A Functional Proteomic Method for Biomarker Discovery

The sequencing of the human genome holds out the hope for personalized medicine, but it is clear that analysis of DNA or RNA content alone is not sufficient to understand most disease processes. Proteomic strategies that allow unbiased identification of proteins and their post-transcriptional and -translation modifications are an essential complement to genomic strategies. However, the enormity of the proteome and limitations in proteomic methods make it difficult to determine the targets that are particularly relevant to human disease. Methods are therefore needed that allow rational identification of targets based on function and relevance to disease. Screening methodologies such as phage display, SELEX, and small-molecule combinatorial chemistry have been widely used to discover specific ligands for cells or tissues of interest, such as tumors. Those ligands can be used in turn as affinity probes to identify their cognate molecular targets when they are not known in advance. Here we report an easy, robust and generally applicable approach in which phage particles bearing cell- or tissue-specific peptides serve directly as the affinity probes for their molecular targets. For proof of principle, the method successfully identified molecular binding partners, three of them novel, for 15 peptides specific for pancreatic cancer

Analiza jednorodności włóknin wytwarzanych przy użyciu kolektorów statycznych i dynamicznych

In an electrospinning process, as the deposition of fibres occurs randomly over the collector, the mats produced are generally expected to have homogeneous properties throughout the mat. This study compares the ultimate tensile strength, porosity, thickness and morphology of the different portions of mats sectioned at various angular locations. The influence of the template design and mode of operation of the collectors on the properties of electrospun mats were investigated. The inhomogeneity in the properties of the electrospun mat produced using stationary collectors was significant, irrespective of the different template design of the collectors. However, the collectors operated in the dynamic mode decrease variations in the properties among the different sections of the electrospun mats. By choosing a particular template design and mode of operation of the collector, an electrospun mat of desired orientation can be achieved.W pracy porównano wytrzymałość na rozciąganie, porowatość, grubość i morfologię różnych fragmentów włóknin wytworzonych przy użyciu kolektorów statycznych i dynamicznych. Zbadano wpływ sposobu działania kolektorów na właściwości otrzymanych włóknin. Zaobserwowano znaczącą niejednorodność właściwości włóknin wytworzonych przy użyciu kolektorów statycznych. Stwierdzono, że kolektory pracujące w trybie dynamicznym zmniejszają odchylenia właściwości pomiędzy różnymi sekcjami włóknin. Poprzez wybranie odpowiedniego sposobu działania kolektora, można uzyskać włókninę o pożądanej orientacji