Gene Expression Signature in Peripheral Blood Detects Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

BACKGROUND: Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is usually asymptomatic and associated with high mortality. Adverse clinical outcome of TAA is preventable by elective surgical repair; however, identifying at-risk individuals is difficult. We hypothesized that gene expression patterns in peripheral blood cells may correlate with TAA disease status. Our goal was to identify a distinct gene expression signature in peripheral blood that may identify individuals at risk for TAA. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Whole genome gene expression profiles from 94 peripheral blood samples (collected from 58 individuals with TAA and 36 controls) were analyzed. Significance Analysis of Microarray (SAM) identified potential signature genes characterizing TAA vs. normal, ascending vs. descending TAA, and sporadic vs. familial TAA. Using a training set containing 36 TAA patients and 25 controls, a 41-gene classification model was constructed for detecting TAA status and an overall accuracy of 78+/-6% was achieved. Testing this classifier on an independent validation set containing 22 TAA samples and 11 controls yielded an overall classification accuracy of 78%. These 41 classifier genes were further validated by TaqMan real-time PCR assays. Classification based on the TaqMan data replicated the microarray results and achieved 80% classification accuracy on the testing set. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified informative gene expression signatures in peripheral blood cells that can characterize TAA status and subtypes of TAA. Moreover, a 41-gene classifier based on expression signature can identify TAA patients with high accuracy. The transcriptional programs in peripheral blood leading to the identification of these markers also provide insights into the mechanism of development of aortic aneurysms and highlight potential targets for therapeutic intervention. The classifier genes identified in this study, and validated by TaqMan real-time PCR, define a set of promising potential diagnostic markers, setting the stage for a blood-based gene expression test to facilitate early detection of TAA

Adsorption of cadmium (II) and zinc (II) on boron enrichment process waste in aqueous solutions: Batch and fixed-bed system studies

Adsorption performance of a waste material from boron enrichment process (BW) in removing zinc (II) and cadmium (II) ions from aqueous solution was studied in batch and fixed bed reactors. The optimum conditions for the treatment process were obtained by observing the influences of solution pH, contact time, initial solution concentration, and adsorbent dosage. The adsorption of the two metal ions showed rapid uptake on the waste in the initial 40 min. Kinetic and equilibrium studies indicated that adsorption of the heavy metal ions from solution follows the sequence of Cd2+ > Zn2+ and the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The kinetic data were fitted closely to a pseudo-second-order model. Ion exchange between Ca2+ with Cd2+/Zn2+ was found to be the adsorption mechanism. Batch and column tests demonstrated that BW is a highly effective adsorbent for metal ion removal

Batch and column studies of phosphate and nitrate adsorption on waste solids containing boron impurity

In the present study, we investigated the removal characteristics of phosphate and nitrate through adsorption on boron waste (BW) and heat treated boron waste (BW400) under batch equilibrium and column flow conditions. The effects of pH, contact time, initial solution concentration, and temperature on the uptake of both anions by the adsorbents in batch operation were examined. The equilibrium data were fitted to different types of adsorption isotherms. Langmuir adsorption model showed the best fit to the experimental adsorption data. The data were further analyzed on the basis of the Lagergren first order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion kinetic models. The maximum adsorption capacities of heat treated BW for nitrate and phosphate were approximately 63.2 and 52.5 mg g-1, respectively, which shows higher maximum capacity for phosphate and a similar capacity for nitrate in comparison with other adsorbents used. Breakthrough curves obtained from fixed-bed column tests showed that column adsorption capacities provided strong evidence of the potential of BW400 for the technological applications of phosphate and nitrate removal from aqueous solutions

Oxytocin imprinted polymer based surface plasmon resonance sensor and its application to milk sample

Abstract In present study, a novel and sensitive molecular imprinted surface plasmon resonance sensor was prepared by fabricating a self-assembling monolayer formation of allylmercaptane on gold chip surface for selective determination of oxytocin in milk. Then, oxytocin-imprinted poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-methacryloylamidoglutamic acid) nanofilm was performed onto the allyl mercaptane modified chip. The unmodified and modified surfaces were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, scanning electron microscope and contact angle measurements. The imprinted surface plasmon resonance sensor was found to be sensitive, selective, linear and proper. The linearity range in the concentration range of oxytocin was obtained as 0.01-1.0 ng/mL and the detection limit of the prepared sensor was calculated as 0.0030 ng/mL. The molecular imprinted sensor based on surface plasmon resonance was also applied successfully to milk sample for the determination of oxytocin. Furthermore, the repeatability of the prepared molecular imprinted sensor was studied. The good repeatability of the prepared oxytocin-imprinted surface plasmon resonance sensors makes them attractive in sensor studies. In addition, isotherm models were applied to data to explain adsorption process. © 2015 Elsevier B.V

Enhanced surface plasmon resonance (SPR) signals based on immobilization of core-shell nanoparticles incorporated boron nitride nanosheets: Development of molecularly imprinted SPR nanosensor for anticancer drug, etoposide

An effective SPR nanosensor based on core-shell nanoparticles (Ag@AuNPs) incorporated hexagonal boron nitride (HBN) nanosheets and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was presented for etoposide (ETO) detection. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) method, cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods were utilized for all characterizations of nanomaterials and polymer surfaces. ETO imprinted SPR nanosensor based on Ag@AuNPs-HBN nanocomposite was developed in the presence of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-methacryloylamidoglutamic acid) [p(HEMA-MAGA)]. The results of the study have revealed that 0.001–1.00 ng mL -1 (1.70 × 10 –12 –1.70 × 10 -9 M) and 0.00025 ng mL -1 (4.25 × 10 –13 M) were found as the linearity range and the detection limit (LOD). Furthermore, the prepared SPR nanosensor was examined in terms of stability, repeatability and selectivity. Finally, the imprinted SPR nanosensor was applied to the urine samples having high recovery. © 2019 Elsevier B.V