13 research outputs found
Efficient delivery of DNA into bovine preimplantation embryos by multiwall carbon nanotubes.
The pellucid zone (PZ) is a protective embryonic cells barrier against chemical, physical or biological
substances. This put, usual transfection methods are not efficient for mammal oocytes and embryos
as they are exclusively for somatic cells. Carbon nanotubes have emerged as a new method for gene
delivery, and they can be an alternative for embryos transfection, however its ability to cross the PZ and
mediated gene transfer is unknown. Our data confirm that multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) can
cross the PZ and delivery of pDNA into in vitro-fertilized bovine embryos. The degeneration rate and the
expression of genes associated to cell viability were not affected in embryos exposed to MWNTs. Those
embryos, however, had lower cell number and higher apoptotic cell index, but this did not impair the
embryonic development. This study shows the potential utility of the MWNT for the development of
new method for delivery of DNA into bovine embryos
Raman evidence for pressure-induced formation of diamondene.
Despite the advanced stage of diamond thin-film technology, with applications ranging
from superconductivity to biosensing, the realization of a stable and atomically thick
two-dimensional diamond material, named here as diamondene, is still forthcoming. Adding
to the outstanding properties of its bulk and thin-film counterparts, diamondene is predicted
to be a ferromagnetic semiconductor with spin polarized bands. Here, we provide spectroscopic
evidence for the formation of diamondene by performing Raman spectroscopy of
double-layer graphene under high pressure. The results are explained in terms of a breakdown
in the Kohn anomaly associated with the finite size of the remaining graphene sites
surrounded by the diamondene matrix. Ab initio calculations and molecular dynamics
simulations are employed to clarify the mechanism of diamondene formation, which requires
two or more layers of graphene subjected to high pressures in the presence of specific
chemical groups such as hydroxyl groups or hydrogens
Hookworm products ameliorate dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis in BALB/c mice.
Background: Several lines of evidence have shown that helminthiasis can significantly reduce disease severity in animal models of intestinal
inflammation, airway inflammation/hyperreactivity, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. Identification and characterization of helminth-derived immunomodulatory
molecules that contribute to anticolitis effects could lead to new therapeutic approaches in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs)
without the need for helminth infection. We evaluated the therapeutic potential of adult human hookworm, Ancylostoma ceylanicum, crude (Aw)
and excreted/secreted (ES) products on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in BALB/c mice.
Methods: Colitis was induced by 5% DSS oral administration for 7 days. Clinical disease severity was monitored daily during concomitant intraperitoneal
treatment with helminth-derived products. Additionally, several pathways of immunological modulation induced by A. ceylanicum
products (MPO, EPO, Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokine responses) in the inflamed intestinal microenvironment were assessed. Finally, the histopathological
profile of the colon was characterized.
Results: Hookworm products are able to modulate the potent proinflammatory response induced by DSS, mainly through the downregulation of
Th1 and Th17 cytokines. These proteins also reduce clinical and colonic microscopic inflammation scores as well as EPO and MPO activity.
Conclusions: Ancylostoma ceylanicum Aw and ES mediators have an important therapeutic potential in experimental colitis in mice, which
may provide a more socially acceptable form of therapy for patients with IBDs as opposed to using living worms. Our results support the urgency
of further isolation and recombinant expression of active hookworm products responsible for the beneficial effects on colitis