10 research outputs found
Malaria pigment crystals as magnetic micro-rotors: Key for high-sensitivity diagnosis
The need to develop new methods for the high-sensitivity
diagnosis of malaria has initiated a global activity in medical
and interdisciplinary sciences. Most of the diverse variety of
emerging techniques are based on research-grade instruments,
sophisticated reagent-based assays or rely on expertise. Here,
we suggest an alternative optical methodology with an easy-to-
use and cost-effective instrumentation based on unique
properties of malaria pigment reported previously and determined
quantitatively in the present study. Malaria pigment, also
called hemozoin, is an insoluble microcrystalline form of heme.
These crystallites show remarkable magnetic and optical
anisotropy distinctly from any other components of blood. As a
consequence, they can simultaneously act as magnetically driven
micro-rotors and spinning polarizers in suspensions. These
properties can gain importance not only in malaria diagnosis and
therapies, where hemozoin is considered as drug target or immune
modulator, but also in the magnetic manipulation of cells and
tissues on the microscopic scale
Synthesis of Saturated Heterocycles via Metal-Catalyzed Formal Cycloaddition Reactions That Generate a C–N or C–O Bond
Inhibition of Hemozoin Formation in Plasmodium falciparum Trophozoite Extracts by Heme Analogs: Possible Implication in the Resistance to Malaria Conferred by the β-Thalassemia Trait
The Serotonergic Hypothesis for Depression in Parkinson's Disease: an Experimental Approach.
The Serotonergic Hypothesis for Depression in Parkinson's Disease: an Experimental Approach
Inhibition by chloroquine of a novel haem polymerase enzyme activity in malaria trophozoites
Catalyst-controlled diastereoselective ring-opening formal [3+2]-cycloadditions of arylvinyl oxirane 2,2-diesters with cyclic N-sulfonyl imines
Phylogenetic niche conservatism explains an inverse latitudinal diversity gradient in freshwater arthropods.
The underlying mechanisms responsible for the general increase in species richness from temperate regions to the tropics remain equivocal. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain this astonishing pattern but additional empirical studies are needed to shed light on the drivers at work. Here we reconstruct the evolutionary history of the cosmopolitan diving beetle subfamily Colymbetinae, the majority of which are found in the Northern hemisphere, hence exhibiting an inversed latitudinal diversity gradient. We reconstructed a dated phylogeny using 12 genes, to investigate the biogeographical history and diversification dynamics in the Colymbetinae. We aimed to identify the role that phylogenetic niche conservatism plays in the inversed diversification pattern seen in this group. Our results suggest that Colymbetinae originated in temperate climates, which supports the hypothesis that their distribution is the result of an ancestral adaptation to temperate environmental conditions rather than tropical origins, and that temperate niche conservatism can generate and/or maintain inverse latitudinal diversity gradients