Bioelectrochemical hydrogen production with hydrogenophilic dechlorinating bacteria as electrocatalytic agents

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Engineering DNA-Grafted Quatsomes as Stable Nucleic Acid-Responsive Fluorescent Nanovesicles

Fluorescence; Nanovesicles; Responsive nanomaterialsFluorescencia; Nanovesículas; Nanomateriales sensiblesFluorescència; Nanovesícules; Nanomaterials sensiblesThe development of artificial vesicles into responsive architectures capable of sensing the biological environment and simultaneously signaling the presence of a specific target molecule is a key challenge in a range of biomedical applications from drug delivery to diagnostic tools. Herein, the rational design of biomimetic DNA-grafted quatsome (QS) nanovesicles capable of translating the binding of a target molecule to amphiphilic DNA probes into an optical output is presented. QSs are synthetic lipid-based nanovesicles able to confine multiple organic dyes at the nanoscale, resulting in ultra-bright soft materials with attractiveness for sensing applications. Dye-loaded QS nanovesicles of different composition and surface charge are grafted with fluorescent amphiphilic nucleic acid-based probes to produce programmable FRET-active nanovesicles that operate as highly sensitive signal transducers. The photophysical properties of the DNA-grafted nanovesicles are characterized and the highly selective, ratiometric detection of clinically relevant microRNAs with sensitivity in the low nanomolar range are demonstrated. The potential applications of responsive QS nanovesicles for biosensing applications but also as functional nanodevices for targeted biomedical applications is envisaged.This work was financially supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement “Nano-Oligo Med” (No 778133), Ministry of Science and Innovation (MINECO), Spain, through the “MOL4BIO” project (PID2019-105622RB-I00) and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (DTS20/00018), Italian Ministry of University and Research (Project of National Interest, PRIN, 2017Y2PAB8_004 through the project “Cutting Edge Analytical Chemistry Methodologies and Bio-Tools to Boost Precision Medicine in Hormone-Related Diseases”. M.R. was supported from a Fondazione Umberto Veronesi postdoctoral fellowship. Furthermore, ICMAB-CSIC acknowledges support from the MINECO through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496 and CEX2019-000917-S). Quatsome production and their physicochemical characterization has been performed by the Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit (U6) of the ICTS “NANBIOSIS”, a unit of the CIBER network in Bioengineering, Biomaterials & Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) located at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC)

Recirculation factor as a key parameter in continuous-flow biomass selection for polyhydroxyalkanoates production

The effectiveness of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production with mixed microbial cultures (MMC) largely depends on the selection of PHA-storing microorganisms, conventionally performed in sequencing batch reactors (SBR). These, although easily allow the establishment of the required feast and famine (FF) regime, can represent a factor of cost increase when the process is scaled up. Here, a novel continuous-flow process for MMC selection under FF conditions has been developed by using two sequentially operated reactors. The feast reactor, having a tubular configuration, was continuously fed with a synthetic mixture of acetic and propionic acids (at an organic loading rate of 2.12 gCOD/L d) and the effluent of this reactor was in part sent to the CSTR famine reactor. The recirculation factor (RC), that is the ratio between the recirculation flow rate and the feeding flow rate to the feast reactor, was the main parameter investigated. Four different runs were performed with the RC varying from 1 to 8 and the increase in its value caused a decrease of the biomass residence time in each reactor. The intracellular PHA content in the feast reactor almost linearly increased up to RC 4 (with a value of 34 ± 2 %, wt/wt) and dropped at the RC 8 condition that, however, showed the maximum PHA content (58 ± 5 %, wt/wt) during the accumulation tests. Indeed, the relative abundance of sequences affiliated with putative PHA-storing bacteria increased up to 90.5 % at RC 8 and were dominated by members of the Alphaproteobacteria class mostly represented by the genus Meganema (74 %)

Responsive Nucleic Acid-Based Organosilica Nanoparticles

The development of smart nanoparticles (NPs) that encode responsive features in the structural framework promises to extend the applications of NP-based drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic tools. New nanocarriers would ideally consist of a minimal number of biocompatible components and exhibit multiresponsive behavior to specific biomolecules, but progress is limited by the difficulty of synthesizing suitable building blocks. Through a nature-inspired approach that combines the programmability of nucleic acid interactions and sol–gel chemistry, we report the incorporation of synthetic nucleic acids and analogs, as constitutive components, into organosilica NPs. We prepared different nanomaterials containing single-stranded nucleic acids that are covalently embedded in the silica network. Through the incorporation of functional nucleic acids into the organosilica framework, the particles respond to various biological, physical, and chemical inputs, resulting in detectable physicochemical changes. The one-step bottom-up approach used to prepare organosilica NPs provides multifunctional systems that combine the tunability of oligonucleotides with the stiffness, low cost, and biocompatibility of silica for different applications ranging from drug delivery to sensing

Engineering DNA-Grafted Quatsomes as Stable Nucleic Acid-Responsive Fluorescent Nanovesicles

The development of artificial vesicles into responsive architectures capable of sensing the biological environment and simultaneously signaling the presence of a specific target molecule is a key challenge in a range of biomedical applications from drug delivery to diagnostic tools. Herein, the rational design of biomimetic DNA-grafted quatsome (QS) nanovesicles capable of translating the binding of a target molecule to amphiphilic DNA probes into an optical output is presented. QSs are synthetic lipid-based nanovesicles able to confine multiple organic dyes at the nanoscale, resulting in ultra-bright soft materials with attractiveness for sensing applications. Dye-loaded QS nanovesicles of different composition and surface charge are grafted with fluorescent amphiphilic nucleic acid-based probes to produce programmable FRET-active nanovesicles that operate as highly sensitive signal transducers. The photophysical properties of the DNA-grafted nanovesicles are characterized and the highly selective, ratiometric detection of clinically relevant microRNAs with sensitivity in the low nanomolar range are demonstrated. The potential applications of responsive QS nanovesicles for biosensing applications but also as functional nanodevices for targeted biomedical applications is envisaged.This work was financially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska- Curie grant agreement “Nano-Oligo Med” (No 778133), Ministry of Science and Innovation (MINECO), Spain, through the “MOL4BIO” project (PID2019-105622RB-I00) and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (DTS20/00018), Italian Ministry of University and Research (Project of National Interest, PRIN, 2017Y2PAB8_004 through the project “Cutting Edge Analytical Chemistry Methodologies and Bio-Tools to Boost Precision Medicine in Hormone-Related Diseases”. M.R. was supported from a Fondazione Umberto Veronesi postdoctoral fellowship. Furthermore, ICMAB-CSIC acknowledges support from the MINECO through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496 and CEX2019-000917-S). Quatsome production and their physicochemical characterization has been performed by the Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit (U6) of the ICTS “NANBIOSIS”, a unit of the CIBER network in Bioengineering, Biomaterials & Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) located at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC).Peer reviewe

What is the outcome 5 years after cervicoplasty?

INTRODUCTION: An approach based on multiple anatomical structures and the use of different surgical strategies seems to achieve more lasting results in cervical rejuvenation surgery. Thus, extended cervicoplasty is an option with favorable results and low complication rates. However, little has been published regarding the durability of the results. This study aimed to objectively evaluate the long-term results obtained with extended cervicoplasty in difficult cases. METHODS: Twenty patients, classified as having a "difficult neck," underwent extended cervicoplasty and were followed for 5 years. The results at 1- and 5-year post-operative follow-up were evaluated by eight plastic surgeons, using six objective criteria based on a theoretically ideal neck. The comparison of the results obtained at these time points was performed using a paired Student's t-test, with a level of significance of 5%. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in five of the six items evaluated (p-value ranging from 0.137 to 1.000), in the comparison between the first and fifth postoperative years. Subhyoid depression displayed a significantly better mean score in the fifth evaluation year than that observed in the first year after surgery (p = 0.039): from 5.80 ± 0.25 points (mean ± standard error of the mean) in the first year, to 6.45 ± 0.30 points in the fifth postoperative year. CONCLUSION: Extended cervicoplasty is an important alternative in the treatment of the neck region, and even provides lasting results in difficult cases

DECLINE OF PREVALENCE OF RESISTANCE ASSOCIATED SUBSTITUTIONS TO NS3 AND NS5A INHIBITORS AT DAA- FAILURE IN HEPATITIS C VIRUS IN ITALY OVER THE YEARS 2015 TO 2018

Background: A minority of patients fails to eliminate HCV and resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) are commonly detected at failure of interferon-free DAA regimens . Methods: Within the Italian network VIRONET-C, the prevalence of NS3/NS5A/NS5B RASs was retrospectively evaluated in patients who failed an EASL recommended DAA-regimen in 2015-2018 . The geno2pheno system and Sorbo MC et al. Drug Resistance Updates 2018 were used to infer HCV- genotype/subtype and predict drug resistance . The changes in prevalence of RASs over time were evaluated by chi-square test for trend, predictors of RASs at failure were analysed by logistic regression . Results: We included 386 HCV infected patients: 75% males, median age was 56 years (IQR 52-61), metavir fibrosis stage F4 in 76%; 106 (28%) were treatment- experienced: 91 (86%) with IFN-based treatments, 26 (25%) with DAAs. Patients with HIV and HBV coinfection were 10% (33/317) and 8% (6/72), respectively. HCV genotype was 1b in 122 pts (32%), 3 in 109 (28%), 1a in 97 (25%), 4 in 37 (10%), 2 in 21 (5%). DAA regimens were: LDV/SOF in 115 (30%), DCV/SOF in 103 (27%), 3D in 83 (21%), EBR/GRZ in 32 (8%), VEL/SOF in 29 (7%), GLE/PIB in 18 (5%) and 2D in 6 (2%); ribavirin was administered in 123 (32%) . The NS5A fasta-sequence was available for all patients, NS5B for 361 (94%), NS3 for 365 (95%) . According to the DAA failed the prevalence of any RASs was 90%, namely 80/135 (59%) in NS3, 313/359 (87%) in NS5A, 114/286 (40%) in NS5B . The prevalence of any RASs significantly declined from 2015 to 2018 (93% vs 70%, p=0.004): NS5A RASs from 90% to 72% (p=0 .29), NS3 RASs from 74% to 18% (p<0 .001), while NS5B RASs remained stable . Independent predictors of any RASs included advanced fibrosis (AOR 6.1, CI 95% 1.8-20.3, p=0 .004) and genotype (G2 vs G1a AOR 0 .03, CI 95% 0 .002- 0 .31, p=0 .004; G3 vs G1a AOR 0 .08, CI 95% 0 .01-0 .62, p=0 .02; G4 vs G1a AOR 0 .05, CI 95% 0 .006-0 .46, p=0 .008), after adjusting for age, previous HCV treatment and year of genotype . Notably, full activity was predicted for GLE/PIB in 75% of cases and for at least two components of VEL/SOF/VOX in 53% of cases, no case with full-resistance to either regimen was found . Conclusion: Despite decreasing prevalence over the years, RASs remain common at virological failure of DAA treatment, particularly in patients with the highest grade of liver fibrosis. The identification of RASs after failure could play a crucial role in optimizing retreatment strategies