Receptor-mediated targeting of magnetic nanoparticles using insulin as a surface ligand to prevent endocytosis

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been used for many years as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents or in drug delivery applications. Tissue and cell-specific drug targeting by these nanoparticles can be achieved by employing nanoparticle coatings or carrier-drug conjugates that contain a ligand recognized by a receptor on the target cell. In this study, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with specific shape and size have been prepared and coupled to insulin for their targeting to cell expressed surface receptors and thereby preventing the endocytosis. The influence of these nanoparticles on human fibroblasts is studied using various techniques to observe cell-nanoparticle interaction that includes light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy studies. The derivatization of the nanoparticle surface with insulin-induced alterations in cell behavior that were distinct from the underivatized nanoparticles suggests that cell response can be directed via specifically engineered particle surfaces. The results from cell culture studies showed that the uncoated particles were internalized by the fibroblasts due to endocytosis, which resulted in disruption of the cell membrane. In contradiction, insulin-coated nanoparticles attached to the cell membrane, most likely to the cell-expressed surface receptors, and were not endocytosed. The presence of insulin on the surface of the nanoparticles caused an apparent increase in cell proliferation and viability. One major problem with uncoated nanoparticles has been the endocytosis of particles leading to irreversible entry. These results provide a route to prevent this problem. The derivatized nanoparticles show high affinity for cell membrane and opens up new opportunities for magnetic cell separation and recovery that may be of crucial interest for the development of cellular therapies

A Graphical Overview of the Architecture of Global Forest Governance

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Investigations on long distance transportation of fish. 5. Transportation of filleted and round seer fish (Scomberomorus sp.) from Kakinada to Calcutta by rail

Iced seer fish (Scomberomorus sp.) was transported by rail in expanded polystyrene insulated plywood boxes from Kakinada to Calcutta in round and fillet forms. While both withstood the rigors of transportation squarely, the fillets fetched only half the price of round fish in the auction conducted at the Calcutta market

Quality of dry fish from markets in Andhra Pradesh

Dry fish samples were procured from different fish markets and subjected to biochemical and bacteriological evaluation for assessing quality. The quality of market samples was compared with the samples dried in laboratory and in the mechanical drier [sic]. Most of the market samples had high moisture and sand contents. TVN values of market samples were high showing poor quality of the finished product

Investigations on long distance transportation of fish. 4. A comparative study of the performance of expanded polystyrene slabs and multi-layer gunny (jute) fabric as insulants

A comparative study of the insulation efficiencies of expanded polystyrene slabs and multi-layer gunny fabric in long distance transportation of fresh iced fish was made. Used plywood boxes (second hand tea chests) were employed as containers and the experiments conducted between Kakinada and Calcutta. All the three insulants tried, namely, 25.4 mm thick expanded polystyrene slab, four and two layer gunny (jute) fabric, all sealed in 150 gauge polythene sheets, showed comparable insulation efficiencies, considering total bacterial counts, organoleptic qualities and TMA and TVN values of the transported fish as parameters

Effect of change in Ba concentration on crystallintiy and dielectric constant of the sol-gel deposited barium strontium titante (BST) films on n-type Si wafer

Thin (Bax, Sr1 – x)TiO3 (BST) films of different chemical compositions (x 0.3 0.5 & 0.7) were prepared by the sol-gel process using barium acetate,strontium acetate and titanium isopropoxide as metal alkoxides. The titanium isopropoxide was dissolved in acetyl acetone (chelating agent) and mixing the resultant solution with barium and strontium acetate dissolved in acetic acid solution. The alkoxide group in titanium isopropoxide was replaced by acetate ligand and after hydrolysis and condensation process a complex solution was obtained. This solution was deposited on n-type (111) Si wafers by spin coating and after drying at 350 C the samples were annealed at 700 C in oxygen ambient. The precise control of composition of different species is important for producing good quality films having high crystallinity and dielectric constant. The crystallinity of the film was found to increase with the increase of Ba concentration as found from X-ray diffraction. The calculated value of dielectric constant from CV measurements revealed that the film of (Ba0.7, Sr0.3) TiO3 had the maximum dielectric constant as 463 and the surface was examined by SEM. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/2785

Vortex ordering in fully-frustrated superconducting systems with dice lattice

The structure and the degenracy of the ground state of a fully-frustrated XY-model are investigated for the case of a dice lattice geometry. The results are applicable for the description of Josephson junction arrays and thin superconducting wire networks in the external magnetic field providing half-integer number of flux quanta per plaquette. The mechanisms of disordering of vortex pattern in such systems are briefly discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

The Glauber model and the heavy ion reaction cross section

We reexamine the Glauber model and calculate the total reaction cross section as a function of energy in the low and intermediate energy range, where many of the corrections in the model, are effective. The most significant effect in this energy range is by the modification of the trajectory due to the Coulomb field. The modification in the trajectory due to nuclear field is also taken into account in a self consistent way. The energy ranges in which particular corrections are effective, are quantified and it is found that when the center of mass energy of the system becomes 30 times the Coulomb barrier, none of the trajectory modification to the Glauber model is really required. The reaction cross sections for light and heavy systems, right from near coulomb barrier to intermediate energies have been calculated. The exact nuclear densities and free nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross sections have been used in the calculations. The center of mass correction which is important for light systems, has also been taken into account. There is an excellent agreement between the calculations with the modified Glauber model and the experimental data. This suggests that the heavy ion reactions in this energy range can be explained by the Glauber model in terms of free NN cross sections without incorporating any medium modification.Comment: RevTeX, 21 pages including 9 Postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Learning Behavioural Context

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.co