0000000000006046
AUTHOR
Francesco Ricci
Autonomous molecularly crowded confinement in inkjet printed femtoliter-scale aqueous compartments
Natural evolution has chosen the localization of biomolecular processes into crowded sub-cellular femtoliter (fL) scale compartments for organizing complex biological processes. [1] Many synthetic biology platforms with life-like activities have been able to mimic these systems under different compartment sizes regimes. [2] However, the fabrication of crowded compartments down to sub-cellular scales is challenging, mainly because of high surface-volume ratio of these systems, finally compromising the stability of the encapsulated biomolecules. In this regard, we here bridge this gap by showing the possibility to produce femtoliter-scale aqueous droplets using a novel inkjet printing approac…
Prognostic value of nuclear matrix protein expression in localized prostate cancer.
The aim of the study was to correlate nuclear matrix (NM) protein expression profiles with the risk of PSA progression or death in early prostate cancer (PCa).High-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) was used to identify tumor-associated NM proteins in the PCa specimens obtained from 94 patients. The association between the expression of each protein and the probability of PSA progression or death was studied through univariate analysis. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis was then used to generate patient clusters showing comparable outcomes by including the proteins that were predictive at univariate analysis. PSA-free and overall survival curves relative to…
Viewpoint: Atomic-Scale Design Protocols toward Energy, Electronic, Catalysis, and Sensing Applications
Nanostructured materials are essential building blocks for the fabrication of new devices for energy harvesting/storage, sensing, catalysis, magnetic, and optoelectronic applications. However, because of the increase of technological needs, it is essential to identify new functional materials and improve the properties of existing ones. The objective of this Viewpoint is to examine the state of the art of atomic-scale simulative and experimental protocols aimed to the design of novel functional nanostructured materials, and to present new perspectives in the relative fields. This is the result of the debates of Symposium I "Atomic-scale design protocols towards energy, electronic, catalysis…
Printing Life-Inspired Subcellular Scale Compartments with Autonomous Molecularly Crowded Confinement.
A simple, rapid, and highly controlled platform to prepare life-inspired subcellular scale compartments by inkjet printing has been developed. These compartments consist of fL-scale aqueous droplets (few µm in diameter) incorporating biologically relevant molecular entities with programmed composition and concentration. These droplets are ink-jetted in nL mineral oil drop arrays allowing for lab-on-chip studies by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence life time imaging. Once formed, fL-droplets are stable for several hours, thus giving the possibility of readily analyze molecular reactions and their kinetics and to verify molecular behavior and intermolecular interactions. Here, this pla…