Biophysical Measurements of Cells, Microtubules, and DNA with an Atomic Force Microscope

Atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are ubiquitous in research laboratories and have recently been priced for use in teaching laboratories. Here we review several AFM platforms (Dimension 3000 by Digital Instruments, EasyScan2 by Nanosurf, ezAFM by Nanomagnetics, and TKAFM by Thorlabs) and describe various biophysical experiments that could be done in the teaching laboratory using these instruments. In particular, we focus on experiments that image biological materials and quantify biophysical parameters: 1) imaging cells to determine membrane tension, 2) imaging microtubules to determine their persistence length, 3) imaging the random walk of DNA molecules to determine their contour length, and 4) imaging stretched DNA molecules to measure the tensional force.Comment: 29 page preprint, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Search for correlations between BATSE Gamma-Ray Bursts and Supernovae

We report on complex statistical research of space-time correlated supernovae and CGRO-BATSE gamma-ray bursts. We show that there exists a significantly higher abundanceof core-collapsesup ernovaeamong thecorre lated supernovae, but the subset of all correlated objects does not seem to be physically different from the whole set

Fungal trunk pathogens associated with Juglans regia in the Czech Republic

[EN] Juglans regia L. (English walnut) trees with cankers and dieback symptoms were observed in two regions in the Czech Republic. Isolations were made from diseased branches. In total, 138 fungal isolates representing 10 fungal species were obtained from wood samples and identified based on morphological characteristics and molecular methods: Cadophora novi-eboraci, Cadophora spadicis, Cryptovalsa ampelina, Diaporthe eres, Diplodia seriata, Dothiorella omnivora, Eutypa lata, Ewypella sp., Peroneutypa scoparia, and Phaeoacremonium sicilianum. Pathogenicity tests conducted under field conditions with all species using the mycelium-plug method indicated that Eutypa lata and Cadophora spp. were highly virulent to woody stems of walnut. This is the first study to detect and identify fungal trunk pathogens associated with diseased walnut trees in Europe.This work was supported by the Ministerstvo Skolstvi, Mladeze a Telovychovy (EFRR "Multidisciplinary Research to Increase Application Potential of Nanomaterials in Agricultural Practice," project CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007314). This research was also supported by the Technologicka Agentura Ceske Republiky (project TJ02000096)Eichmeier, A.; Pecenka, J.; Spetik, M.; Necas, T.; Ondrasek, I.; Armengol Fortí, J.; León Santana, M.... (2020). Fungal trunk pathogens associated with Juglans regia in the Czech Republic. Plant Disease. 104:761-771. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-19-1308-RES76177110

Bis­(μ-pyridine-2,3-dicarboxyl­ato)bis­[aqua­(3-carb­oxy­pyridine-2-carboxyl­ato)indium(III)] tetra­hydrate

In the binuclear centrosymmetric title compound, [In2(C7H3NO4)2(C7H4NO4)2(H2O)2]·4H2O, which contains both pyridine-2,3-dicarboxyl­ate and 3-carb­oxy­pyridine-2-carboxyl­ate ligands, the InIII atom is six-coordinated in a distorted octa­hedral geometry. One pyridine ligand is N,O-chelated while the other is N,O-chelated and at the same time bridging to the other via the second carboxyl group. In the crystal, an extensive O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding network, involving the coordinated and lattice water mol­ecules and the carboxyl groups of the ligands, together with C—H⋯O and π–π inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.793 (1) Å], leads to the formation of a three-dimensional structure

Hydrolate of Helichrysum italicum Promotes Tissue Regeneration During Wound Healing

Wound healing is a dynamic process involving different cell types with distinct roles according to the stages of healing. Fibroblasts and stem cells actively participate in tissue regeneration. A proper stimulation could contribute to enhance wound healing processes. Helichrysum italicum (H. italicum) is a medical plant well described for its pharmacological, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activities. Aim of the present work was to examine the effect of the hydrolate derivate from H. italicum on stem cells isolated from skin and fibroblasts in vitro in presence or absence of tissue damage. The viability and proliferation of all cell types cultured in different conditions were analyzed by MTT and BrdU assays. Cell proliferation after wound was analyzed with scratch test. Also, the expression of the main genes involved in tissue repair was evaluated by RT-qPCR analysis. Here we describe the capability of hydrolate of H. italicum to promote tissue regeneration after scratch test both in stem cells and in fibroblasts. Moreover, the gene expression analysis revealed that, hydrolate of H. italicum is also able to enhance stemness related. In conclusion our results are encouraging, highlighting novel regenerative properties of hydrolate of H. italicum and paving the way for future application of this wasting product in accelerating wound healing

Antisenescence Effect of REAC Biomodulation to Counteract the Evolution of Myelodysplastic Syndrome

About 30 percent of patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) progress to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The senescence of bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) seems to be one of the determining factors in inducing this drift. Research is continuously looking for new methodologies and technologies that can use bioelectric signals to act on senescence and cell differentiation towards the phenotype of interest. The Radio Electric Asymmetric Conveyer (REAC) technology, aimed at reorganizing the endogenous bioelectric activity, has already shown to be able to determine direct cell reprogramming effects and counteract the senescence mechanisms in stem cells. Aim of the present study was to prove if the anti-senescence results previously obtained in different kind of stem cells with the REAC Tissue optimization – regenerative (TO-RGN) treatment, could also be observed in BMSCs, evaluating cell viability, telomerase activity, p19ARF, P21, P53, and hTERT gene expression. The results show that the REAC TORGN treatment may be a useful tool to counteract the BMSCs senescence which can be the basis of AML drift. Nevertheless, further clinical studies on humans are needed to confirm this hypothesis

Comparative study of NGS platform ion torrent personal genome machine and therascreen rotor-gene Q for the detection of somatic variants in cancer.

Molecular profiling of a tumor allows the opportunity to design specific therapies which are able to interact only with cancer cells characterized by the accumulation of several genomic aberrations. This study investigates the usefulness of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and mutation-specific analysis methods for the detection of target genes for current therapies in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), and melanoma patients. We focused our attention on EGFR, BRAF, KRAS, and BRAF genes for NSCLC, melanoma, and mCRC samples, respectively. Our study demonstrated that in about 2% of analyzed cases, the two techniques did not show the same or overlapping results. Two patients affected by mCRC resulted in wild-type (WT) for BRAF and two cases with NSCLC were WT for EGFR according to PGM analysis. In contrast, these samples were mutated for the evaluated genes using the therascreen test on Rotor-Gene Q. In conclusion, our experience suggests that it would be appropriate to confirm the WT status of the genes of interest with a more sensitive analysis method to avoid the presence of a small neoplastic clone and drive the clinician to correct patient monitoring

Shrike predation on the lizard Mesalina adramitana in Qatar; a review of reported reptile and amphibian prey

We report, for the first time, evidence of predation by a shrike (Lanius sp.) on the lizard Mesalina adramitana. This is the first record of predation by shrikes on lizards in Qatar. Whilst we did not directly observe the event, the presence of shrikes in the area and the method of impalement indicate shrikes as the predator. The lizard was found freshly impaled on a palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera), at 150 cm above ground. Bird species of the genus Lanius are well-known predators of lizards, and in arid environments reptiles are likely common prey for these birds. We provide a review of literature concerning predatory events by shrikes on reptiles and amphibians. We suggest inspection of shrubs for animals impaled by shrikes can improve biodiversity inventories, complementing other commonly used methods