Effect of dietary or genetic copper deficiency on brain catecholamines, trace metals and enzymes in mice and rats

ABSTRACT Previous studies by others indicated that alterations in brain catecholamines were different for perinatal copper deficiency produced by diet in rats and that resulting from a genetic mutation on the X-chromosome, Menkes' syndrome in humans and brindled mice. Thus, copper deficiency was studied in a model in which dietary and genetic deficiency (brindled mice) were compared in two strains of the same species, C57BL and C3H/HeJ mice

Improved functionalization of oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can providemultiple benefits for biomedical applications in aqueous environments such asmagnetic separation or magnetic resonance imaging. To increase the colloidal stability and allow subsequent reactions, the introduction of hydrophilic functional groups onto the particles’ surface is essential. During this process, the original coating is exchanged by preferably covalently bonded ligands such as trialkoxysilanes. The duration of the silane exchange reaction, which commonly takes more than 24 h, is an important drawback for this approach. In this paper, we present a novel method, which introduces ultrasonication as an energy source to dramatically accelerate this process, resulting in high-quality waterdispersible nanoparticles around 10 nmin size. To prove the generic character, different functional groups were introduced on the surface including polyethylene glycol chains, carboxylic acid, amine, and thiol groups. Their colloidal stability in various aqueous buffer solutions as well as human plasma and serum was investigated to allow implementation in biomedical and sensing applications.status: publishe