Fluorescence Detection and Imaging of Biomolecules Using the Micropatterned Nanostructured Aluminum Oxide

Micropatterns of the nanostructured aluminum oxide (NAO) with sizes from 5 to 200 μm have been successfully fabricated on the indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate by simply combining a lift-off process and a one-step anodization process for the first time. The detection of fluorescent dyes and biomolecules tagged with fluorescent dyes on the NAO has been investigated and demonstrated successfully. Experiments reveal that the micropatterned NAO substrates can increase the fluorescence signals up to 2 or 3 orders of magnitude compared to the glass substrate, suggesting a possibility to significantly reduce the consumption of the biosamples for fluorescence-based sensing, imaging, and analysis. The stability of the NAO substrates for fluorescence enhancement has also been evaluated by monitoring the fluorescence signals after the fluorophores applied on the substrates for a period of time and reusing the same NAO substrates many times. It was found that this type of substrate has very good stability. Because the micropatterned NAO can be easily integrated with microsensors or microfluidic chips, a simple and inexpensive fluorescence enhancement platform can be developed for a variety of applications, such as microarray technology and single-cell imaging, facilitating the construction of the on-chip fluorescence-based micro- or nanosystems

Porous Organic Polymers via Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization

Highly porous and solution processable organic polymers that can be structurally tailored for various applications are in great demand. Previously reported strategies to prepare porous polymers usually rely on a high level of cross-linking or structurally rigid polymer backbones. We now demonstrate that one-dimensional linear polymers with flexible backbones prepared through ring opening metathesis polymerization can be highly porous. This new strategy allows facile access to diversified porous organic polymers having tunable mechanical/chemical properties bearing different functionalities

FUT4 promotes the progression of Cholangiocarcinoma by modulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a common gastrointestinal malignancy characterized by a poor prognosis. Considering its prevalence, exploring its underlying molecular biological mechanisms is of paramount clinical importance. In this study, bioinformatics techniques were utilized to analyze CCA sample data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. The analysis revealed a notable upregulation in FUT4 expression in CCA samples. To further investigate the functional implications of FUT4, in vivo and in vitro experiments were conducted, which demonstrated that FUT4 overexpression significantly enhances the proliferative and migratory capabilities of tumor cells. Subsequent sequencing analysis unveiled a correlation between FUT4 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Indeed, the pioneering discovery of elevated FUT4 expression in CCA was highlighted in this study. Further investigations into the function of FUT4 in CCA provided initial insights into its role in driving cancer progression via EMT. These findings present promising avenues for the diagnosis and treatment of CCA.</p

Interfacial Polymerization on Dynamic Complex Colloids: Creating Stabilized Janus Droplets

Complex emulsions, including Janus droplets, are becoming increasingly important in pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics, the fabrication of microcapsules for drug delivery, chemical sensing, E-paper display technologies, and optics. Because fluid Janus droplets are often sensitive to external perturbation, such as unexpected changes in the concentration of the surfactants or surface-active biomolecules in the environment, stabilizing their morphology is critical for many real-world applications. To endow Janus droplets with resistance to external chemical perturbations, we demonstrate a general and robust method of creating polymeric hemispherical shells via interfacial free-radical polymerization on the Janus droplets. The polymeric hemispherical shells were characterized by optical and fluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. By comparing phase diagrams of a regular Janus droplet and a Janus droplet with the hemispherical shell, we show that the formation of the hemispherical shell nearly doubles the range of the Janus morphology and maintains the Janus morphology upon a certain degree of external perturbation (e.g., adding hydrocarbon–water or fluorocarbon–water surfactants). We attribute the increased stability of the Janus droplets to (1) the surfactant nature of polymeric shell formed and (2) increase in interfacial tension between hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon due to polymer shell formation. This finding opens the door of utilizing these stabilized Janus droplets in a demanding environment

Characteristics of cases with uterine fibroids and controls and unadjusted odds ratios for uterine fibroids according to selected characteristics.

a<p>Data were available for 71.9% of cases and 91.8% of controls.</p>b<p>Data were available for 87.2% of cases and 87.9% of controls.</p

Characteristics of cases with uterine fibroids and controls and odds ratios of uterine fibroids according to subclinical atherogenic and cardiovascular risk parameters.

a<p>Age-adjusted.</p>b<p>Adjusted for age (continuous), BMI (<21.94, 21.94–24.41, >24.41), age at menarche (≤14, 15–16, ≥17, missing), gravity (0, 1, 2, 3, ≥4) and age at last birth (≤24, 25–29, ≥30, missing).</p>c<p>Adjusted for age (continuous), age at menarche (≤14, 15–16, ≥17, missing), gravity (0, 1, 2, 3, ≥4) and age at last birth (≤24, 25–29, ≥30, missing).</p>d<p>Adjusted for adjusted for age (continuous), BMI (<21.94, 21.94–24.41, >24.41), age at menarche (≤14, 15–16, ≥17, missing), gravity (0, 1, 2, 3, ≥4), age at last birth (≤24, 25–29, ≥30, missing), folate (<8.55, 8.55–11.27, >11.27) and vitamin B12 (<433.57, 433.57–612.10, >612.10).</p

Multivariable model of best predictors according to subclinical atherogenic and cardiovascular risk parameters for UF in the overall and hysterectomy-confirmed groups.

a<p>Adjusted for age (continuous), BMI (<21.94, 21.94–24.41, >24.41), age at menarche (≤14, 15–16, ≥17, missing), gravity (0, 1, 2, 3, ≥4) and age at last birth (≤24, 25–29, ≥30, missing).</p

Diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in relation to soil environment in Ebinur Lake Wetland

<p>Ammonia oxidation is the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification and is carried out by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Ebinur Lake Wetland, the most representative temperate arid zone wetland ecosystem in China, is the centre of oasis and desertification of the northern slope of Tianshan conjugate. Soil samples were collected from three sites (<i>Tamarix ramosissima</i>, <i>Halocnemum strobilaceum</i> and <i>Phragmites australis</i>) and different soil layers (0–5, 5–15, 15–25 and 25–35 cm) in this wetland in spring, summer and autumn and were used to characterize the diversity of AOB based on the ammonia monooxygenase (<i>amoA</i>) gene. Polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and bivariate correlation analysis were used to analyse the relationship between the diversity of AOB and soil environment factors. The PCR-DGGE indicated that the diversity of AOB was high in the entire sample and the Shannon diversity index varied from 1.369 to 2.471. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the <i>amoA</i> fragments were grouped into <i>Nitrosospira</i> sp. and <i>Nitrosomonas</i> sp. Most <i>amoA</i> gene sequences fell within the <i>Nitrosospira</i> sp. cluster, and only a few sequences were clustered with <i>Nitrosomonas</i> sp., indicating that <i>Nitrosospira</i> sp. may be more adaptable than <i>Nitrosomonas</i> sp. in this area. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that the diversity of AOB was significantly correlated with soil organic matter, conductivity, total phosphorus and nitrate in the Ebinur Lake Wetland in Xinjiang.</p

Additional file 1 of The synergistic mechanism of fibroblast growth factor 18 and integrin β1 in rat abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. Construction of the AAA model. (a) The abdominal aorta between the renal and iliac arteries was exposed and isolated from surrounding tissues using sterile rubber strips. (b, c) The abdominal aorta was wrapped in sterile cotton balls soaked in CaCl2 solution (0.8 mol/L). (d) Aneurysmal dilatation of the abdominal aorta. Figure S2. (a) Lentiviral transfection of ECs and SMCs: the fluorescence abundance of the LV-Con-RNAi group was higher than that of the LV-Itgβ1-RNAi group, whereas the fluorescence abundance of the LV-Itgβ1 group was higher than that of the LV-Con group. The fluorescence abundance of the NC + LV-Itgβ1 group was the highest, whereas that of the NC + LV-Itgβ1-RNAi group was the lowest. (b, c) WB and RT-qPCR assay for detecting Itgβ1 expression in ECs: Itgβ1 expression was lower in the NC + LV-Itgβ1-RNAi group than in the NC group; Itgβ1 expression was higher in the NC + LV-Itgβ1 group than in the NC group; Itgβ1 expression in the NC group was similar to that in the NC + LV-Con-RNAi and NC + LV-Con groups. (d, e) WB and RT-qPCR assay for detecting Itgβ1 expression in SMCs: Itgβ1 expression was lower in the NC + LV-Itgβ1-RNAi group than in the NC group; the Itgβ1 expression in the NC + LV-Itgβ1 group was higher than that in the NC group. **p < 0.01 versus NC group, ***p < 0.05 versus NC group. Figure S3 Transwell chamber assay for detecting the migratory activity of ECs and SMCs. (a) Both FGF18 and Itgβ1 could enhance the migratory activity of ECs; there was no significant difference in the migratory activity of ECs between the NC and NC + LV-Con groups. Moreover, the migratory activity of ECs in the NC + LV-Itgβ1-RNAi group was the weakest, whereas it was strongest in the NC + LV-Itgβ1 + FGF18 group. (b) The migratory activity of SMCs was higher in the NC + LV-Itgβ1 group than in the NC and NC + LV-Con groups. There was no significant difference in the migratory activity of SMCs between the NC and NC + LV-Con groups. Moreover, the migratory ability of SMCs was higher in the NC + LV-Itgβ1 + FGF18 group than in the other groups; bar = 200 μm

The inhibition effects of OsPYLs on OsPP2C06 and OsPP2C09.

<p>The inhibition effects on OsPP2C06 and OsPP2C09 in the presence of ABA were showed as panel A and panel B, and in the absence of ABA as panel C and panel D. The phosphatase activity was measured by the Ser/Thr phosphates assay system. The details of the experiments are described in the Material and Methods. The concentrations of each OsPYL were set with molar ratio to OsPP2Cs as 1∶1 and 10∶1 in the absence of ABA (colored light and dark green). Each reaction was repeated at least three times; error bars represent standard deviations.</p