Nongenomic effects of aldosterone on phosphocreatine levels in human calf muscle during recovery from exercise.

Nongenomic in vitro effects of aldosterone on the sodium-proton antiport and intracellular second messengers have been described in human mononuclear leukocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells. To test the potential physiological relevance of these effects, an in vivo 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy study on the human calf at rest and during exercise was performed in 10 healthy volunteers receiving either 1 mg aldosterone or placebo iv in a double blind, randomized, cross-over trial. Spectra were analyzed for phosphocreatine, ATP, phosphomonoesters, inorganic intracellular phosphate, and intracellular pH. Resting values remained unchanged by aldosterone. After isometric contraction of the calf (50% body weight for 3 min), phosphocreatine recovered to significantly higher levels after application of aldosterone compared with placebo. Other parameters were not significantly changed by aldosterone. Effects appeared immediately after isometric contraction and, thus, occurred within 8 min of aldosterone administration. They are, therefore, likely to represent the first contemporary evidence of nongenomic in vivo effects of aldosterone in man. These findings also point to an involvement of aldosteron in the acute stress adaptation of cellular oxidative metabolism in human muscle physiology

In Situ Monitoring of Linear RGD-Peptide Bioconjugation with Nanoscale Polymer Brushes

Bioinspired materials mimicking the native extracellular matrix environment are promising for biotechnological applications. Particularly, modular biosurface engineering based on the functionalization of stimuli-responsive polymer brushes with peptide sequences can be used for the development of smart surfaces with biomimetic cues. The key aspect of this study is the in situ monitoring and analytical verification of the biofunctionalization process on the basis of three complementary analytical techniques. In situ spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to quantify the amount of chemisorbed GRGDS at both the homopolymer poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) brush and the binary poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm)-PAA brushes, which was finally confirmed by an acidic hydrolysis combined with a subsequent reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. In situ attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy provided a step-by-step detection of the biofunctionalization process so that an optimized protocol for the bioconjugation of GRGDS could be identified. The optimized protocol was used to create a temperature-responsive binary brush with a high amount of chemisorbed GRGDS, which is a promising candidate for the temperature-sensitive control of GRGDS presentation in further cell-instructive studies