Wnt5a stimulates chemotactic migration and chemokine production in human neutrophils

Wnt5a is a ligand that activates the noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways (??-catenin-independent pathways). Human neutrophils expressed several Wnt5a receptors, such as Frizzled 2, 5 and 8. Stimulation of human neutrophils with Wnt5a caused chemotactic migration and the production of two important chemokines, CXCL8 and CCL2. CCL2 production by Wnt5a was mediated by a pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein-dependent pathway. Wnt5a also stimulated the phosphorylation of three mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs: ERK, p38 MAPK and JNK) and Akt. Inhibition of ERK, p38 MAPK or JNK by specific inhibitors induced a dramatic reduction in Wnt5a-induced CCL2 production. Supernatant collected from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages induced neutrophil chemotaxis, which was significantly inhibited by anti-Wnt5a antibody. Our results suggested that Wnt5a may contribute to neutrophil recruitment, mediating the inflammation response.open4

Carbon Dioxide Utilisation -The Formate Route

UIDB/50006/2020 CEEC-Individual 2017 Program Contract.The relentless rise of atmospheric CO2 is causing large and unpredictable impacts on the Earth climate, due to the CO2 significant greenhouse effect, besides being responsible for the ocean acidification, with consequent huge impacts in our daily lives and in all forms of life. To stop spiral of destruction, we must actively reduce the CO2 emissions and develop new and more efficient “CO2 sinks”. We should be focused on the opportunities provided by exploiting this novel and huge carbon feedstock to produce de novo fuels and added-value compounds. The conversion of CO2 into formate offers key advantages for carbon recycling, and formate dehydrogenase (FDH) enzymes are at the centre of intense research, due to the “green” advantages the bioconversion can offer, namely substrate and product selectivity and specificity, in reactions run at ambient temperature and pressure and neutral pH. In this chapter, we describe the remarkable recent progress towards efficient and selective FDH-catalysed CO2 reduction to formate. We focus on the enzymes, discussing their structure and mechanism of action. Selected promising studies and successful proof of concepts of FDH-dependent CO2 reduction to formate and beyond are discussed, to highlight the power of FDHs and the challenges this CO2 bioconversion still faces.publishersversionpublishe

Low-energy electron point source microscope with position-sensitive electron energy analyzer

A low-energy electron point source microscope equipped with a position-sensitive energy analyzer is constructed. A nanometer-sized feature can be zoomed in and its energy-loss spectrum can be measured with a retarding field-type energy analyzer mounted in front of the imaging screen. The geometric and the electronic structures of carbon nanotubes are measured with the present system. Interference between the scattered and the transmitted electron beams through the carbon nanotubes is observed using an atomically sharp field emitter. The electron energy-loss spectrum shows two prominent peaks at similar to 7 and 16-17 eV, which are identified as the pi plasmon and (pi + sigma) surface-plasmon peaks. This result is consistent with the measurements of high-energy electron energy-loss spectroscopy as well as the theoretical calculation. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(99)02011-0]

Tuning magnetostatic interaction in single-crystalline nanodot arrays with in-plane easy axes

We have fabricated an ultrahigh-vacuum-processed, ordered, single-crystalline nanodot array. By mapping the magnetization of the nanodots with spin polarized scanning tunneling microscopy in the same chamber where they were grown, we are able to understand how the short-range order of the nanodot array is determined by the magnetostatic dipole interaction among neighboring nanodots. We also demonstrate tuning the magnetic interaction in the nanodot array by controlling those magnetic energies. Further magnetic simulations support the observed results consistently.open1155sciescopu