Search results for "FUSION"

Infrared microspectroscopic determination of collagen cross-links in articular cartilage

2017

Collagen forms an organized network in articular cartilage to give tensile stiffness to the tissue. Due to its long half-life, collagen is susceptible to cross-links caused by advanced glycation end-products. The current standard method for determination of cross-link concentrations in tissues is the destructive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The aim of this study was to analyze the cross-link concentrations nondestructively from standard unstained histological articular cartilage sections by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy. Half of the bovine articular cartilage samples ( n = 27 ) were treated with threose to increase the collagen cross-linking whi…

Specific interaction of IM30/Vipp1 with cyanobacterial and chloroplast membranes results in membrane remodeling and eventually in membrane fusion.

2016

The photosynthetic light reaction takes place within the thylakoid membrane system in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. Besides its global importance, the biogenesis, maintenance and dynamics of this membrane system are still a mystery. In the last two decades, strong evidence supported the idea that these processes involve IM30, the inner membrane-associated protein of 30kDa, a protein also known as the vesicle-inducing protein in plastids 1 (Vipp1). Even though we just only begin to understand the precise physiological function of this protein, it is clear that interaction of IM30 with membranes is crucial for biogenesis of thylakoid membranes. Here we summarize and discuss forces guiding I…

Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells Exhibit Different Biological Behaviours in Response to Commercial Bleaching Products

2018

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diffusion capacity and the biological effects of different bleaching products on human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). The bleaching gel was applied for 90, 30 or 15 min to enamel/dentine discs that adapted in an artificial chamber. The diffusion of hydrogen peroxide (HP) was analysed by fluorometry and the diffusion products were applied to hDPSCs. Cell viability, cell migration and cell morphology assays were performed using the eluates of diffusion products. Finally, cell apoptosis and the expression of mesenchymal stem cell markers were analysed by flow cytometry. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance and Kruskal&nda…

Proton Leakage Is Sensed by IM30 and Activates IM30-Triggered Membrane Fusion

2020

The inner membrane-associated protein of 30 kDa (IM30) is crucial for the development and maintenance of the thylakoid membrane system in chloroplasts and cyanobacteria. While its exact physiological function still is under debate, it has recently been suggested that IM30 has (at least) a dual function, and the protein is involved in stabilization of the thylakoid membrane as well as in Mg2+-dependent membrane fusion. IM30 binds to negatively charged membrane lipids, preferentially at stressed membrane regions where protons potentially leak out from the thylakoid lumen into the chloroplast stroma or the cyanobacterial cytoplasm, respectively. Here we show in vitro that IM30 membrane binding…

Biophysical and functional characterization of the human olfactory receptor OR1A1 expressed in a mammalian inducible cell line

2014

International audience; Olfactory receptors (ORs) play a crucial role in detecting the odorant molecules present in the surrounding environment. These receptors, which belong to class A G-protein-coupled receptors, constitute the largest transmembrane protein family in the human genome. Functional studies showed that the OR family includes members that are able to respond to a large set of odorants and members that are activated by a relatively small number of related odorants. To understand the molecular mechanisms that govern the receptor-ligand interactions, we overexpressed the human OR hOR1A1 in a stable tetracycline-inducible HEK293S cell line. This receptor was engineered by insertin…

2016

Focal demyelinated lesions, diffuse white matter (WM) damage and grey matter (GM) atrophy influence directly the disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis. The aim of this study was to identify specific characteristics of GM and WM structural networks in subjects with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) in comparison to patients with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Twenty patients with CIS, thirty three with RRMS and forty healthy subjects were investigated using 3 T-MRI. Diffusion tensor imaging was applied, together with probabilistic tractography and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps for WM and cortical thickness correlation analysis for GM, to determine t…

Revealing community structures by ensemble clustering using group diffusion

2018

We propose an ensemble clustering approach using group diffusion to reveal community structures in data. We represent data points as a directed graph and assume each data point belong to single cluster membership instead of multiple memberships. The method is based on the concept of ensemble group diffusion with a parameter to represent diffusion depth in clustering. The ability to modulate the diffusion-depth parameter by varying it within a certain interval allows for more accurate construction of clusters. Depending on the value of the diffusion-depth parameter, the presented approach can determine very well both local clusters and global structure of data. At the same time, the ability …

Molecular basis of SARS-CoV-2 infection and rational design of potential antiviral agents: Modeling and simulation approaches

2020

International audience; The emergence in late 2019 of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in the breakthrough of the COVID-19 pandemic that is presently affecting a growing number of countries. The development of the pandemic has also prompted an unprecedented effort of the scientific community to understand the molecular bases of the virus infection and to propose rational drug design strategies able to alleviate the serious COVID-19 morbidity. In this context, a strong synergy between the structural biophysics and molecular modeling and simulation communities has emerged, resolving at the atomistic level the crucial protein apparatus of the virus and revealing the dynamic aspects of k…

Changes in the spatial distribution of the Purkinje network after acute myocardial infarction in the pig

2018

Purkinje cells (PCs) are more resistant to ischemia than myocardial cells, and are suspected to participate in ventricular arrhythmias following myocardial infarction (MI). Histological studies afford little evidence on the behavior and adaptation of PCs in the different stages of MI, especially in the chronic stage, and no quantitative data have been reported to date beyond subjective qualitative depictions. The present study uses a porcine model to present the first quantitative analysis of the distal cardiac conduction system and the first reported change in the spatial distribution of PCs in three representative stages of MI: an acute model both with and without reperfusion; a subacute …

Comparison between iMSD and 2D-pCF analysis for molecular motion studies on in vivo cells: The case of the epidermal growth factor receptor.

2018

Image correlation analysis has evolved to become a valuable method of analysis of the diffusional motion of molecules in every points of a live cell. Here we compare the iMSD and the 2D-pCF approaches that provide complementary information. The iMSD method provides the law of diffusion and it requires spatial averaging over a small region of the cell. The 2D-pCF does not require spatial averaging and it gives information about obstacles for diffusion at pixel resolution. We show the analysis of the same set of data by the two methods to emphasize that both methods could be needed to have a comprehensive understanding of the molecular diffusional flow in a live cell.