Observation of dose-rate dependence in a Fricke dosimeter irradiated at low dose rates with monoenergetic X-rays

<p>Absolute measurements of the radiolytic yield of Fe3+ in a ferrous sulphate dosimeter formulation (6 mM Fe2+), with a 20 keV x-ray monoenergetic beam, are reported. Dose-rate suppression of the radiolytic yield was observed at dose rates lower than and different in nature to those previously reported with x-rays. We present evidence that this effect is most likely to be due to recombination of free radicals radiolytically produced from water. The method used to make these measurements is also new and it provides radiolytic yields which are directly traceable to the SI standards system. The data presented provides new and exacting tests of radiation chemistry codes.</p

Discriminant Analysis of Raman Spectra for Body Fluid Identification for Forensic Purposes

Detection and identification of blood, semen and saliva stains, the most common body fluids encountered at a crime scene, are very important aspects of forensic science today. This study targets the development of a nondestructive, confirmatory method for body fluid identification based on Raman spectroscopy coupled with advanced statistical analysis. Dry traces of blood, semen and saliva obtained from multiple donors were probed using a confocal Raman microscope with a 785-nm excitation wavelength under controlled laboratory conditions. Results demonstrated the capability of Raman spectroscopy to identify an unknown substance to be semen, blood or saliva with high confidence

Mapping differential interactomes by affinity purification coupled with data independent mass spectrometry acquisition

Characterizing changes in protein-protein interactions associated with sequence variants (e.g. disease-associated mutations or splice forms) or following exposure to drugs, growth factors or hormones is critical to understanding how protein complexes are built, localized and regulated. Affinity purification (AP) coupled with mass spectrometry permits the analysis of protein interactions under near-physiological conditions, yet monitoring interaction changes requires the development of a robust and sensitive quantitative approach, especially for large-scale studies where cost and time are major considerations. To this end, we have coupled AP to data-independent mass spectrometric acquisition (SWATH), and implemented an automated data extraction and statistical analysis pipeline to score modulated interactions. Here, we use AP-SWATH to characterize changes in protein-protein interactions imparted by the HSP90 inhibitor NVP-AUY922 or melanoma-associated mutations in the human kinase CDK4. We show that AP-SWATH is a robust label-free approach to characterize such changes, and propose a scalable pipeline for systems biology studies

Nanoparticles for radiotherapy and protontherapy : internalization and localization in human cell lines and impact on radiation effects

La radiothérapie est l'une des principales modalités de traitement du cancer. Néanmoins, son utilisation est limitée du fait des dommages induits dans les tissus sains et de la radiorésistance de certains cas. En vue d’améliorer le ciblage tumoral et l'efficacité du traitement, des améliorations sont nécessaires. L'une des améliorations proposées est l'utilisation de nanoparticules composées d'éléments à nombre atomique élevé qui présentent la propriété d’amplifier l’effet des rayonnements ionisants. Les nanoparticules d'or constituent un des agents les plus prometteurs en raison de leur faible toxicité et de la possibilité d’y lier des molécules en surface. L’efficacité de petites nanoparticules d'or fonctionnalisées avec du DTDTPA (< 3 nm) a été prouvée. En revanche, peu de données existent quant au lien entre ces effets d’amplification et la dynamique d’internalisation et leur localisation dans les cellules.Ce travail a porté sur l’étude de la dynamique d'internalisation et d’excrétion de ces nanoparticules, ainsi que sur leur localisation dans différentes lignées cellulaires cancéreuses et dans les fibroblastes humains. Une tentative de corrélation entre les effets d’irradiation et ces données est proposée.Les résultats obtenus dans ce travail montrent que la dynamique d'absorption et d'excrétion, ainsi que les voies prédominantes d'internalisation des nanoparticules d'or, dépendent fortement de la lignée cellulaire. La quantité d'or internalisée résultant de ces mécanismes varie également. Ces mécanismes d’internalisation impactent la localisation des nanoparticules dans les différents organites subcellulaires, conséquence des voies spécifiques d'internalisation. Enfin un lien est proposé entre localisation intracellulaire des nanoparticules d'or et leur localisation avec les organites subcellulaires.En conclusion, ces résultats indiquent que l'efficacité des nanoparticules dépend de la lignée cancéreuse à traiter. Même si des expériences in vivo restent nécessaires à la validation de ces résultats, ce travail propose des méthodes originales qui permettent de caractériser et prévoir rapidement l’effet des agents sur les cellules.Radiation therapy is one of the main modalities for cancer treatment. However, its use is limited due to damage induced in healthy tissues and radioresistance in some cases. However, improvements are needed to improve tumor targeting and treatment effectiveness. One of the proposed improvements is the use of nanoparticles composed of high-atomic number elements that have the property of amplifying the effect of ionizing radiation. Gold nanoparticles are one of the most promising agents, because of their low toxicity and the possibility of binding molecules on their surface. The effectiveness of small gold nanoparticles functionalized with DTDTPA (< 3 nm) has been proven. However, little data exists on the link between the amplification effects in respect to the internalization dynamics and their location in cells. This work focused on studying the internalization and excretion dynamics of these nanoparticles, as well as their location in different cancer cell lines and in human fibroblasts. An attempt to correlate the radiation effects with these data is proposed. The results obtained in this work show that the dynamics of absorption and excretion, as well as the predominant internalization pathways of gold nanoparticles, strongly depend on the cell line. The amount of internalized gold, resulting from these mechanisms, also varies. These internalization mechanisms impact the localization of nanoparticles in the various subcellular organelles, due to the specific internalization pathways. Finally, a link is proposed between the intracellular localization of gold nanoparticles and their colocalization with subcellular organelles.In conclusion, these results indicate that the effectiveness of nanoparticles depends on the cancerous line that is treated. Although in vivo experiments are still needed to validate these results, this work proposes original methods for rapid characterization and prediction of the effects of agents on cells

Comprehensive analytical strategy for biomarker identification based on liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and new candidate confirmation tools

A comprehensive analytical LC-MS(/MS) platform for low weight biomarkers molecule in biological fluids is described. Two complementary retention mechanisms were used in HPLC by optimizing the chromatographic conditions for a reversed-phase column and a hydrophilic interaction chromatography column. LC separation was coupled to mass spectrometry by using an electrospray ionization operating in positive polarity mode. This strategy enables us to correctly retain and separate hydrophobic as well as polar analytes. For that purpose artificial model study samples were generated with a mixture of 38 well characterized compounds likely to be present in biofluids. The set of compounds was used as a standard aqueous mixture or was spiked into urine at different concentration levels to investigate the capability of the LC-MS(/MS) platform to detect variations across biological samples. Unsupervised data analysis by principal component analysis was performed and followed by principal component variable grouping to find correlated variables. This tool allows us to distinguish three main groups whose variables belong to (a) background ions (found in all type of samples), (b) ions distinguishing urine samples from aqueous standard and blank samples, (c) ions related to the spiked compounds. Interpretation of these groups allows us to identify and eliminate isotopes, adducts, fragments, etc. and to generate a reduced list of m/z candidates. This list is then submitted to the prototype MZSearcher software tool which simultaneously searches several lists of potential metabolites extracted from metabolomics databases (e.g., KEGG, HMDB, etc) to propose biomarker candidates. Structural confirmation of these candidates was done off-line by fraction collection followed by nanoelectrospray infusion to provide high quality MS/MS data for spectral database queries