MTADV 5-MER peptide suppresses chronic inflammations as well as autoimmune pathologies and unveils a new potential target-Serum Amyloid A.

Despite the existence of potent anti-inflammatory biological drugs e.g., anti-TNF and anti IL-6 receptor antibodies, for treating chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, these are costly and not specific. Cheaper oral available drugs remain an unmet need. Expression of the acute phase protein Serum Amyloid A (SAA) is dependent on release of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α during inflammation. Conversely, SAA induces pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, including Th17, leading to a pathogenic vicious cycle and chronic inflammation. 5- MER peptide (5-MP) MTADV (methionine-threonine-alanine-aspartic acid-valine), also called Amilo-5MER, was originally derived from a sequence of a pro-inflammatory CD44 variant isolated from synovial fluid of a Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patient. This human peptide displays an efficient anti-inflammatory effects to ameliorate pathology and clinical symptoms in mouse models of RA, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Bioinformatics and qRT-PCR revealed that 5-MP, administrated to encephalomyelytic mice, up-regulates genes contributing to chronic inflammation resistance. Mass spectrometry of proteins that were pulled down from an RA synovial cell extract with biotinylated 5-MP, showed that it binds SAA. 5-MP disrupted SAA assembly, which is correlated with its pro-inflammatory activity. The peptide MTADV (but not scrambled TMVAD) significantly inhibited the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-1β from SAA-activated human fibroblasts, THP-1 monocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. 5-MP suppresses the pro-inflammatory IL-6 release from SAA-activated cells, but not from non-activated cells. 5-MP could not display therapeutic activity in rats, which are SAA deficient, but does inhibit inflammations in animal models of IBD and MS, both are SAA-dependent, as shown by others in SAA knockout mice. In conclusion, 5-MP suppresses chronic inflammation in animal models of RA, IBD and MS, which are SAA-dependent, but not in animal models, which are SAA-independent

Localization of preformed Cooper pairs in disordered superconductors

International audienceThe most profound effect of disorder on electronic systems is the localization of the electrons transforming an otherwise metallic system into an insulator. If the metal is also a superconductor then, at low temperatures, disorder can induce a pronounced transition from a superconducting into an insulating state. An outstanding question is whether the route to insulating behaviour proceeds through the direct localization of Cooper pairs or, alternatively, by a two-step process in which the Cooper pairing is first destroyed followed by the standard localization of single electrons. Here we address this question by studying the local superconducting gap of a highly disordered amorphous superconductor by means of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. Our measurements reveal that, in the vicinity of the superconductor-insulator transition, the coherence peaks in the one-particle density of states disappear whereas the superconducting gap remains intact, indicating the presence of localized Cooper pairs. Our results provide the first direct evidence that the superconductor-insulator transition in some homogeneously disordered materials is driven by Cooper-pair localization

Ritual plants of Muslim graveyards in northern Israel

This article surveys the botanical composition of 40 Muslim graveyards in northern Israel, accompanied by an ethnobotanical study of the folkloristic traditions of the use of these plants in cemeteries. Three groups of plants were found to be repeated systematically and were also recognized for their ritual importance: aromatics herbs (especially Salvia fruticosa and Rosmarinus officinalis), white flowered plants (mainly Narcissus tazetta, Urginea maritima, Iris spp. and Pancratium spp.) and Cupressus sempervirens as the leading cemetery tree. As endemic use we can indicate the essential role of S. fruticosa as the main plant used in all human rites of passage symbolizing the human life cycle. The rosemary is of European origin while the use of basil is of Indian influence. The use of white flowers as cemeteries plants reflects an old European influence and almost the same species are used or their congeners. Most of the trees and shrubs that are planted in Muslim cemeteries in Israel have the same use in ancient as well in modern European cultures. In conclusion, our findings on the occurrence of plants in graveyards reflect the geographic situation of Israel as a crossroads in the cultural arena between Asia and Europe. Most of the traditions are common to the whole Middle East showing high relatedness to the classical world as well as to the present-day Europe

3D organized self-assembled monolayer electrodes: a novel biosensor configuration

A leak-free, reagentless biosensor for glucose is demonstrated as one application of the bulk modified electrode with three-dimensional self-assembled monolayers reported here. The preparation of the electrode and the electrochemical investigations of its behavior are described. It is shown that model enzymes can be incorporated in these materials so that the biomolecules retain their activity and the SAMs their dense structure and charge-mediation properties. A range of electrochemical applications are foreseen for such electrode

Renewable, reagentless glucose sensor based on a redox modified enzyme and carbon-silica composite

A new type of sol-gel derived, ferrocene derivatized glucose oxidase based amperometric biosensor is introduced. The electrode consists of graphite powder impregnated with a ferrocene modified enzyme imbedded in an organically modified silicate network. In this assembly, graphite powder provides percolation conductivity, the organic modification of the silicate ensures that the whole bulk of the material is not wetted by the analyte, thus providing a thin reactive layer. The ferrocene which is covalently attached to the enzyme acts as a mediator for the enzymatic reaction, thereby communicating with the conducting graphite in the matrix. The electrode can be reproducibly renewed by mechanical polishing. Thick film biosensors, where a drop of the analyte is sufficient for the sensing process is also demonstrated with this material

Graphite photoelectrochemistry 2. Photoelectrochemical studies of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite

Abstract Photoelectrochemical reduction of oxygen and other observations of sustained electrochemically generated photocurrents with graphitic (HOPG) electrodes in aqueous solutions are reported. The photocurrents were observed over a wide pH range: 0 (0.5 M H 2 SO 4 )-14 (1 M NaOH). Photocurrent-potential, capacitance-potential and photocurrent light action spectral measurements were performed with basal plane and edge plane HOPG electrodes in order to elucidate the origin of the observed photocurrent. The photocurrent is attributed to hot electron-hot hole pairs photogenerated by direct transition between p-electronic states of the valence and conduction bands of graphite. Photogenerated carriers, holes or electrons, are driven by the electric field in the space charge layer (scl) to the electrode electrolyte interface, where they react directly with species in the electrolyte inducing anodic or cathodic photocurrent. The potential corresponding to the change of the photocurrent sign from cathodic to anodic was attributed to the flat band potential (E FB ). The E FB of the basal plane electrode was 0 V versus SHE regardless of pH, while for the edge plane electrode E FB changed at a rate of 54 mV per unit of pH. The shift of E FB of the edge plane electrode with pH is ascribed to a change of the pH dependent surface dipole formed by oxygen containing surface redox groups