Polypyrrole-based Enzyme Electrode with Immobilized Glucose Oxidase for Electrochemical Determination of Glucose

Polypyrrole enzyme electrode was formed by immobilization of glucose oxidase via glutaraldehyde into electrochemically synthesized polypyrrole on glassy carbon electrode. Electrochemical synthesis was performed in 0.5 mol dm(-3) HCl and 0.2 mol dm(-3) pyrrole at constant current density of 2 mA cm(-2). Chronopotentiometric curves of polypyrrole enzyme electrode were recorded at current density of 42 nA cm(-2) for different glucose concentrations. The determined value of the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant was 0.045 mmol dm(-3) which is significantly lower than that of free enzyme indicating enhanced enzyme efficiency when it is immobilized into electroconducting polymer matrix

Antiproliferative Activity of Natural Flavonoid Fustin Isolated from the Heartwood of Cotinus Coggygria Scop. Against Breast and Colon Cancer Cell Lines

Background and objective: Cotinus coggygria Scop. is a valuable medicinal plant species with pronounced pharmacological potential due to its numerous biological activities. The herb is characterized by a high content of polyphenols among which is fustin. The anticancer activities of fustin, however, are extremely weakly studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro antiproliferative potential of fustin isolated from the heartwood of C. coggygria against cell lines originating from two of the most common cancer types – breast (MDA-MB-231 and MCF7), and colon cancer (Colon 26). Materials and methods: Cell growth inhibitory properties of fustin were examined by MTT assay. Subsequently, phase-contrast and fl uorescence microscopy analysis as well as colonyforming assay were carried out on the most sensitive to the cytostatic action of the fustin cell line. Results: The obtained results showed that fustin reduced the proliferation of all studied cell lines. The highest cytostatic eff ect was registered towards breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 56.02 μg/ ml followed by colon cancer cells with an IC50 of 78.07 μg/ml. MCF7 cell proliferation was least aff ected with a calculated IC50 of 187.8 μg/ml. Further investigations on breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells indicated decreased density of cell monolayer and some morphological alterations, signifi cant attenuation in the number of viable cells, and diminished clonogenic ability of cells after fustin exposure. Conclusion: It could be concluded that fustin isolated from the heartwood of medicinal plant C. coggygria possesses marked antiproliferative properties against breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 which will be a subject of our more detailed future investigations

Visualization of membrane loss during the shrinkage of giant vesicles under electropulsation

We study the effect of permeabilizing electric fields applied to two different types of giant unilamellar vesicles, the first formed from EggPC lipids and the second formed from DOPC lipids. Experiments on vesicles of both lipid types show a decrease in vesicle radius which is interpreted as being due to lipid loss during the permeabilization process. We show that the decrease in size can be qualitatively explained as a loss of lipid area which is proportional to the area of the vesicle which is permeabilized. Three possible mechanisms responsible for lipid loss were directly observed: pore formation, vesicle formation and tubule formation.Comment: Final published versio

Cell-Intrinsic NF-κB Activation Is Critical for the Development of Natural Regulatory T Cells in Mice

regulatory T (Treg) cells develop in the thymus and represent a mature T cell subpopulation critically involved in maintaining peripheral tolerance. The differentiation of Treg cells in the thymus requires T cell receptor (TCR)/CD28 stimulation along with cytokine-promoted Foxp3 induction. TCR-mediated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation seems to be involved in differentiation of Treg cells because deletion of components of the NF-κB signaling pathway, as well as of NF-κB transcription factors, leads to markedly decreased Treg cell numbers in thymus and periphery. thymic Treg precursors and their further differentiation into mature Treg cells. Treg cell development could neither be completely rescued by the addition of exogenous Interleukin 2 (IL-2) nor by the presence of wild-type derived cells in adoptive transfer experiments. However, peripheral NF-κB activation appears to be required for IL-2 production by conventional T cells, thereby participating in Treg cell homeostasis. Moreover, pharmacological NF-κB inhibition via the IκB kinase β (IKKβ) inhibitor AS602868 led to markedly diminished thymic and peripheral Treg cell frequencies.Our results indicate that Treg cell-intrinsic NF-κB activation is essential for thymic Treg cell differentiation, and further suggest pharmacological NF-κB inhibition as a potential therapeutic approach for manipulating this process

Swarming Behavior in Plant Roots

Interactions between individuals that are guided by simple rules can generate swarming behavior. Swarming behavior has been observed in many groups of organisms, including humans, and recent research has revealed that plants also demonstrate social behavior based on mutual interaction with other individuals. However, this behavior has not previously been analyzed in the context of swarming. Here, we show that roots can be influenced by their neighbors to induce a tendency to align the directions of their growth. In the apparently noisy patterns formed by growing roots, episodic alignments are observed as the roots grow close to each other. These events are incompatible with the statistics of purely random growth. We present experimental results and a theoretical model that describes the growth of maize roots in terms of swarming

Reperfusion therapy for ST elevation acute myocardial infarction 2010/2011: current status in 37 ESC countries

Aims Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is the preferred reperfusion therapy in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We conducted this study to evaluate the contemporary status on the use and type of reperfusion therapy in patients admitted with STEMI in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) member countries. Methods and results A cross-sectional descriptive study based on aggregated country-level data on the use of reperfusion therapy in patients admitted with STEMI during 2010 or 2011. Thirty-seven ESC countries were able to provide data from existing national or regional registries. In countries where no such registries exist, data were based on best expert estimates. Data were collected on the use of STEMI reperfusion treatment and mortality, the numbers of cardiologists, and the availability of PPCI facilities in each country. Our survey provides a brief data summary of the degree of variation in reperfusion therapy across Europe. The number of PPCI procedures varied between countries, ranging from 23 to 884 per million inhabitants. Primary percutaneous coronary intervention and thrombolysis were the dominant reperfusion strategy in 33 and 4 countries, respectively. The mean population served by a single PPCI centre with a 24-h service 7 days a week ranged from 31 300 inhabitants per centre to 6 533 000 inhabitants per centre. Twenty-seven of the total 37 countries participated in a former survey from 2007, and major increases in PPCI utilization were observed in 13 of these countries. Conclusion Large variations in reperfusion treatment are still present across Europe. Countries in Eastern and Southern Europe reported that a substantial number of STEMI patients are not receiving any reperfusion therapy. Implementation of the best reperfusion therapy as recommended in the guidelines should be encourage

Mutation rate at 13 rapidly mutating Y-STR loci in the population of Serbia

Recently, the interest of the forensic community has been focused on new Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs), termed Rapidly Mutating Y-STRs (RM-YSTRs), which is able to differentiate between close males belonging to the same paternal lineage due to their high mutation rates. In this study, we have estimated a mutation rate for 13 RM-YSTR in 85 pairs of male relatives in the population of Serbia. We analysed 74 father-son pairs, and 11 twin pairs, to evaluate the capacity of distinguishing between male subjects within a single lineage. Each father-son couple was previously confirmed by autosomal STRs testing (AmpFℓSTR® Identifiler Plus™ kit, Applied Biosystems) with paternity probability ≥99.99% and also confirmed monozygotic or dizygotic twins. Results showed that, in the 74 father-son pairs 23 mutations were detected of which 22 were one-step mutations and 1 was two-step mutation, while in the 11 twin pairs 1 mutation was observed in one dizygotic twin pair. Five father-son pairs were found to have mutations at two loci, while one pair at four loci. Overall, the most mutable markers were DYF399S1, DYF387S1, DYF403S1a and DYS612. Our findings are encouraging and concur with previous studies showing that by RM-YSTR typing the discrimination power of male relatives could be considerably increased in comparison to every YSTR markers commonly used in forensic genetics