Search results for "Microscopy"
showing 10 items of 3390 documents
TCDD-dependent downregulation of gamma-catenin in rat liver epithelial cells (WB-F344).
2002
TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) is the most potent tumor promoter ever tested in rodents. Although it is known that most of the effects of TCDD are mediated by binding to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), the mechanisms leading to tumor promotion still remain to be elucidated. Loss of contact-inhibition is a characteristic hallmark in tumorigenesis. In WB-F344 cells, TCDD induces a release from contact-inhibition manifested by a 2- to 3-fold increase in DNA-synthesis and the emergence of foci when TCDD (1 nM) is given to confluent cells. We focussed our interest on potential cell membrane proteins mediating contact-inhibition in WB-F344 cells, namely E-cadherin, alpha,- beta,-…
Comparative antitumor effect among GM-CSF, IL-12 and GM-CSF+IL-12 genetically modified tumor cell vaccines.
2013
Genetically modified cells have been shown to be one of the most effective cancer vaccine strategies. An evaluation is made of the efficacy of both preventive and therapeutic antitumor vaccines against murine melanoma, using C57BL/6 mice and irradiated B16 tumor cells expressing granulocyte and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-12 (IL-12) or both. Tumor was transplanted by the injection of wild-type B16 cells. Tumor growth and survival were measured to evaluate the efficacy of vaccination. Specific humoral response and immunoglobulin G (IgG) switch were evaluated measuring total IgG and IgG1 and IgG2a subtypes against tumor membrane proteins of B16 cells. In prevent…
Rad51 and BRCA2 - New Molecular Targets for Sensitizing Glioma Cells to Alkylating Anticancer Drugs
2011
First line chemotherapeutics for brain tumors (malignant gliomas) are alkylating agents such as temozolomide and nimustine. Despite growing knowledge of how these agents work, patients suffering from this malignancy still face a dismal prognosis. Alkylating agents target DNA, forming the killing lesion O(6)-alkylguanine, which is converted into DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that trigger apoptosis. Here we assessed whether inhibiting repair of DSBs by homologous recombination (HR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is a reasonable strategy for sensitizing glioma cells to alkylating agents. For down-regulation of HR in glioma cells, we used an interference RNA (iRNA) approach targeting Ra…
Small but Powerful, the Primary Endosymbiont of Moss Bugs, Candidatus Evansia muelleri, Holds a Reduced Genome with Large Biosynthetic Capabilities
2014
International audience; Moss bugs (Coleorrhyncha: Peloridiidae) are members of the order Hemiptera, and like many hemipterans, they have symbiotic associations with intracellular bacteria to fulfill nutritional requirements resulting from their unbalanced diet. The primary endosymbiont of the moss bugs, Candidatus Evansia muelleri, is phylogenetically related to Candidatus Carsonella ruddii and Candidatus Portiera aleyrodidarum, primary endosymbionts of psyllids and whiteflies, respectively. In this work, we report the genome of Candidatus Evansia muelleri Xc1 from Xenophyes cascus, which is the only obligate endosymbiont present in the association. This endosymbiont possesses an extremely …
Determining cantilever stiffness from thermal noise
2013
We critically discuss the extraction of intrinsic cantilever properties, namely eigenfrequency fn, quality factor Qn and specifically the stiffness kn of the nth cantilever oscillation mode from thermal noise by an analysis of the power spectral density of displacement fluctuations of the cantilever in contact with a thermal bath. The practical applicability of this approach is demonstrated for several cantilevers with eigenfrequencies ranging from 50 kHz to 2 MHz. As such an analysis requires a sophisticated spectral analysis, we introduce a new method to determine kn from a spectral analysis of the demodulated oscillation signal of the excited cantilever that can be performed in the frequ…
Scanning force microscopy based rapid force curve acquisition on supported lipid bilayers: experiments and simulations using pulsed force mode.
2004
In situ pulsed force mode scanning force microscopy (PFM-SFM) images of phase separated solid-supported lipid bilayers are discussed with the help of computer simulations. Simultaneous imaging of material properties and topography in a liquid environment by means of PFM-SFM is severely hampered by hydrodynamic damping of the cantilever. Stiffness and adhesion images of solid-supported membranes consisting of cholesterol, sphingomyelin, and 1,2-dioleyl-phosphatidylcholine obtained in aqueous solution exhibit contrast inversion of adhesion and stiff. ness images depending on parameters such as driving frequency, amplitude, and trigger setting. Simulations using a simple harmonic oscillator mo…
Acrylate ester-based monolithic columns for capillary electrochromatography separation of triacylglycerols in vegetable oils
2011
Abstract A simple and reliable method for the evaluation of triacylglycerols (TAGs) in vegetable oils by capillary electrochromatography (CEC) with UV–Vis detection, using octadecyl acrylate (ODA) ester-based monolithic columns, has been developed. The percentages of the porogenic solvents in the polymerization mixture, and the mobile phase composition, were optimized. The optimum monolith was obtained at the following ratios: 40:60% (wt/wt) monomers/porogens, 60:40% (wt/wt) ODA/1,3-butanediol diacrylate and 23:77% (wt/wt) 1,4-butanediol/1-propanol (14 wt% 1,4-butanediol in the polymerization mixture). A satisfactory resolution between TAGs was achieved in less than 12 min with a 65:35 (v/v…
Preparation and characterization of hexyl methacrylate monolithic columns for CEC
2008
The preparation of hexyl methacrylate (HMA) monolithic columns for CEC separations has been investigated with two initiation systems: (i) ammonium peroxodisulphate and TEMED to activate the polymerization reaction, and (ii) by thermal initiation with AIBN. For both initiators, the influence of composition of porogenic solvent on morphological and chromatographic properties of monoliths was investigated. Two porogenic solvent systems, aqueous and non-aqueous media, were also studied for monolithic beds polymerized with AIBN. Under optimal conditions, low minimum plate heights (9.6 mum for peroxodisulphate, 8.4 and 10.0 mum for AIBN in aqueous and non-aqueous porogenic solvents, respectively)…
Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Hepatocyte-Like Cells as a Tool for In Vitro Hazard Assessment of Chemical Carcinogenicity
2011
Hepatocyte-like cells derived from the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hES-Hep) have potential to provide a human relevant in vitro test system in which to evaluate the carcinogenic hazard of chemicals. In this study, we have investigated this potential using a panel of 15 chemicals classified as noncarcinogens, genotoxic carcinogens, and nongenotoxic carcinogens and measured whole-genome transcriptome responses with gene expression microarrays. We applied an ANOVA model that identified 592 genes highly discriminative for the panel of chemicals. Supervised classification with these genes achieved a cross-validation accuracy of > 95%. Moreover, the expression of the response g…
Aspidin PB, a phloroglucinol derivative, induces apoptosis in human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells by modulating PI3K/Akt/GSK3β pathway.
2012
Aspidin PB, a phloroglucinol derivative isolated from Dryopteris fragrans (L.) Schott, has been previously reported to exert high biological activities. In the present study, we analyzed the apoptotic mechanisms of aspidin PB on human hepatoma cell line, HepG2. Initially, aspidin PB was shown to inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells in a time and dose-dependent manner. After treatment with aspidin PB for 72 h, 48 h and 24 h using MTT assay, the IC(50) values were 10.59 μM, 20.86 μM and 46.59 μM, respectively. Aspidin PB was capable to induce apoptosis, as measured by mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), acridine orange (AO) staining and propidium iodide (PI)/annexin V-FITC double staining. T…