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Scientific Citations Spark®

Published in peer reviewed high impact journals

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Daily magnesium fluxes regulate cellular timekeeping and energy balance

Circadian clocks are fundamental to the biology of most eukaryotes, coordinating behaviour and physiology to resonate with the environmental cycle of day and night through complex networks of clock-controlled genes. A fundamental knowledge gap exists, however, between circadian gene expression cycles and the biochemical mechanisms that ultimately facilitate circadian regulation of cell..

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Neutrophil-derived proteases escalate inflammation through activation of IL-36 family cytokines

Recent evidence has strongly implicated the IL-1 family cytokines IL-36ι, IL-36β, and IL-36γ as key initiators of skin inflammation. Similar to the other members of the IL-1 family, IL-36 cytokines are expressed as inactive precursors and require proteolytic processing for activation; however, the responsible proteases are unknown. Here, we show that IL-36ι, IL-36β, and IL-36γ are..

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A self-assembling RNA aptamer-based graphene oxide sensor for the turn-on detection of theophylline in serum

To date, few effective fluorescent biosensors based on RNA aptamers have been developed because the intrinsic instability of RNA in the presence of nucleases precludes the application of RNA aptamers for the analysis of biological fluids. In this study, we developed a simple, sensitive, selective turn-on fluorescent aptasensor for theophylline detection in serum, utilizing..

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Global DNA Methylation Detection System Using MBD-Fused Luciferase Based on Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer Assay

DNA methylation plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression. In normal cells, transposable elements that constitute approximately 45% of the human genome are highly methylated to silence their expression. In cancer cells, transposable elements are hypomethylated; therefore, global DNA methylation level is considered as a biomarker for cancer diagnostics. In this study,..

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Systemic inflammatory profiles and their relationships with demographic, behavioural and clinical features in acute low back pain

Systemic inflammation is linked with development and persistence of many pathological pain states. Although chronic phase inflammatory responses are well reported, the acute phase has received limited attention. Here we investigated circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP), and explored their relationships with symptom severity and other factors in acute low..

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Near-Infrared Illumination of Native Tissues for Image-Guided Surgery

Our initial efforts to prepare tissue-specific near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent compounds generated successful correlation between physicochemical properties and global uptake in major organs after systemic circulation and biodistribution. Herein, we focus on the effects on biodistribution based on modulating electronic influencing moieties from donating to withdrawing moieties at both..

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A-Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase (ADAM) 17 Enzymatically Degrades Interferon-gamma

Interferon-gamma (IFN-Îł) is a pleiotropic cytokine that exerts anti-tumor and anti-osteoclastogenic effects. Although transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of IFN-Îł is well understood, subsequent modifications of secreted IFN-Îł are not fully elucidated. Previous research indicates that some cancer cells escape immune surveillance and metastasize into bone tissue by..

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Sequential Inactivation of Gliotoxin by theS-Methyltransferase TmtA

The epipolythiodioxopiperazine (ETP) gliotoxin mediates toxicity via its reactive thiol groups and thereby contributes to virulence of the human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. Self-intoxication of the mold is prevented either by reversible oxidation of reduced gliotoxin or by irreversible conversion to bis(methylthio)gliotoxin. The latter is produced by the S-methyltransferase..

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Targeted inhibition of WRN helicase by external guide sequence and RNase P RNA

Human WRN, a RecQ helicase encoded by the Werner syndrome gene, is implicated in genome maintenance, including replication, recombination, excision repair and DNA damage response. These genetic processes and expression of WRN are concomitantly upregulated in many types of cancers. Therefore, targeted destruction of this helicase could be useful for elimination of cancer cells. Here, we..

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Breaking the Permeability Barrier of Escherichia coli by Controlled Hyperporination of the Outer Membrane

In Gram-negative bacteria, a synergistic relationship between slow passive uptake of antibiotics across the outer membrane and active efflux transporters creates a permeability barrier, which efficiently reduces the effective concentrations of antibiotics in cells and, hence, their activities. To analyze the relative contributions of active efflux and the passive barrier to the..

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Novobiocin Susceptibility of MukBEF-Deficient Escherichia coli Is Combinatorial with Efflux and Resides in DNA Topoisomerases

Condensins play a key role in the global organization of bacterial chromosomes. In Escherichia coli, the inactivation of its sole condensin MukBEF induces severe growth defects and renders cells hypersusceptible to novobiocin. We report here that this hypersusceptibility can be observed in TolC-deficient cells and is therefore unrelated to multidrug efflux. We further show that..

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Controlled extended octenidine release from a bacterial nanocellulose/Poloxamer hybrid system

Although bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) has been widely investigated in the last 10years as drug delivery system, up to now no long-term controlled release of drugs could be realized. Therefore, the aim of the present work was the development of a BNC-based drug delivery system that provides prolonged retention time for the antiseptic octenidine up to one week with improved mechanical..

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Candidacidal Activity of Selected Ceragenins and Human Cathelicidin LL-37 in Experimental Settings Mimicking Infection Sites

Fungal infections, especially those caused by antibiotic resistant pathogens, have become a serious public health problem due to the growing number of immunocompromised patients, including those subjected to anticancer treatment or suffering from HIV infection. In this study we assessed fungicidal activity of the ceragenins CSA-13, CSA-131 and CSA-192 against four fluconazole-resistant..

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Visualization of NO3 NO2 Dynamics in Living Cells by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) Imaging Employing a Rhizobial Two-component

Nitrate (NO3(-)) and nitrite (NO2(-)) are the physiological sources of nitric oxide (NO), a key biological messenger molecule. NO3(-)/NO2(-) exerts a beneficial impact on NO homeostasis and its related cardiovascular functions. To visualize the physiological dynamics of NO3(-)/NO2(-) for assessing the precise roles of these anions, we developed a genetically encoded intermolecular..

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An innovative protocol for schwann cells extracellular matrix proteins extraction

The evidence that extracellular matrix (ECM) components could represent new targets for drugs designed to approach degenerative disease, requires their analysis. Before the analysis, proteins should be extracted from ECM and solubilized. Currently, few protocols for ECM proteins extraction and solubilization are available in literature, and most of them are based mainly on the use of..

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In-depth Characterization of Firefly Luciferase as a Reporter of Circadian Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells

Firefly luciferase (Fluc) is frequently used to report circadian gene expression rhythms in mammalian cells and tissues. During longitudinal assays it is generally assumed that enzymatic substrates are in saturating excess, such that total bioluminescence is directly proportional to Fluc protein level. To test this assumption, we compared the enzyme kinetics of purified luciferase with..

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Biofilm formation-defective mutants in Pseudomonas putida

Out of 8000 candidates from a genetic screening for Pseudomonas putida KT2442 mutants showing defects in biofilm formation, 40 independent mutants with diminished levels of biofilm were analyzed. Most of these mutants carried insertions in genes of the lap cluster, whose products are responsible for synthesis, export and degradation of the adhesin LapA. All mutants in this class were..

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Detection of carbapenemase activity in Enterobacteriaceae using LC-MS/MS in comparison with the neo-rapid CARB kit

It has been described that the sensitivity of the Carba NP test may be low in the case of OXA-48-like carbapenamases and mass spectrometry based methods as well as a colorimetry based method have been described as alternatives. We evaluated 84 Enterobacteriaceae isolates including 31 OXA-48-like producing isolates and 13 isolates that produced either an imipenemase (IMP; n = 8), New..

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Removal of antibiotics in wastewater by enzymatic treatment with fungal laccase

In this study, the performance of immobilised laccase (Trametes versicolor) was investigated in combination with the mediator syringaldehyde (SYR) in removing a mixture of 38 antibiotics in an enzymatic membrane reactor (EMR). Antibiotics were spiked in osmosed water at concentrations of 10Οg¡L(-1) each. Laccase without mediator did not reduce the load of antibiotics significantly...

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Fluorescence Based Microplate Assays for In Vitro Assessment of Mitochondrial Toxicity, Metabolic Perturbation, and Cellular Oxygenation

High-throughput in vitro cell metabolism assays are of particular use for identification and delineation of mitochondrial toxicity and related metabolic perturbation. Here, a panel of fluorescence-based metabolism assays are described for measuring oxygen consumption, glycolytic flux, and cellular oxygenation. They can be applied to analysis of both isolated mitochondria and cell..

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Impact of ozonisation on pro-health properties and antioxidant capacity of 'Honeoye'strawberry fruit

The objective of the research was to determine the impact of concentration and ozonisation time on the selected chemical properties and total antioxidant capacity of ‘Honeoye’ strawberries cultivar. Efficiency of gaseous ozone usage as a method of extending the fruit shelf life was proved. Strawberries were exposed to ozone stream with concentration of 0.3–1.2 mg/L, within 60,..

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Reviving antibiotics: efflux pump inhibitors that interact with AcrA, a membrane fusion protein of the AcrAB-TolC multidrug efflux pump

Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to human welfare. Inhibitors of multidrug efflux pumps (EPIs) are promising alternative therapeutics that could revive activities of antibiotics and reduce bacterial virulence. Identification of new druggable sites for inhibition is critical for the development of effective EPIs, especially in light of constantly emerging resistance. Here, we..

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The Ebola Virus VP30-NP Interaction Is a Regulator of Viral RNA Synthesis

Filoviruses are capable of causing deadly hemorrhagic fevers. All nonsegmented negative-sense RNA-virus nucleocapsids are composed of a nucleoprotein (NP), a phosphoprotein (VP35) and a polymerase (L). However, the VP30 RNA-synthesis co-factor is unique to the filoviruses. The assembly, structure, and function of the filovirus RNA replication complex remain unclear. Here, we have..

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