On the m-fold product of fractional operators

In this work, using the m-fold product of fractional integral and maximal operators, we prove that the boundedness of these fractional operators and their corresponding multilinear fractional operators under some conditions on weighted variable exponent Lorentz spaces.Publisher's Versio

Unpacking Halcyon

A poem titled Unpacking Halcyo

Innate immunity in diabetes mellitus. Complement components C4BP and C3 promote survival of β cells under metabolic challenges.

The Complement system is a main effector mechanism of the innate immune system, acting to enhance clearance of pathogens, but also aids removal of biological debris from the body, including immunocomplexes, apoptotic/necrotic cells and protein aggregates. Complement regulators serve to prevent excessive inflammation and their interaction with the same materials targeted by the complement system results in ‘silent’ cleaning of wastes. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by insulin resistance in peripheral tissues resulting in an initial compensatory upregulation of insulin production but ultimately leading to failure of blood glucose homeostasis and death of insulinsecreting pancreatic β-cells. T2D is now understood to have several components, which drives pancreatic islet dysfunction: high glucose concentration, proinflammatory cytokines, long chain free fatty acids, increased insulin synthesis demand and increased exposure to islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP). IAPP a hormone co-secreted with insulin from pancreatic β-cells is capable to form amyloid and intermediate species; oligomers that are highly cytotoxic for β-cells. IAPP oligomers have been also shown to activate the NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome leading to production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β, which in high concretions is a driver of β-cell pathology. Previously we described binding of complement regulator C4-binding protein (C4BP) to IAPP amyloid that affected transition of IAPP monomers and oligomers to mature IAPP fibrils.Therefore, we hypothesized that C4BP might inhibit IAPP oligomer-induced death of β-cells, and limit inflammasome activation and IL-1β secretion secondary to β-cell failure. Presence of C4BP with IAPP monomers, which tend to assemble into oligomers and amyloid, resulted in better survival of cultured rat insulinoma INS-1 β-cells compared to cells treated with IAPP alone. Similarly, addition of C4BP with IAPP to macrophages limited IAPP-dependent inflammasome activation and IL-1β release, ensuring protection of β-cells against IL-1β-driven toxicity. Dysregulated autophagy in β-cells coincides with failure of β-cells as well. Autophagy, a housekeeping activity,necessary for elimination and recycling of unwanted cellular components, supports β-cell health under metabolic challenges. A hub of the complement protein cascade, complement component 3 (C3) has been found to be highly expressed in human pancreatic islets with increased expression after exposure to β-cell specific stressors: IL-1β, palmitic acid (PA) and IAPP. We found that C3 regulates the process of autophagy and improves viability of INS-1 cells under IAPP and PA treatments. Furthermore, we found C3 to be cytoprotective against IL-1β induced death of β-cells. IL-1β driven upregulation of proapoptotic signalling does not seem to be dependent on canonical autophagy, but surprisingly intracellular/cytosolic C3 conferred protection to β-cells exposed to IL-1β

Plant Hormone Lab Module: Assessing Different Factors to Create the Most Effective Lab

The research project focused on evaluating 3 different factors in creating a plant hormone lab module for Principles of Biology II lab. The main hormone of focus was brassinosteroid. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, brassinosteroids promote cell elongation, cell division, root growth, and seed germination. Three goals were established to create the most efficient lab module possible. First, mutant (bes1,bri1) root length was assessed without addition of brassinolide (BL), a synthetic brassinosteroid. Then, ½ MS and ½ MS + 20% sucrose plates were compared to see which media produced the greatest difference in root growth between the mutant lines. The effect of brassinosteroids in the root growth assay was also assessed in this project with two different application methods: before germination and after germination. The results showed that bri1 seeds had the longest roots and bes1 seeds had shorter roots compared to the wildtype, as expected. Second, plates that contain 20% sucrose provided the best conditions for observing differences in root growth. Finally, application of BL was shown to be better after germination, but the most suitable solvent still needed to be determined. With a better development of the application of BL and more seed production from bri1 plants, the lab module could be ready for students to learn from it

combining agent and probe for oxidative DNA cleavage

DNA can be oxidatively cleaved by copper complexes of the ATCUN peptide (amino terminal Cu(II)- and Ni(II)-binding motif). In order to investigate the fate of the metal ion throughout this process, we have exploited quenching/dequenching effects of conjugated fluorophores