-malate, BSH) relevant genes. An analysis of the intracellular metabolites detected high intracellular levels of this protective metabolite, which indicates the importance of bacillithiol in the peroxide stress resistance of B. pumilus.
Synthesis of derivatives of the peptide sequence L-pyroglutamyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-aspartyl-glycyl-L-lysyl-glycyl-glycyl-glycine as the antigenic determinant representing the N-terminal non-helical region of the α-2-chain of rabbit skin collagen, and conjugation to two different polypeptide carriers, are described.
Thermal synthesis of the optical pure pentapeptide derivative Z-(L)-Ala-(L)-Phe-Gly-(L)-Phe-Gly-OMe
(1980)
Poly(vinyl acetate), PVAc, with a degree of polymerization Xn = 10 was prepared by chain-transfer radical polymerization using carbon tetrachloride and used as oligomeric plasticizer for commercial PVAc. However, the chlorinated chain ends cause a low thermal stability requiring mild Cl/H substitution. The product exhibits high thermal stability and excellent melt-compounding properties. Blends of oligomeric and commercial PVAc show single glass transition temperatures which decrease with higher oligomer content and exhibit small negative deviations from Fox' linear additivity rule. This indicates plasticization and miscibility being mainly due to entropic effects. Injection-moulded thick specimens show ductile behaviour at oligomer contents >10 wt %, while sheets with a thickness of 0.2–0.5 mm appear flexible already at 7.5 wt %. The oxygen permeability coefficients are an order of magnitude lower than those of low-density polyethylene. Due to the sum of their properties, the plasticized sheets present a promising alternative in the preparation of barrier materials.