Triple-responsive inorganic-organic hybrid microcapsules as a biocompatible smart platform for the delivery of small molecules

crosscheck: This document is CrossCheck deposited related_data: Supplementary Information identifier: Alexander S. Timin (ORCID) copyright_licence: The Royal Society of Chemistry has an exclusive publication licence for this journal history: Received 4 September 2016; Accepted 7 October 2016; Accepted Manuscript published 10 October 2016; Advance Article published 28 October 2016; Version of Record published 16 November 2016This work was supported by the Russian Foundation of Basic Research grants no. 16-33-50153 mol_nr and no. 16-33-00966 mol_a, and Russian Governmental Program ‘‘Nauka’’, N: 1.1658.2016, 400

New post-processing method of preparing nanofibrous SERS substrates with a high density of silver nanoparticles

SERS enabling substrates with increased sensitivity, their manufacturing reproducibility and enhanced structural stability are highly demanded in SERS applications. Therefore our main aim was to elaborate a simple and inexpensive method of functionalization of electrospun chitosan nanofibers by using silver nanoparticles (AgNP). For that purpose we established a protocol where we were able to control the density of AgNP on the surfaces of nanofibers, and thus electromagnetic hotspots, simply by variation of Tollens' reagent. By webbing of such fibers we were able to prepare films that were enabling SERS either of solutes or macromolecular structures such as bacterial cells. Especially, to detect bacterial cells we established two approaches of immobilisation of cells within the films, which enabled their detection with enhancement of sensitivity by a factor of 105 and an average of 25% spot-to-spot variation

Efficient gene editing via non-viral delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 system using polymeric and hybrid microcarriers

The authors want to thank the UKE FACS Core Facility for expert assistance. We also thank Natalia Matveeva, who took the responsibilities for the fast process of the delivery of CRISPR–Cas9 plasmid. This work was supported by Russian Science Foundation (project No. 17‐73‐10023)

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Magnetization: Magnetic Multilayer Microcapsule Uptake, Toxicity, Impact on Functional Properties, and Perspectives for Magnetic Delivery.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in cell therapy due to their convenience, multiline differentiation potential, reproducible protocols, and biological properties. The potential of MSCs to impregnate magnetic microcapsules and their possible influence on cell function and ability to response to magnetic field have been explored. Interestingly, the cells suspended in media show much higher ability in internalization of microcapsules, then MSCs adhere into the surface. There is no significant effect of microcapsules on cell toxicity compared with other cell line-capsule internalization reported in literature. Due to internalization of magnetic capsules by the cells, such cell engineering platform is responsive to external magnetic field, which allows to manipulate MSC migration. Magnetically sorted MSCs are capable to differentiation as confirmed by their conversion to adipogenic and osteogenic cells using standard protocols. There is a minor effect of capsule internalization on cell adhesion, though MSCs are still able to form spheroid made by dozen of thousand MSCs. This work demonstrates the potential of use of microcapsule impregnated MSCs to carry internalized micron-sized vesicles and being navigated with external magnetic signaling

Genetic variation in PARL influences mitochondrian content

Given their involvement in processes necessary for life, mitochondrial damage and subsequent dysfunction can lead to a wide range of human diseases. Previous studies of both animal models and humans have suggested that presenilins-associated rhomboid-like protein (PARL) is a key regulator of mitochondrial integrity and function, and plays a role in cellular apoptosis. As a surrogate measure of mitochondrial integrity, we previously measured mitochondrial content in a Caucasian population consisting of large extended pedigrees, with results highlighting a substantial genetic component to this trait. To assess the inXuence of variation in the PARL gene on mitochondrial content, we re-sequenced 6.5 kb of the gene, identifying 16 SNPs and genotyped these in 1,086 Caucasian individuals, distributed across 170 families. Statistical genetic analysis revealed that one promoter variant, T-191C, exhibited signiWcant eVects (after correction for multiple testing) on mitochondrial content levels. Comparison of the transcription factor binding characteristics of the T-191C promoter SNP by EMSA indicates preferential binding of nuclear factors to the T allele, suggesting functional variation in PARL expression. These results suggest that genetic variation within PARL inXuences mitochondrial abundance and integrity.<br /