8 research outputs found
Apparent Molar Mass of a Polyelectrolyte in an Organic Solvent in the Low Ionic Strength Limit As Revealed by Light Scattering
The
apparent molar mass of a partially quaternized poly-2-vinylpyridines
(degree of quaternization 4.3% < <i>Q</i> < 35%) in
1-propanol is measured by light scattering at low ionic strength (10<sup>–6</sup> M < <i>c</i><sub>s</sub> < 10<sup>–3</sup> M) as a function of polyion repeat unit concentration
(7 × 10<sup>–5</sup> monomol/L < <i>c</i><sub>m,p</sub> < 4 × 10<sup>–2</sup> monomol/L). No
dialysis was applied prior to measurements. The apparent molar mass
under “salt-free” conditions is smaller than the true
molar mass by an order of magnitude, while approaching the true value
at higher ionic strength. Concomitant data on the dependence of scattering
intensity on scattering wave vector show that the dilute polyelectrolyte
solutions are strongly correlated. A recent theory by Muthukumar for
light scattering of dilute polyelectrolyte solutions, developed for
correlated multicomponent systems, accounts for interchain electrostatic
correlations and regularization of polymer charge by counterion binding
isotherm. The experimental results on the relation between the apparent
and true molar masses as a function of salt concentration are compared
with the predictions of Muthukumar’s counterion adsorption
theory. Taking binding equilibrium constant as a single fitting parameter,
this theory is demonstrated to describe the experimental data as long
as the chains do not interact significantly
Two new proanthocyanidin trimers isolated from <i>Cistus incanus</i> L. demonstrate potent anti-inflammatory activity and selectivity to cyclooxygenase isoenzymes inhibition
<p>Two new proanthocyanidin trimers have been isolated from <i>Cistus incanus</i> herb; gallocatechin-(4α→6)-gallocatechin-(4α→8)-gallocatechin (compound <b>1</b>) and epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate-(4ß→8)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate-(4ß→8)-gallocatechin (compound <b>2</b>). The structures were determined on the basis of 1D- and 2D-NMR (HSQC, HMBC) of their peracetylated derivatives, MALDI-TOF-MS and by acid-catalysed degradation with phloroglucinol. A more abundant proanthocyanidin oligomer was also isolated, purified and its chemical constitution studied by <sup>13</sup>C-NMR and phloroglucinol degradation. The mean molecular weight of the polymer was estimated to be about 7 to 8 flavan-3-ol-units with a ratio of procyanidin : prodelphinidin units at 1:5, some of which are derivatised by gallic acid. Water extract and higher oligomeric proanthocyanidin fractions of <i>C. incanus</i> significantly inhibited TPA-induced oedema when applied topically at doses of 0.5 and 1 mg/ear in mice. Furthermore, the extracts and the pure compounds inhibited COX-1 and COX-2 activities. In addition, compound <b>2</b> exhibited an IC<sub>50</sub> of 4.5 μM against COX-2 indicating its high selectivity towards COX-2.</p
Single Molecule Tracking on Supported Membranes with Arrays of Optical Nanoantennas
Coupling of the localized surface plasmons between two
closely
apposed gold nanoparticles (nanoantenna) can cause strong enhancements
of fluorescence or Raman signal intensity from molecules in the plasmonic
“hot-spot”. Harnessing these properties for practical
applications is challenging due to the need to fabricate gold particle
arrays with well-defined nanometer spacing and a means of delivering
functional molecules to the hot-spot. We report fabrication of billions
of plasmon-coupled nanostructures on a single substrate by a combination
of colloid lithography and plasma processing. Controlled spacing of
the nanoantenna gaps is achieved by taking advantage of the fact that
polystyrene particles melt together at their contact point during
plasma processing. The resulting polymer thread shadows a gap of well-defined
spacing between each pair of gold triangles in the final array. Confocal
surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy imaging confirms the array is
functionally uniform. Furthermore, a fully intact supported membrane
can be formed on the intervening substrate by vesicle fusion. Trajectories
of freely diffusing individual proteins are traced as they sequentially
pass through, and are enhanced by, multiple gaps. The nanoantenna
array thus enables enhanced observation of a fluid membrane system
without static entrapment of the molecules
Single Molecule Tracking on Supported Membranes with Arrays of Optical Nanoantennas
Coupling of the localized surface plasmons between two
closely
apposed gold nanoparticles (nanoantenna) can cause strong enhancements
of fluorescence or Raman signal intensity from molecules in the plasmonic
“hot-spot”. Harnessing these properties for practical
applications is challenging due to the need to fabricate gold particle
arrays with well-defined nanometer spacing and a means of delivering
functional molecules to the hot-spot. We report fabrication of billions
of plasmon-coupled nanostructures on a single substrate by a combination
of colloid lithography and plasma processing. Controlled spacing of
the nanoantenna gaps is achieved by taking advantage of the fact that
polystyrene particles melt together at their contact point during
plasma processing. The resulting polymer thread shadows a gap of well-defined
spacing between each pair of gold triangles in the final array. Confocal
surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy imaging confirms the array is
functionally uniform. Furthermore, a fully intact supported membrane
can be formed on the intervening substrate by vesicle fusion. Trajectories
of freely diffusing individual proteins are traced as they sequentially
pass through, and are enhanced by, multiple gaps. The nanoantenna
array thus enables enhanced observation of a fluid membrane system
without static entrapment of the molecules
Magneto-Optical Enhancement by Plasmon Excitations in Nanoparticle/Metal Structures
Coupling magnetic materials to plasmonic structures provides
a
pathway to dramatically increase the magneto-optical response of the
resulting composite architecture. Although such optical enhancement
has been demonstrated in a variety of systems, some basic aspects
are scarcely known. In particular, reflectance/transmission modulations
and electromagnetic field intensification, both triggered by plasmon
excitations, can contribute to the magneto-optical enhancement. However,
a quantitative evaluation of the impact of both factors on the magneto-optical
response is lacking. To address this issue, we have measured magneto-optical
Kerr spectra on corrugated gold/dielectric interfaces with magnetic
(nickel and iron oxide) nanoparticles. We find that the magneto-optical
activity is enhanced by up to an order of magnitude for wavelengths
that are correlated to the excitation of propagating or localized
surface plasmons. Our work sheds light on the fundamental principles
for the observed optical response and demonstrates that the outstanding
magneto-optical performance is originated by the increase of the polarization
conversion efficiency, whereas the contribution of reflectance modulations
is negligible
Additional file 5 of Micro-RNA-186-5p inhibition attenuates proliferation, anchorage independent growth and invasion in metastatic prostate cancer cells
Figure S2. Up-regulation of AKAP12 in PC-3 cells and pAKT in HEK 293 T cells. A) Total RNA was collected from PC-3 cells transfected with miR-186-5p inhibitor and scramble control 72 h post-transfection. AKAP12 transcript expression was increased by 1.7-fold in transient miR-186-5p inhibited PC-3 cells relative to negative controls (p = 0.0597). B) Protein lysate (35 μg) was collected from HEK 293 T cells transfected with miR-186-5p mimic and scramble control 72 h post-transfection. pAKT expression was enhanced by 1.67-fold increase via miR-186-5p overexpression in HEK 293 T cells (p = 0.196). Data was quantitated from at least 2–3 independent experiments and are represented as mean ± S.D. (TIFF 457 kb
Additional file 3 of Micro-RNA-186-5p inhibition attenuates proliferation, anchorage independent growth and invasion in metastatic prostate cancer cells
Figure S1. Transient and stable miR-186-5p inhibition and overexpression in prostate cancer and normal epithelial cells. miR-186-5p expression was measured following 24–48 h transient post-transfection and stable transfection using qRT-PCR. A) Following transient transfection of cell models with miR-186-5p inhibitor, miR-186-5p was reduced by 33–73% in PC-3 (p = 0.0002), MDA-PCA-2b (p = 0.0061) and LNCaP (p = 0.0381) cells. B) Ectopic expression of miR-186-5p in PC-3 (p = 0.0002), MDA-PCA-2b (p = 0.0061) and LNCaP (p = 0.0381) cells transiently transfected with miR-186-5p mimic. C) MiR-186-5p expression was reduced by 30% in PC-3 cells stably transfected with pcDNA-DEST-47-anti-miR-186 compared to pcDNA-DEST-47 (empty vector) (p = 0.0022). MiR-186-5p was up-regulated by 2.55-fold in RWPE1 cells stably transfected with pcDNA-DEST-47-miR-186 mimic construct compared to the empty vector control (p = 0.0019). Data was quantitated from three independent experiments and are represented as mean fold change ± S.D. (**p-value < 0.005, ***p-value < 0.007). (TIFF 1824 kb
Additional file 1 of Micro-RNA-186-5p inhibition attenuates proliferation, anchorage independent growth and invasion in metastatic prostate cancer cells
Table S1. De-identified demographic and clinico-pathological data. Clinical data and serum from 15 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and five disease-free individuals were obtained from the BioServe Biotechnologies Biorepository (Beltsville, MD). Subjects were self-identified as European American males. There were no significant differences in median age between cases and controls (p = 0.726). Among men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 60% were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, 66.7% were smokers, and 73.3% received two or more therapies. Relative to controls, cases had higher median serum PSA level (ng/ml) (p = 0.048) and BMI (p = 0.225) values. (DOCX 63 kb