Book Review: Aging in Rural Places Policies, Programs, and Professional Practice

Book Review: Aging in Rural Places Policies, Programs, and Professional Practice Kristina Hash, Elaine T. Jurkowski, & John A. Krout 2014 New York, NY: Spring Publishing Company, LLC 336 pages Softcover: $70.00 US ISBN-10: 0826198090 ISBN-13: 978-0-8261-9809-

Neuronal differentiation of adipose derived stem cells: progress so far

Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstrac

Meeting their potential: the role of education and technology in overcoming disadvantage and disaffection in young people

This report is a review of literature, policy and reported practice, exploring the potential of technology to mitigate disaffection and disadvantage in education and raise attainment of those young people who are under-achieving in school or other educational settings

Variations in water and nutrient cycling and soil properties during agricultural landscape restoration

The research team examined differences in nutrient, water and carbon storage and output for selected mixtures of annual and perennial plant communities. The research was set up in 14 small sub-watersheds managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa. Each sub-watershed had a different placement of prairie conservation strips within crop fields. The project has continued as part of the perennializers working group, also known as the Science-based Trials of Row Crops Integrated with Prairies or STRIPs research team

Engineering Agatoxin, a Cystine-Knot Peptide from Spider Venom, as a Molecular Probe for In Vivo Tumor Imaging

Background: Cystine-knot miniproteins, also known as knottins, have shown great potential as molecular scaffolds for the development of targeted therapeutics and diagnostic agents. For this purpose, previous protein engineering efforts have focused on knottins based on the Ecballium elaterium trypsin inhibitor (EETI) from squash seeds, the Agouti-related protein (AgRP) neuropeptide from mammals, or the Kalata B1 uterotonic peptide from plants. Here, we demonstrate that Agatoxin (AgTx), an ion channel inhibitor found in spider venom, can be used as a molecular scaffold to engineer knottins that bind with high-affinity to a tumor-associated integrin receptor. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used a rational loop-grafting approach to engineer AgTx variants that bound to α β integrin with affinities in the low nM range. We showed that a disulfide-constrained loop from AgRP, a structurally-related knottin, can be substituted into AgTx to confer its high affinity binding properties. In parallel, we identified amino acid mutations required for efficient in vitro folding of engineered integrin-binding AgTx variants. Molecular imaging was used to evaluate in vivo tumor targeting and biodistribution of an engineered AgTx knottin compared to integrin-binding knottins based on AgRP and EETI. Knottin peptides were chemically synthesized and conjugated to a near-infrared fluorescent dye. Integrin-binding AgTx, AgRP, and EETI knottins all generated high tumor imaging contrast in U87MG glioblastoma xenograft models. Interestingly, EETI-based knottins generated significantly lower non-specific kidney imaging signals compared to AgTx and AgRP-based knottins. Conclusions/Significance: In this study, we demonstrate that AgTx, a knottin from spider venom, can be engineered to bind with high affinity to a tumor-associated receptor target. This work validates AgTx as a viable molecular scaffold for protein engineering, and further demonstrates the promise of using tumor-targeting knottins as probes for in vivo molecular imaging

Neuronal differentiation of adipose derived stem cells:Progress so far

The nervous system is essential for normal physiological function of all systems within the human body. Unfortunately the nervous system has a limited capacity for self-repair and there are a plethora of disorders, diseases, and types of trauma that affect the central and peripheral nervous systems; however, current treatment modalities are unable to remedy them. Stem cell therapy using easily accessible mesenchymal stem cells, such as those found in the adipose stroma, has come to the fore in a number of biomedical disciplines as a potential therapeutic regime. In addition to substantial research already having been conducted on the in vitro differentiation of stem cells for the treatment of neurological repair, numerous strategies for the induction and culture of stem cells into terminal neural lineages have also been developed. However, none of these strategies have yet been able to produce a fully functional descendent suitable for use in stem cell therapy. Due to the positive effects that low level laser irradiation has shown in stem cell studies to date, we propose that it could enhance the processes involved in the differentiation of adipose derived stem cells into neuronal lineages

Banner News

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/banner_news/1139/thumbnail.jp

Superstrumps: the Card Game with a Mission

The artist interview in this dossier is an example of collaborative work between an artist and a writer. It is a showcase of how popular culture can be re-appropriated. The interviewees are the co-creators of the card game Superstrumps developed to address the issue of stereotyping of women. In the interview, they recount the process of creating the game involving other women from their local community. This exemplifies how a strategy for resisting and reclaiming identities undermined by negative labelling is developed. Their views are strongly shaped by their feminist principles. The interview acknowledges the complex nature of identities, the challenge of media representation and the symbiotic relationship between media and audiences is revealed