Towards recombinantly produced milk proteins: Physicochemical and emulsifying properties of engineered whey protein beta-lactoglobulin variants

DFG, 273937032, SPP 1934: Dispersitäts-, Struktur- und Phasenänderungen von Proteinen und biologischen Agglomeraten in biotechnologischen ProzessenBMBF, 031B0222, Basistechnologie Nachwuchsgruppe "Multiskalige Modellierung und Modifikation von Multienzymkomplexen als Basistechnologie für zellfreie Reaktionskaskaden" (II

Phenolic plant extract enrichment of enzymatically mineralized hydrogels

Hydrogel mineralization with calcium phosphate (CaP) and antibacterial activity are desirable for applications in bone regeneration. Mineralization with CaP can be induced using the enzyme alkaline phosphatase (ALP), responsible for CaP formation in bone tissue. Incorporation of polyphenols, plant-derived bactericidal molecules, was hypothesized to provide antibacterial activity and enhance ALP-induced mineralization. Three phenolic rich plant extracts from: (i) green tea, rich in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) (herafter referred to as EGCG-rich extract); (ii) pine bark and (iii) rosemary were added to gellan gum (GG) hydrogels and subsequently mineralized using ALP. The phenolic composition of the three extracts used were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MSn). EGCG-rich extract showed the highest content of phenolic compounds and promoted the highest CaP formation as corroborated by dry mass percentage meassurements and ICP-OES de-termination of mass of elemental Ca and P. All three extracts alone exhibited antibacterial activity in the following order EGCG-rich > PI > RO, respectively. However, extract-loaded and mineralized GG hydro-gels did not exhibit appreciable antibacterial activity by diffusion test. In conclusion, only the EGCG-rich extract promotes ALP-mediated mineralization

Abstracts from the 8th International Conference on cGMP Generators, Effectors and Therapeutic Implications

This work was supported by a restricted research grant of Bayer AG

Multicolor Fluorescence Nanoscopy in Fixed and Living Cells by Exciting Conventional Fluorophores with a Single Wavelength

Current far-field fluorescence nanoscopes provide subdiffraction resolution by exploiting a mechanism of fluorescence inhibition. This mechanism is implemented such that features closer than the diffraction limit emit separately when simultaneously exposed to excitation light. A basic mechanism for such transient fluorescence inhibition is the depletion of the fluorophore ground state by transferring it (via a triplet) in a dark state, a mechanism which is workable in most standard dyes. Here we show that microscopy based on ground state depletion followed by individual molecule return (GSDIM) can effectively provide multicolor diffraction-unlimited resolution imaging of immunolabeled fixed and SNAP-tag labeled living cells. Implemented with standard labeling techniques, GSDIM is demonstrated to separate up to four different conventional fluorophores using just two detection channels and a single laser line. The method can be expanded to even more colors by choosing optimized dichroic mirrors and selecting marker molecules with negligible inhomogeneous emission broadening

Fluorescent-Based Strategies to Investigate G Protein-Coupled Receptors: Evolution of the Techniques to a Better Understanding

International audienc

External cues to drive B cell function towards immunotherapy

Immunotherapy stands out as a powerful and promising therapeutic strategy in the treatment of cancer, infections, and autoimmune diseases. Adoptive immune therapies are usually centered on modified T cells and their specific expansion towards antigen-specific T cells against cancer and other diseases. However, despite their unmatched features, the potential of B cells in immunotherapy is just beginning to be explored. The main role of B cells in the immune response is to secrete antigen-specific antibodies and provide long-term protection against foreign pathogens. They further function as antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and secrete pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and thus exert positive and negative regulatory stimuli on other cells involved in the immune response such as T cells. Therefore, while hyperactivation of B cells can cause autoimmunity, their dysfunctions lead to severe immunodeficiencies. Only suitably activated B cells can play an active role in the treatment of cancers, infections, and autoimmune diseases. As a result, studies have focused on B cell-targeted immunotherapies in recent years. For this, the development, functions, interactions with the microenvironment, and clinical importance of B cells should be well understood. In this review, we summarize the main events during B cell activation. From the viewpoint of mechanobiology we discuss the translation of external cues such as surface topology, substrate stiffness, and biochemical signaling into B cell functions. We further dive into current B cell-targeted therapy strategies and their clinical applications. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd.ISSN:1742-7061ISSN:1878-756