Search results for "POLYMER"
showing 10 items of 10504 documents
Differential Expression Profiles and Functional Prediction of Circular RNAs in Pediatric Dilated Cardiomyopathy
2020
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as essential regulators and biomarkers in various diseases. To assess the different expression levels of circRNAs in pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy (PDCM) and explore their biological and mechanistic significance, we used RNA microarrays to identify differentially expressed circRNAs between three children diagnosed with PDCM and three healthy age-matched volunteers. The biological function of circRNAs was assessed with a circRNA–microRNA (miRNA)–mRNA interaction network constructed from Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Differentially expressed circRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qR…
Enhancement of Wound Healing in Normal and Diabetic Mice by Topical Application of Amorphous Polyphosphate. Superior Effect of a Host⁻Guest Composite…
2017
The effect of polyphosphate (polyP) microparticles on wound healing was tested both in vitro and in a mice model in vivo. Two approaches were used: pure salts of polyphosphate, fabricated as amorphous microparticles (MPs, consisting of calcium and magnesium salts of polyP, “Ca–polyp-MPs” and “Mg–polyp-MPs”), and host–guest composite particles, prepared from amorphous collagen (host) and polyphosphate (guest), termed “col/polyp-MPs”. Animal experiments with polyP on healing of excisional wounds were performed using both normal mice and diabetic mice. After a healing period of 7 days “Ca–polyp-MP” significantly improved re-epithelialization in normal mice from 31% (control) to 72% (polyP micr…
Photocatalytic Activity of Polymer Nanoparticles Modulates Intracellular Calcium Dynamics and Reactive Oxygen Species in HEK-293 Cells
2018
Optical modulation of living cells activity by light-absorbing exogenous materials is gaining increasing interest, due to the possibility both to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution with a minimally invasive and reversible technique and to avoid the need of viral transfection with light-sensitive proteins. In this context, conjugated polymers represent ideal candidates for photo-transduction, due to their excellent optoelectronic and biocompatibility properties. In this work, we demonstrate that organic polymer nanoparticles, based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) conjugated polymer, establish a functional interaction with an in vitro cell model (Human Embryonic Kidney cells, HEK-293). Th…
Preparation and molecular structures of N′-(2-heteroarylmethylidene)-3-(3-pyridyl)acrylohydrazides
2018
Abstract The crystal and molecular structures of N′-(2-furylmethylidene)-3-(3-pyridyl)acrylohydrazide and N′-(2-thienylmethylidene)-3-(3-pyridyl)acrylohydrazide are reported, and the influence of the type of the heteroatom on the aromaticity of the aromatic rings is discussed. Both molecules are nearly planar. The geometry of the acrylohydrazide arrangement is comparable to that of homologous compounds. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed in order to analyze the changes in the geometry of the studied compounds in the crystalline state and for the isolated molecule. The most significant changes were observed in the values of the N–N and C–N bond lengths. The harmonic …
Cytomegalovirus infection management in solid organ transplant recipients across European centers in the time of molecular diagnostics: An ESGICH sur…
2017
Background Scant information is available about how transplant centers are managing their use of quantitative molecular testing (QNAT) assays for active cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection monitoring in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. The current study was aimed at gathering information on current practices in the management of CMV infection across European centers in the era of molecular testing assays. Methods A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey study was conducted by the European Study Group of Infections in Immunocompromised Hosts (ESGICH) of the Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID). The invitation and a weekly reminder with a personal link to …
De novo transcriptome assembly of a facultative parasitic nematode Pelodera (syn. Rhabditis) strongyloides
2018
Pelodera strongyloides is a generally free-living gonochoristic facultative nematode. The whole genomic sequence of P. strongyloides remains unknown but 4 small subunit ribosomal RNA (ssrRNA) gene sequences are available. This project launched a de novo transcriptome assembly with 100 bp paired-end RNA-seq reads from normal, starved and wet-plate cultured animals. Trinity assembly tool generated 104,634 transcript contigs with N50 contig being 2195 bp and average contig length at 1103 bp. Transcriptome BLASTX matching results of five nematodes (C. elegans, Strongyloides stercoralis, Necator americanus, Trichuris trichiura, and Pristionchus pacificus) were consistent with their evolutionary …
Alterations in Tight- and Adherens-Junction Proteins Related to Glaucoma Mimicked in the Organotypically Cultivated Mouse Retina Under Elevated Press…
2020
Purpose To scrutinize alterations in cellular interactions and cell signaling in the glaucomatous retina, mouse retinal explants were exposed to elevated pressure. Methods Retinal explants were prepared from C57bl6 mice and cultivated in a pressure chamber under normotensive (atmospheric pressure + 0 mm Hg), moderately elevated (30 mm Hg), and highly elevated (60 mm Hg) pressure conditions. The expression levels of proteins involved in the formation of tight junctions (zonula occludens 1 [ZO-1], occludin, and claudin-5) and adherens junctions (VE-cadherin and β-catenin) and in cell-signaling cascades (Cdc42 and activated Cdc42 kinase 1 [ACK1]), as well as the expression levels of the growth…
Uncoupling of dynamin polymerization and GTPase activity revealed by the conformation-specific nanobody dynab
2017
Dynamin is a large GTPase that forms a helical collar at the neck of endocytic pits, and catalyzes membrane fission (Schmid and Frolov, 2011; Ferguson and De Camilli, 2012). Dynamin fission reaction is strictly dependent on GTP hydrolysis, but how fission is mediated is still debated (Antonny et al., 2016): GTP energy could be spent in membrane constriction required for fission, or in disassembly of the dynamin polymer to trigger fission. To follow dynamin GTP hydrolysis at endocytic pits, we generated a conformation-specific nanobody called dynab, that binds preferentially to the GTP hydrolytic state of dynamin-1. Dynab allowed us to follow the GTPase activity of dynamin-1 in real-time. We…
Biodegradable nano-polymers as delivery vehicles for therapeutic small non-coding ribonucleic acids.
2016
Nowadays, small non-coding Ribo Nucleic Acids (sncRNAs) such as siRNA, miRNA and shRNA are extremely serving to gene regulation. They are involved in many biological processes and in an increasing number of studies regarding a variety of application of sncRNAs toward human health and relieving diseases ranging from metabolic disorders to those involving various organ systems as well as different types of cancer. One of the most severe limitations for applying RNA interference technology is the absence of safe and effective carriers for in vivo delivery, including localizing the molecules to a specific site of interest and sustaining the presentation of the payloads for a controlled period o…
Hippocampal hyperexcitability is modulated by microtubule-active agent: evidence from in vivo and in vitro epilepsy models in the rat
2016
The involvement of microtubule dynamics on bioelectric activity of neurons and neurotransmission represents a fascinating target of research in the context of neural excitability. It has been reported that alteration of microtubule cytoskeleton can lead to profound modifications of neural functioning, with a putative impact on hyperexcitability phenomena. Altogether, in the present study we pointed at exploring the outcomes of modulating the degree of microtubule polymerization in two electrophysiological epileptiform activity in the rat hippocampus. To this aim, we used in vivo Maximal Dentate Activation (MDA) and in vitro hippocampal epileptiform bursting activity (HEBA) paradigms to asse…