Structural Transformation in Ge\u3csub\u3e\u3cem\u3ex\u3c/em\u3e\u3c/sub\u3eS\u3csub\u3e100−x\u3c/sub\u3e (10 ≤\u3cem\u3e x \u3c/em\u3e≤ 40) Network Glasses: Structural Varieties in Short-Range, Medium-Range, and Nanoscopic Scale

Precise x-ray diffraction measurements using high-energy x rays of synchrotron radiation and systematic Raman scattering measurements were carried out for GexS100−x (10 ⩽ x ⩽ 40) network glasses. The structural models of the network glasses were proposed based on the results. In the stoichiometric composition Ge33S67, GeS4 tetrahedral units are connected forming either corner-sharing or edge-sharing structures. In the S-rich glasses, S atoms are inserted between two neighboring GeS4 tetrahedra, resulting in a flexible floppy network. In a much more S-rich region, some S8 ring molecules are isolated from the network, and assemble to form a crystal in nanoscopic scale. In this respect, Ge10S90 samples are regarded as crystallized glasses. In the Ge-rich region, the GeS4 tetrahedra are connected with bridging Ge atoms. The connection makes a new rigid network. The bridging Ge-S bond is weaker than the intratetrahedron bond, and this leads to drastic changes in the optical properties

Microfluidic Mixing of Polyamine with Acrolein Enables the Detection of the [4+4] Polymerization of Intermediary Unsaturated Imines: The Properties of a Cytotoxic 1,5-Diazacyclooctane Hydrogel

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart New York. The [4+4] polymerization of an unsaturated imine, generated from the condensation of a polyamine and excess acrolein, was investigated. The polyamine was added by micropipet to acrolein, immediately yielding a mixture of the immiscible polymeric material. Microfluidic mixing was used to gradually form the soluble diazacyclooctane polymers. The polymerization reaction ultimately gave an insoluble cationic hydrogel that adhered strongly to anionic compounds on cell surfaces, including sialoglycan, and displayed a high cytotoxicity

Microfluidic Mixing of Polyamine with Acrolein Enables the Detection of the [4+4] Polymerization of Intermediary Unsaturated Imines: The Properties of a Cytotoxic 1,5-Diazacyclooctane Hydrogel

The [4+4] polymerization of an unsaturated imine, generated from the condensation of a polyamine and excess acrolein, was investigated. The polyamine was added by micropipet to acrolein, immediately yielding a mixture of the immiscible polymeric material. Microfluidic mixing was used to gradually form the soluble diazacyclooctane polymers. The polymerization reaction ultimately gave an insoluble cationic hydrogel that adhered strongly to anionic compounds on cell surfaces, including sialoglycan, and displayed a high cytotoxicity. © Georg Thieme Verlag

Polyamine modification by acrolein exclusively produces 1,5-diazacyclooctanes: A previously unrecognized mechanism for acrolein-mediated oxidative stress

Acrolein, a toxic unsaturated aldehyde generated as a result of oxidative stress, readily reacts with a variety of nucleophilic biomolecules. Polyamines, which produced acrolein in the presence of amine oxidase, were then found to react with acrolein to produce 1,5-diazacyclooctane, a previously unrecognized but significant downstream product of oxidative stress. Although diazacyclooctane formation effectively neutralized acrolein toxicity, the diazacyclooctane hydrogel produced through a sequential diazacyclooctane polymerization reaction was highly cytotoxic. This study suggests that diazacyclooctane formation is involved in the mechanism underlying acrolein-mediated oxidative stress. © 2014 the Partner Organisations

Time-of-Flight Three Dimensional Neutron Diffraction in Transmission Mode for Mapping Crystal Grain Structures

The physical properties of polycrystalline materials depend on their microstructure, which is the nano-to centimeter scale arrangement of phases and defects in their interior. Such microstructure depends on the shape, crystallographic phase and orientation, and interfacing of the grains constituting the material. This article presents a new non-destructive 3D technique to study centimeter-sized bulk samples with a spatial resolution of hundred micrometers: time-of-flight three-dimensional neutron diffraction (ToF 3DND). Compared to existing analogous X-ray diffraction techniques, ToF 3DND enables studies of samples that can be both larger in size and made of heavier elements. Moreover, ToF 3DND facilitates the use of complicated sample environments. The basic ToF 3DND setup, utilizing an imaging detector with high spatial and temporal resolution, can easily be implemented at a time-of-flight neutron beamline. The technique was developed and tested with data collected at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (J-PARC) for an iron sample. We successfully reconstructed the shape of 108 grains and developed an indexing procedure. The reconstruction algorithms have been validated by reconstructing two stacked Co-Ni-Ga single crystals, and by comparison with a grain map obtained by post-mortem electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)

Overexpression of FOXG1 contributes to TGF-β resistance through inhibition of p21WAF1/CIP1 expression in ovarian cancer

Background:Loss of growth inhibitory response to transforming growth factor-Β (TGF-Β) is a common feature of epithelial cancers. Recent studies have reported that genetic lesions and overexpression of oncoproteins in TGF-Β/Smads signalling cascade contribute to the TGF-Β resistance. Here, we showed that the overexpressed FOXG1 was involved in attenuating the anti-proliferative control of TGF-Β/Smads signalling in ovarian cancer.Methods:FOXG1 and p21 WAF1/CIP1 expressions were evaluated by real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. The effect of FOXG1 on p21 WAF1/CIP1 transcriptional activity was examined by luciferase reporter assays. Cell lines stably expressing or short hairpin RNA interference-mediated knockdown FOXG1 were established for studying the gain-or-loss functional effects of FOXG1. XTT cell proliferation assay was used to measure cell growth of ovarian cancer cells.Results:Quantitative RT-PCR and western blot analyses showed that FOXG1 was upregulated and inversely associated with the expression levels of p21 WAF1/CIP1 in ovarian cancer. The overexpression of FOXG1 was significantly correlated with high-grade ovarian cancer (P0.025). Immunohistochemical analysis on ovarian cancer tissue array was further evidenced that FOXG1 was highly expressed and significantly correlated with high-grade ovarian cancer (P0.048). Functionally, enforced expression of FOXG1 selectively blocked the TGF-Β-induced p21 WAF1/CIP1 expressions and increased cell proliferation in ovarian cancer cells. Conversely, FOXG1 knockdown resulted in a 20-26% decrease in cell proliferation together with 16-33% increase in p21 WAF1/CIP1 expression. Notably, FOXG1 was able to inhibit the p21 WAF1/CIP1 promoter activity in a p53-independent manner by transient reporter assays.ConclusionOur results suggest that FOXG1 acts as an oncoprotein inhibiting TGF-Β-mediated anti-proliferative responses in ovarian cancer cells through suppressing p21 WAF1/CIP1 transcription. © 2009 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

In Vitro Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells into Neurons of the Dorsal Forebrain

Pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are able to differentiate into all cell types in the organism including cortical neurons. To follow the dynamic generation of progenitors of the dorsal forebrain in vitro, we generated ESCs from D6-GFP mice in which GFP marks neocortical progenitors and neurons after embryonic day (E) 10.5. We used several cell culture protocols for differentiation of ESCs into progenitors and neurons of the dorsal forebrain. In cell culture, GFP-positive cells were induced under differentiation conditions in quickly formed embryoid bodies (qEBs) after 10–12 day incubation. Activation of Wnt signaling during ESC differentiation further stimulated generation of D6-GFP-positive cortical cells. In contrast, differentiation protocols using normal embryoid bodies (nEBs) yielded only a few D6-GFP-positive cells. Gene expression analysis revealed that multiple components of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway were expressed during the development of embryoid bodies. As shown by immunohistochemistry and quantitative qRT-PCR, D6-GFP-positive cells from qEBs expressed genes that are characteristic for the dorsal forebrain such as Pax6, Dach1, Tbr1, Tbr2, or Sox5. qEBs culture allowed the formation of a D6-GFP positive pseudo-polarized neuroepithelium with the characteristic presence of N-cadherin at the apical pole resembling the structure of the developing neocortex

A Novel Role for Dbx1-Derived Cajal-Retzius Cells in Early Regionalization of the Cerebral Cortical Neuroepithelium

Patterning of the cerebral cortex during embryogenesis depends not only on passive diffusion of morphogens but also on signal delivery by Cajal-Retzius neurons that migrate over long distances