Flow-Dependent Mass Transfer May Trigger Endothelial Signaling Cascades

It is well known that fluid mechanical forces directly impact endothelial signaling pathways. But while this general observation is clear, less apparent are the underlying mechanisms that initiate these critical signaling processes. This is because fluid mechanical forces can offer a direct mechanical input to possible mechanotransducers as well as alter critical mass transport characteristics (i.e., concentration gradients) of a host of chemical stimuli present in the blood stream. However, it has recently been accepted that mechanotransduction (direct mechanical force input), and not mass transfer, is the fundamental mechanism for many hemodynamic force-modulated endothelial signaling pathways and their downstream gene products. This conclusion has been largely based, indirectly, on accepted criteria that correlate signaling behavior and shear rate and shear stress, relative to changes in viscosity. However, in this work, we investigate the negative control for these criteria. Here we computationally and experimentally subject mass-transfer limited systems, independent of mechanotransduction, to the purported criteria. The results showed that the negative control (mass-transfer limited system) produced the same trends that have been used to identify mechanotransduction-dominant systems. Thus, the widely used viscosity-related shear stress and shear rate criteria are insufficient in determining mechanotransduction-dominant systems. Thus, research should continue to consider the importance of mass transfer in triggering signaling cascades

Ionic state and chain conformation for aqueous solutions of supergiant cyanobacterial polysaccharide

We have investigated the electric conductivity, dielectric relaxation behavior, and viscosity for the aqueous solution of cyanobacterial megamolecules, molecular weight =1.6×10^7 g/mol, named sacran. Sacran is an anionic polyelectrolyte which has carboxylate and sulfate groups on the saccharide chain. The electric conductivity and the zero shear viscosity demonstrated three crossover concentrations at 0.004, 0.02, and 0.1 wt%. The viscosity was found to be scaled as ∼c^, ∼c^, ∼c^, and ∼c^ with increasing the sacran concentration. At 0.1 wt%, the sacran chain formed a weak gel which exhibits macroscopic liquid crystal domains including Schlieren texture. Therefore, these crossover concentrations are considered to be the overlap concentration, entanglement concentration, and gelation concentration (or critical polyelectrolyte concentration), respectively. Dielectric relaxation analysis exhibited the fact that sacran has two types of counterions with different counterion-polyion interaction, i.e., strongly bound and loosely bound counterions. The dielectric parameters such as relaxation time or relaxation strength are sensitive to both the entanglement concentration and the gelation concentration, but not the overlap concentration. The number density of bound counterions calculated from the relaxation strength revealed that the counterion is condensed on the sacran chain with raising the sacran concentrations. The decrease in the charge density of the sacran chain reduces the repulsive force between the chains and this would cause the helix transformation or gelation behavior. The chain conformation of sacran in pure water and the gelation mechanism are discussed in relation with the behavior of polyelectrolytes and liquid crystals

Atherogenic dyslipidemia and altered hepatic gene expression in SHRSP.Z-Leprfa/IzmDmcr rats.

We investigated lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities in SHRSP fatty rats as a new animal model of metabolic syndrome. We examined differentially expressed genes in the liver, one of the major tissues contributing to lipid metabolism. Using gel filtration high performance liquid chromatography, increased cholesterol concentrations of small particle size low-density lipoprotein (LDL) fractions were observed in SHRSP fatty rats, whereas the Zucker Fatty strain did not show a similar elevation of cholesterol content. Existence of apolipoprotein B in these fractions was confirmed by Western blotting. The small particle size of the LDL fractions was significantly decreased by a 4-week fenofibrate treatment. Microarray analysis identified seventeen genes that were significantly upregulated and ten that were significantly decreased in liver tissues of SHRSP fatty rats compared with levels in SHRSP rats. Stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase 1, fatty acid synthase, ATP citrate lyase, and sterol regulatory element binding factor 1 genes were among the upregulated genes. These findings suggest that SHRSP fatty rats carry small dense LDL like particles which is a common lipid abnormality in the metabolic syndrome. Three of ten genes upregulated in liver tissues of SHRSP fatty rats play a role in this metabolic abnormality and are a therapeutic target of this metabolic syndrome

Spongy Hydrogels of Cyanobacterial Polyanions Mediate Energy-Saving Electrolytic Metal-Refinement

The freeze-drying of anionic megamolecules extracted from gelatinous cyanobacteria, <i>Aphanothece sacrum</i>, formed spongy materials capable of metal adsorption to form hydrogels. Cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that thicker nanofibers were formed in sacran/In³⁺ complexes than in sacran/Sn⁴⁺. The preferential sorption of In³⁺ into the hydrogels occurred in the mixed solution of In³⁺ and Sn⁴⁺ with concentrations below 40 mM. Since In³⁺ was condensed in the sponges, electrolytic refinement of indium was made using the ion-complex hydrogels at room temperature to obtain indium metal foil at a pure grade over 99.9%. Furthermore, the sponges were recovered and used again, to successfully obtain highly pure indium metal, in even the second and third trials. Thus epochal energy-saving methods for indium refinement were established using spongy hydrogels of cyanobacterial polyanions