Dynamics of proteins with different molecular structures under solution condition

Incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering (iQENS) is a fascinating technique for investigating the internal dynamics of protein. However, low flux of neutron beam, low signal to noise ratio of QENS spectrometers and unavailability of well-established analyzing method have been obstacles for studying internal dynamics under physiological condition (in solution). The recent progress of neutron source and spectrometer provide the fine iQENS profile with high statistics and as well the progress of computational technique enable us to quantitatively reveal the internal dynamic from the obtained iQENS profile. The internal dynamics of two proteins, globular domain protein (GDP) and intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) in solution, were measured with the state-of-the art QENS spectrometer and then revealed with the newly developed analyzing method. It was clarified that the average relaxation rate of IDP was larger than that of GDP and the fraction of mobile H atoms of IDP was also much higher than that of GDP. Combined with the structural analysis and the calculation of solvent accessible surface area of amino acid residue, it was concluded that the internal dynamics were related to the highly solvent exposed amino acid residues depending upon protein’s structure

Prospectively Isolated Cancer-Associated CD10+ Fibroblasts Have Stronger Interactions with CD133+ Colon Cancer Cells than with CD133− Cancer Cells

Although CD133 has been reported to be a promising colon cancer stem cell marker, the biological functions of CD133+ colon cancer cells remain controversial. In the present study, we investigated the biological differences between CD133+ and CD133− colon cancer cells, with a particular focus on their interactions with cancer-associated fibroblasts, especially CD10+ fibroblasts. We used 19 primary colon cancer tissues, 30 primary cultures of fibroblasts derived from colon cancer tissues and 6 colon cancer cell lines. We isolated CD133+ and CD133− subpopulations from the colon cancer tissues and cultured cells. In vitro analyses revealed that the two populations showed similar biological behaviors in their proliferation and chemosensitivity. In vivo analyses revealed that CD133+ cells showed significantly greater tumor growth than CD133− cells (P = 0.007). Moreover, in cocultures with primary fibroblasts derived from colon cancer tissues, CD133+ cells exhibited significantly more invasive behaviors than CD133− cells (P<0.001), especially in cocultures with CD10+ fibroblasts (P<0.0001). Further in vivo analyses revealed that CD10+ fibroblasts enhanced the tumor growth of CD133+ cells significantly more than CD10− fibroblasts (P<0.05). These data demonstrate that the in vitro invasive properties and in vivo tumor growth of CD133+ colon cancer cells are enhanced in the presence of specific cancer-associated fibroblasts, CD10+ fibroblasts, suggesting that the interactions between these specific cell populations have important roles in cancer progression. Therefore, these specific interactions may be promising targets for new colon cancer therapies

Surfactant-Induced Friction Reduction for Hydrogels in the Boundary Lubrication Regime

We studied the ability of surfactants to reduce friction by boundary lubrication for a bulk hydrogel sliding on a solid surface in aqueous solution. A piece of negatively charged polyelectrolyte hydrogel was slid across solid surfaces with various levels of hydrophobicity, using a strain-controlled parallel-plate rheometer in water. A dramatic reduction in the sliding friction, especially in the low-velocity region, was detected by the addition of a surfactant to the water medium. This friction reduction was only observed in gel.solid friction but not in solid.solid friction, indicating that the soft and wet nature of the gel surface was crucial for this surfactant-induced friction reduction. This phenomenon reveals that surfactants can remain at the gel-mated interface, thus preventing direct interfacial interaction between the sliding surfaces, and significantly decreases the frictional stress. The reported dramatic reduction in friction highlights the frictional characteristics of soft and wet hydrogel materials

Use of a Compact, Lightweight X-ray Unit to Reduce the Risk of Five Invasive Procedures in the Emergency Room

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Hydrogen Dynamics in Hydrated Chitosan by Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering

Chitosan, an environmentally friendly and highly bio-producible material, is a potential proton-conducting electrolyte for use in fuel cells. Thus, to microscopically elucidate proton transport in hydrated chitosan, we employed the quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) technique. QENS analysis showed that the hydration water, which was mobile even at 238 K, moved significantly more slowly than the bulk water, in addition to exhibiting jump diffusion. Furthermore, upon increasing the temperature from 238 to 283 K, the diffusion constant of water increased from 1.33 × 10−6 to 1.34 × 10−5 cm2/s. It was also found that a portion of the hydrogen atoms in chitosan undergo a jump-diffusion motion similar to that of the hydrogen present in water. Moreover, QENS analysis revealed that the activation energy for the jump-diffusion of hydrogen in chitosan and in the hydration water was 0.30 eV, which is close to the value of 0.38 eV obtained from the temperature-dependent proton conductivity results. Overall, it was deduced that a portion of the hydrogen atoms in chitosan dissociate and protonate the interacting hydration water, resulting in the chitosan exhibiting proton conductivity

Study on the Sliding Friction of Endothelial Cells Cultured on Hydrogel and the Role of Glycocalyx on Friction Reduction

In this study, we investigated the sliding friction of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) monolayer cultured on poly(sodium p-styrene sulfonate) (PNaSS) gel, intending to elucidate the role of the glycocalyx on the surface of endothelial cell (EC) in friction reduction. Three sets of HUVEC monolayers were investigated: 1) as-cultured HUVEC monolayer, 2) HUVEC monolayer treated by transforming growth factor υ1 (TGF-υ1), which increased glycocalyx by 148%, 3) HUVEC monolayer treated by heparinase I, which reduced glycocalyx by 57%, both were compared with that of the as prepared one. When being slid on flat glass surface, the frictional stress of HUVEC monolayer decreased in the order of heparinase I-treated > as-cultured > TGF-υ1-treated samples. The results suggested that glycocalyx may play a role in reducing the friction of endothelial cell monolayer

Data Collection for Dilute Protein Solutions via a Neutron Backscattering Spectrometer

Understanding protein functions requires not only static but also dynamic structural information. Incoherent quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS), which utilizes the highly incoherent scattering ability of hydrogen, is a powerful technique for revealing the dynamics of proteins in deuterium oxide (D2O) buffer solutions. The background scattering of sample cells suitable for aqueous protein solution samples, conducted with a neutron backscattering spectrometer, was evaluated. It was found that the scattering intensity of an aluminum sample cell coated with boehmite using D2O was lower than that of a sample cell coated with regular water (H2O). The D2O-Boehmite coated cell was used for the QENS measurement of a 0.8 wt.% aqueous solution of an intrinsically disordered protein in an intrinsically disordered region of a helicase-associated endonuclease for a fork-structured type of DNA. The cell was inert against aqueous samples at 283&ndash;363 K. In addition, meticulous attention to cells with small individual weight differences and the positional reproducibility of the sample cell relative to the spectrometer neutron beam position enabled the accurate subtraction of the scattering profiles of the D2O buffer and the sample container. Consequently, high-quality information on protein dynamics could be extracted from dilute protein solutions

Recent Progress on DNA ToF Backscattering Spectrometer in MLF, J-PARC

DNA is a time-of-flight backscattering neutron spectrometer installed at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility in J-PARC. After opening user program, we have been developing and upgrading DNA. The energy resolution is improved and achieved the designed value of 1.4 μeV by renewing the disks of the pulse shaping chopper that can rotate at max 300 Hz instead of 225 Hz of the previous disks. The installation of Si311 analyser mirrors has been almost accomplished, which extends momentum transfer region up to 3.7 Å-1. We demonstrate the effect of this extension by measuring and analysing methyl rotation dynamics in solid toluene at 10 K and 40 K. We also report variety of sample environment available at DNA and their remote handling

Side Chain Dynamics of poly(norbornene)-g-Poly(propylene oxide) Bottlebrush Polymers

The segmental dynamics of the side chains of poly(norbornene)-g-poly(propylene oxide) (PNB-g-PPO) bottlebrush polymer in comparison to PPO is studied by quasi-elastic neutron scattering. Having experimental time and length scale information simultaneously allows to extract spatial information in addition to relaxation time. Tethering one end of the PPO side chain onto a stiff PNB backbone slows down the segmental relaxation, over the length and time scales investigated. The power law dependence of the relaxation time on the momentum transfer, Q, indicates a more heterogeneous relaxation pattern for the bottlebrush polymer, whereas the linear PPO has less deviations from a homogenous relaxation. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the time dependent mean square displacement, 〈r (t)〉, and the non-Gaussian parameter, α (t). Here the bottlebrush polymer shows a more restricted dynamics, whereas the linear PPO reaches 〈r (t)〉∝t at the highest temperature. The deviations from Gaussian behavior are evident at the α (t). Both samples show a decaying α (t). The non-Gaussian parameter supports the results from the power law dependence of the relaxation times, with lower α (t) values for PPO compared to those for PNB-g-PPO, pointing to less deviations from Gaussian behavior. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved