Antimicrobial Activity and Cytotoxicity of Ag(I) and Au(I) Pillarplexes

The biological activity of four pillarplex compounds featuring different metals and anions was investigated. The toxicity of the compounds against four bacterial strains [Bacillus subtilis (ATCC6633), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC6538), Escherichia coli (UVI isolate), Pseudomonas aeruginosa], one fungus (Candida albicans), and a human cell line (HepG2) was determined. Additionally, a UV-Vis titration study of the pillarplexes was carried out to check for stability depending on pH- and chloride concentration changes and evaluate the applicability in physiological media. All compounds are bioactive: the silver compounds showed higher activity against bacteria and fungi, and the corresponding gold pillarplexes were less toxic against human cells

Fish from Head to Tail:The 9th European Zebrafish Meeting in Oslo

International audienceThe 9th European Zebrafish Meeting took place recently in Oslo (June 28-July 2, 2015). A total of 650 participants came to hear the latest research news focused on the zebrafish, Danio rerio, and to its distant evolutionary relative medaka, Oryzias latipes. The packed program included keynote and plenary talks, short oral presentations and poster sessions, workshops, and strategic discussions. The meeting was a great success and revealed dramatically how important the zebrafish in particular has become as a model system for topics, such as developmental biology, functional genomics, biomedicine, toxicology, and drug development. A new emphasis was given to its potential as a model for aquaculture, a topic of great economic interest to the host country Norway and for the future global food supply in general. Zebrafish husbandry as well as its use in teaching were also covered in separate workshops. As has become a tradition in these meetings, there was a well-attended Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and ZFIN workshop focused on Zebrafish Genome Resources on the first day. The full EZM 2015 program with abstracts can be read and downloaded from the EZM 2015 Web site zebrafish2015.org

A qualitative study regarding the importance of marketing communication for international expansion among Norwegian entrepreneurial companies

Master's thesis in Firm managementAccording to EU’s Innovation Union Scoreboard from 2015, Norway is a moderate innovator performing below the EU average for most dimensions and most indicators of innovation. Furthermore, according to research conducted by BI Norwegian Business School, less than 4 out of 100 Norwegian companies are exporting goods and services abroad; which implies that internationalization is not on the agenda for the majority of Norwegian companies. This is further supported by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor which highlights that Norwegian entrepreneurial companies are distinguished by a very low score (5 %) compared to other innovation-driven countries in relation to having ambitions of employing more than 19 employees in 5 years. In other words, Norwegian entrepreneurs have extremely low growth ambitions. Based on this, in addition to the downturn in the Norwegian oil industry which has resulted in more than 35 000 jobs being cut since 2014, Norway is now, more than ever, dependent on finding new business opportunities in order to secure the future economy. In accordance with this necessity, and the lack of international growth ambitions among Norwegian companies, we formulated the following research question: How can Norwegian entrepreneurial companies become international “growth champions”? With emphasis on marketing communication within the B2B technology sector. Based on the issues presented above, we have chosen to further study the following underlying areas of importance: Norway as an inferior innovator compared to our neighboring countries; the framework conditions of Norway, the importance of marketing communication in relation to achieving international expansion, and the development of an effective marketing communication. To gain the necessary and sufficient data in order to conduct this research, we have carried out a qualitative study consisting of 15 in-depth interviews with individuals we believe are very knowledgeable and relevant for our area of research. These individuals include successful Norwegian entrepreneurs and advisors within the field of entrepreneurship and internationalization. Throughout our analysis and discussion, we linked the theoretical framework towards our findings from both primary and secondary sources. Through extensive interpretations, analysis and discussion of our collected data, several discoveries were made; enabling us to draw conclusions. Based on our conducted research, we discovered that the framework conditions among the Nordic countries are rated as approximately equivalent, despite the fact that Norway is a moderate innovator while Sweden, Denmark and Finland are all innovation leaders. This implies that Norway’s shortcomings related to innovative performance may be a result of other factors, e.g. global ambitions and marketing knowledge. In addition, our findings stress that Norwegians, in general, have insufficient export and growth ambitions and low willingness to pursue entrepreneurship. In other words, the Norwegian entrepreneurial culture and ambitions are inadequate; implying that the main obstacle towards international entrepreneurship is the entrepreneurs own psychological barriers. In order to become an international growth champion, a drastic change of the Norwegian culture and mindset towards entrepreneurship and international expansion is therefore necessary. Furthermore, our research has clearly stated the importance of conducting marketing communication in order to achieve international success. Even though marketing communication is both product- and industry-dependent, our research indicates that it is critical for rapid global growth. As the heart of business lies in marketing, focus on, and the creation of, solid marketing communication is invaluable. In this regard, we established the 10 commandments for international growth champions, which we believe will function as an effective “toolbox” in order for Norwegian entrepreneurial companies to internationalize faster and better; i.e. achieve international success

Vesicles From Vibrio cholerae Contain AT-Rich DNA and Shorter mRNAs That Do Not Correlate With Their Protein Products

Extracellular vesicles secreted by Gram-negative bacteria have proven to be important in bacterial defense, communication and host-pathogen relationships. They resemble smaller versions of the bacterial mother cell, with similar contents of proteins, LPS, DNA, and RNA. Vesicles can elicit a protective immune response in a range of hosts, and as vaccine candidates, it is of interest to properly characterize their cargo. Genetic sequencing data is already available for vesicles from several bacterial strains, but it is not yet clear how the genetic makeup of vesicles differ from that of their parent cells, and which properties may characterize enriched genetic material. The present study provides evidence for DNA inside vesicles from Vibrio cholerae O395, and key characteristics of their genetic and proteomic content are compared to that of whole cells. DNA analysis reveals enrichment of fragments containing ToxR binding sites, as well as a positive correlation between AT-content and enrichment. Some mRNAs were highly enriched in the vesicle fraction, such as membrane protein genes ompV, ompK, and ompU, DNA-binding protein genes hupA, hupB, ihfB, fis, and ssb, and a negative correlation was found between mRNA enrichment and transcript length, suggesting mRNA inclusion in vesicles may be a size-dependent process. Certain non-coding and functional RNAs were found to be enriched, such as VrrA, GcvB, tmRNA, RNase P, CsrB2, and CsrB3. Mass spectrometry revealed enrichment of outer membrane proteins, known virulence factors, phage components, flagella and extracellular proteins in the vesicle fraction, and a low, negative correlation was found between transcript-, and protein enrichment. This result opposes the hypothesis that a significant degree of protein translation occurs in vesicles after budding. The abundance of viral-, and flagellar proteins in the vesicle fraction underlines the importance of purification during vesicle isolation

Isolation and Characterization of Serum Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) from Atlantic Salmon Infected with Piscirickettsia Salmonis

publishedVersio

Immunomodulatory properties of Concholepas concholepas hemocyanin against francisellosis in a zebrafish model

The development of vaccines for aquaculture has been an important milestone in providing a continuous and sustainable production. Most of the vaccines currently on the market for aquaculture include oil as adjuvant. Nevertheless, several studies reported an occurrence of side effects after their use in farmed fish. As a result, there is a need for new and improved adjuvants that can stimulate the immune system while causing as few side-effects as possible. Hemocyanins are versatile macromolecules with strong immunogenic and immunomodulatory properties. Due to these characteristics, hemocyanin from Concholepas concholepas (CCH) has been biochemically characterized and evaluated as vaccine adjuvant in mice and humans. Francisellosis is a chronic granulomatous disease, which can result in high mortality depending on the host. The disease is caused by the facultative intracellular Gram-negative bacteria Francisella noatunensis, which remains an unsolved problem for the aquaculture, as no efficient vaccines are available. The aim of the present work was to investigate the immunoregulatory properties of CCH against francisellosis in an experimental zebrafish model. When immunized with CCH, zebrafish were protected from subsequent challenge with a lethal dose of Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis. Subsequently the mRNA expression levels of several immune-related genes were studied, including mhcii, il12a, tnfα and ifng1-1. Taken together, the data report the immunoregulatory properties of CCH and its potential use as a vaccine adjuvant for aquaculture