Quantification of LPS Eluate from Coated Microelectrode Devices

Penetrating microelectrode arrays have a great potential to be used as control and communication interfaces for neuroprosthetics. A persistent obstacle in the clinical implementation of microelectrode arrays is the chronic degradation of these devices, putatively due to the foreign body response. Though researchers have studied the progression of the foreign body response and the effect of anti-inflammatory drugs on the efficacy of the implant, the exact biological mechanisms of implant degradation are not fully understood. To more closely investigate the effect of the foreign body response on device degradation, neuroinflammation can be exacerbated by coating dummy electrodes implanted into mice brains with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) – a cell wall component of bacteria which induces inflammation. Quantifying the amount of LPS released from a coated electrode is crucial in performing such an experiment. Using a Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test – a test based on the extract of the blood from horseshoe crab which reacts with LPS – the concentration of LPS can be accurately quantified, allowing for a more careful characterization of the inflammatory response. In particular, the devices coated in 1 mg/ml concentration of LPS eluted a mean mass of 4.55 EU with a standard deviation of .51, where 1 endotoxin unit (EU) ≈ 1 ng. A linear regression of the standard concentrations resulted in an r2 of .9806, indicating a reliable model for calculating the concentration of LPS present in a sample. These results suggest that LPS elution can be accurately and precisely measured using the LAL assay

Deregulated lipid sensing by intestinal CD36 in diet-induced hyperinsulinemic obese mouse model

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) greatly increases risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and is generally associated with abnormally elevated postprandial triglyceride levels. We evaluated intestinal synthesis of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL) in a mouse model of the MetS obtained by feeding a palm oil-rich high fat diet (HFD). By contrast to control mice, MetS mice secreted two populations of TRL. If the smaller size population represented 44% of total particles in the beginning of intestinal lipid absorption in MetS mice, it accounted for only 17% after 4 h due to the secretion of larger size TRL. The MetS mice displayed accentuated postprandial hypertriglyceridemia up to 3 h due to a defective TRL clearance. These alterations reflected a delay in lipid induction of genes for key proteins of TRL formation (MTP, L-FABP) and blood clearance (ApoC2). These abnormalities associated with blunted lipid sensing by CD36, which is normally required to optimize jejunal formation of large TRL. In MetS mice CD36 was not downregulated by lipid in contrast to control mice. Treatment of controls with the proteosomal inhibitor MG132, which prevented CD36 downregulation, resulted in blunted lipid-induction of MTP, L-FABP and ApoC2 gene expression, as in MetS mice. Absence of CD36 sensing was due to the hyperinsulinemia in MetS mice. Acute insulin treatment of controls before lipid administration abolished CD36 downregulation, lipid-induction of TRL genes and reduced postprandial triglycerides (TG), while streptozotocin-treatment of MetS mice restored lipid-induced CD36 degradation and TG secretion. In vitro, insulin treatment abolished CD36-mediated up-regulation of MTP in Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, HFD treatment impairs TRL formation in early stage of lipid absorption via insulin-mediated inhibition of CD36 lipid sensing. This impairment results in production of smaller TRL that are cleared slowly from the circulation, which might contribute to the reported association of CD36 variants with MetS risk

Fragmentation of CD+ induced by intense ultrashort laser pulses

Citation: Graham, L., Zohrabi, M., Gaire, B., Ablikim, U., Jochim, B., Berry, B., . . . Ben-Itzhak, I. (2015). Fragmentation of CD+ induced by intense ultrashort laser pulses. Physical Review A, 91(2), 11. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.91.023414The fragmentation of CD[superscript +] in intense ultrashort laser pulses was investigated using a coincidence three-dimensional momentum imaging technique improved by employing both transverse and longitudinal electric fields. This allowed clear separation of all fragmentation channels and the determination of the kinetic energy release down to nearly zero, for a molecule with significant mass asymmetry. The most probable dissociation pathways for the two lowest dissociation limits, C[superscript +]+D and C+D[superscript +], were identified for both 22-fs, 798-nm and 50-fs, 392-nm pulses. Curiously, the charge asymmetric dissociation of CD[superscript 2+] was not observed for 392-nm photons, even though it was clearly visible for the fundamental 798 nm at the same peak intensity

Strong-field dissociation dynamics of molecular dications

Citation: Jochim, B., Severt, T., Zohrabi, M., Ablikim, U., Berry, B., Gaire, B., . . . Ben-Itzhak, I. (2015). Strong-field dissociation dynamics of molecular dications. 635(11). doi:10.1088/1742-6596/635/11/112044We focus on the dissociation of metastable molecular dications induced by intense, ultrafast laser pulses. In particular, we demonstrate the dominant role of commonly-neglected permanent-dipole transitions and drive dissociation via a pump-dump-like mechanism within a single laser pulse. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

The CD36 receptor and the NLRP3 inflammasome in lipid absorption : impact of the microbiota and the inflammatory response

L’obésité et le surpoids sont aujourd’hui des problèmes de santé majeurs au niveau mondial touchant près de 1,9 milliard d’adultes. Cet état physiologique se définit comme une accumulation excessive de masse grasse dans l’organisme avec des conséquences néfastes sur la santé. L’obésité tient son origine d’un déséquilibre de la balance énergétique résultant d’une consommation excessive de calories par rapport aux dépenses énergétiques. En accord avec cette idée, les lipides alimentaires représentent les macronutriments les plus caloriques dont la biodisponibilité est assurée par l’intestin. L’accumulation excessive de ces lipides dans les tissus tel que le foie, le tissu adipeux et les vaisseaux sanguins déclenche une inflammation bas-bruit. Cette inflammation bas-bruit est souvent associée à une augmentation modérée de l’endotoxémie métabolique, c’est-à-dire du taux sanguin des lipopolysaccharides bactériens provenant du microbiote intestinal.Dans un premier temps, les travaux de cette thèse avaient pour objectif de définir la contribution de l’intestin dans la mise en place de cette endotoxémie métabolique à travers le rôle du récepteur CD36. En effet, il est montré que ce récepteur participe à la biodisponibilité des lipides en favorisant leur absorption et la formation des chylomicrons qui véhiculent les lipopolysaccharides. Les données obtenues ont permis de montrer que CD36 participe aux situations d’endotoxémie métabolique en régulant l’écologie microbienne du site d’absorption des lipides alimentaires.Dans un second temps, ces travaux se sont intéressés à la contribution de la réponse inflammatoire dans les mécanismes d’absorption des lipides alimentaires au travers du rôle de l’inflammasome NLRP3. Ils ont permis de montrer que cet inflammasome participe à la digestion et à l’absorption des lipides alimentaires lors d’un régime hyperlipidique obésogène.L’ensemble de ces données permet d’établir le rôle majeur de l’intestin dans la mise en place de l’endotoxémie et des processus inflammatoires conduisant à une situation d’obésité. De plus, le récepteur CD36 et l’inflammasome NLRP3 pourrait constituer des cibles thérapeutiques de choix pour limiter la mise en place de cet état physiologique.Nowadays, obesity and overweight are major health problems affecting nearly 1.9 billion adults. This physiological state is defined as an excessive accumulation of fat mass in the body with harmful consequences on health. Obesity is caused by a disequilibrium in the energy balance resulting from an excessive calorie consumption in relation to the energy expenditure. According to this concept, dietary fats represent the most caloric macronutrients whose bioavailability is ensured by the intestine. Excessive accumulation of these lipids in tissues such as liver, adipose tissue and blood vessels triggers low-grade inflammation. This low-grade inflammation is often associated with a moderate increase in metabolic endotoxemia, i.e. an increase in the blood level of bacterial lipopolysaccharides coming from the intestinal microbiota.First, the aim of this thesis was to elucidate the contribution of the intestine to the development of the metabolic endotoxemia through the role of the CD36 receptor. Indeed, this receptor participates in the bioavailability of dietary lipids by promoting their absorption and the formation of chylomicrons able to carry the lipopolysaccharides. The data obtained showed that CD36 could participates in metabolic endotoxemia situations by regulating the microbial ecology of the food lipid absorption site.In a second step, this work focused on the contribution of the inflammatory response to the absorption mechanism of dietary lipids through the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome. It showed that this inflammasome is involved in the digestion and absorption of dietary lipids in high-fat diet-induced obesity.The data obtained allow to establish the major role of the intestine in the development of endotoxemia and inflammation during the development of obesity. In addition, the CD36 receptor and the NLRP3 inflammasome may be therapeutic targets to limit the development of this physiological condition

Foreign Body Response to Intracortical Microelectrodes Is Not Altered with Dip-Coating of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is a frequently used polymer for neural implants due to its biocompatible property. As a follow-up to our recent study that used PEG for stiffening flexible neural probes, we have evaluated the biological implications of using devices dip-coated with PEG for chronic neural implants. Mice (wild-type and CX3CR1-GFP) received bilateral implants within the sensorimotor cortex, one hemisphere with a PEG-coated probe and the other with a non-coated probe for 4 weeks. Quantitative analyses were performed using biomarkers for activated microglia/macrophages, astrocytes, blood-brain barrier leakage, and neuronal nuclei to determine the degree of foreign body response (FBR) resulting from the implanted microelectrodes. Despite its well-known acute anti-biofouling property, we observed that PEG-coated devices caused no significantly different FBR compared to non-coated controls at 4 weeks. A repetition using CX3CR1-GFP mice cohort showed similar results. Our histological findings suggest that there is no significant impact of acute delivery of PEG on the FBR in the long-term, and that temporary increase in the device footprint due to the coating of PEG also does not have a significant impact. Large variability seen within the same treatment group also implies that avoiding large superficial vasculature during implantation is not sufficient to minimize inter-animal variability

Histological evaluation of flexible neural implants; Flexibility limit for reducing the tissue response?

Objective. Flexible neural probes are hypothesized to reduce the chronic foreign body response (FBR) mainly by reducing the strain-stress caused by an interplay between the tethered probe and the brain's micromotion. However, a large discrepancy of Young's modulus still exists (3-6 orders of magnitude) between the flexible probes and the brain tissue. This raises the question of whether we need to bridge this gap; would increasing the probe flexibility proportionally reduce the FBR? Approach. Using novel off-stoichiometry thiol-enes-epoxy (OSTE+) polymer probes developed in our previous work, we quantitatively evaluated the FBR to four types of probes with different softness: silicon (∼150 GPa), polyimide (1.5 GPa), OSTE+Hard (300 MPa), and OSTE+Soft (6 MPa). Main results. We observed a significant reduction in the fluorescence intensity of biomarkers for activated microglia/macrophages and blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakiness around the three soft polymer probes compared to the silicon probe, both at 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-implantation. However, we did not observe any consistent differences in the biomarkers among the polymer probes. Significance. The results suggest that the mechanical compliance of neural probes can mediate the degree of FBR, but its impact diminishes after a hypothetical threshold level. This infers that resolving the mechanical mismatch alone has a limited effect on improving the lifetime of neural implants