Search results for "Biophysics"
showing 10 items of 3515 documents
The surface modification of polymers to modulate endothelial cell growth
1996
The effect of nitrogen ion implantation or ion-assisted film deposition on the growth of human endothelial cells in vitro on a substrate has been studied. It was shown that the largest change occurs when TiO2 films were reactively sputtered onto the substrates, while the most passive surface was reactively sputtered SiO2. SEM pictures of the cells adhering to the various treated surfaces show that the cells were healthy. Future studies on the effect of alloy films and their oxides and nitrides are proposed.
Micropatterning of neurons using organic substrates in culture
1997
Abstract In this study, we have used spatially defined surfaces of organic thin films to micropattern the outgrowth of central nervous system neurons in culture. Glass substrates were first chemically modified with synthetic peptides derived from an extra-cellular matrix protein laminin to couple a functionality that promotes a neuron-substrate interaction. The modification procedure was verified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The functionality of the modified glass surfaces was examined by growing neurons dissociated from mammalian central nervous tissues in culture. Spatially defined surfaces of the peptide were then fabricated by selectively attaching the peptide to coplanar sur…
Cell Specific Targeting of Multifunctional γ-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles Through Surface Binding of dsDNA
2007
AbstractThe immobilization of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [poly(IC)] on ã-Fe2O3 maghemite nanoparticles via the phosphor-amidate route using a multifunctional polymer is reported. The dsRNA coupled nanoparticles were used to visualize the Toll-like (TLR3) receptors at the cell surface. The presence of TLR3 was demonstrated independently in the Caki-1 cell line by RT-PCR and immunostaining techniques
Mechanical Characterization of Polysaccharide/polyaminoacid Hydrogels as Potential Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration
2011
The mechanical properties of hydrogel scaffolds based on hyaluronic acid (HA) that were chemically crosslinked with α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)(2-aminoethylcarbamate)-D,L-aspartamide (PHEA-EDA) were investigated. Variation of these properties as a function of three different PHEA-EDA amounts used to crosslink HA has been related to the reaction efficiency evaluated using a colorimetric assay. Moreover, the amount of unreacted amino groups that was still present in the hydrogels was related to the attachment behavior of human dermal fibroblasts to the hydrogel surface. The mechanical data and biological results suggest the suitability of the investigated hydrogels as scaffolds for the regener…
Glassy dynamics of simulated polymer melts: Coherent scattering and van Hove correlation functions
2001
Whereas the first part of this paper dealt with the relaxation in the β-regime, this part investigates the final relaxation (α-relaxation) of a simulated polymer melt consisting of short non-entangled chains in the supercooled state above the critical temperature of ideal mode-coupling theory (MCT). The temperature range covers the onset of a two-step relaxation behaviour down to a temperature merely 2% above . We monitor the incoherent intermediate scattering function as well as the coherent intermediate scattering function of both a single chain and the melt over a wide range of wave numbers q. Upon approaching the coherent α-relaxation time of the melt increases strongly close to the max…
0152 : Effects of connexin 43 inhibition on mitochondrial function in cardiac skinned fibers and isolated mitochondria
2015
Connexin 43 (Cx43) is a main component of intercellular gap junction channels in cardiomyocytes. The presence of Cx43 in heart mitochondria has been also reported, where it may participate in energy metabolism and protection against ischemia. Given the key role for mitochondria in pathogenesis of heart diseases, we examined how mitochondrial function could be altered in case of Cx43 pharmacological inhibition by carbenoxolone (CBX). Oxygen consumption rates under various substrate conditions were determined either in ventricles from pig hearts using saponin-permeabilized fibers, or in isolated mitochondria from rat hearts. Measurements of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ) and reactive o…
Mesoscopic gel at low agarose concentration in water: a dynamic light scattering study
1995
Previous work in our laboratory has shown that at very low agarose concentration in water gelation still occurs within mutually disconnected, high concentration regions generated by spinodal demixing. The freely diffusing particles obtained in these conditions are studied in the present work by depolarized dynamic light scattering and probe diffusion experiments. These particles are found to behave as large (in fact, mesoscopic) polymer fibers entangled in a continuously rearranged mesh with scaling parameters typical of partially flexible, neutral chains. The present results allow specifying the notion of mesoscopic gelation. They also reveal that the same symmetry-breaking mechanism that …
Tuneable Transient Thermogels Mediated by a pH- and Redox-Regulated Supramolecular Polymerization.
2017
A multistimuli-responsive transient supramolecular polymerization of β-sheet-encoded dendritic peptide monomers in water is presented. The amphiphiles, which contain glutamic acid and methionine, undergo a glucose oxidase catalyzed, glucose-fueled transient hydrogelation in response to an interplay of pH and oxidation stimuli, promoted by the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Adjusting the enzyme and glucose concentration allows tuning of the assembly and the disassembly rates of the supramolecular polymers, which dictate the stiffness and transient stability of the hydrogels. The incorporation of triethylene glycol chains introduces thermoresponsive properties to the materials. …
Conformational properties of N-acetyl-N-methyl-alpha,beta-dehydroalanine N'-methylamide.
2006
The conformational properties of Ac-Delta(Me)Ala-NHMe (N-acetyl-N-methyl-alpha,beta-dehydroalanine N'-methylamide), as the simplest model of N-methyl-alpha,beta-dehydroamino acids, was examined with theoretical methods and in comparison with Ac-DeltaAla-NHMe and Ac-DeltaAla-NMe(2). The N-terminal amide of the Delta(Me)Ala residue easily adopts the configuration cis and the torsion angles phi, psi are highly flexible. The Delta(Me)Ala residue is a conformational flexibilizer as compared to the parent DeltaAla, which is a conformational stiffener. This seems to be the reason why Delta(Me)Ala is found in small natural cyclic peptides, where it ensures the conformational flexibility necessary f…
Structure-based statistical analysis of transmembrane helices
2012
Recent advances in determination of the high-resolution structure of membrane proteins now enable analysis of the main features of amino acids in transmembrane (TM) segments in comparison with amino acids in water-soluble helices. In this work, we conducted a large-scale analysis of the prevalent locations of amino acids by using a data set of 170 structures of integral membrane proteins obtained from the MPtopo database and 930 structures of water-soluble helical proteins obtained from the protein data bank. Large hydrophobic amino acids (Leu, Val, Ile, and Phe) plus Gly were clearly prevalent in TM helices whereas polar amino acids (Glu, Lys, Asp, Arg, and Gln) were less frequent in this …