MINGHAO LI¹, YOULI QIU², WENHUI ZHANG¹, RUIHAO SUN¹, MEIJIN DU¹, LUZE YANG³, YU LI^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.2, pp. 247-255, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.08835

Abstract While phthalate acid esters (PAEs) cannot fluoresce alone, they can be detected by fluorescence spectroscopy after chelation with bovine serum albumin (BSA). In this study, the types of amino acid residues at the active site of PAEs chelated with BSA were determined using molecular docking technology. A modification scheme of BSA with higher detection sensitivity fluorescence spectroscopy for PAEs was proposed based on the docking results and constructed for a novel BSA structure with a higher detection sensitivity of fluorescence spectroscopy using a homologous modeling method. Density functional theory (DFT) was employed to explore the influence before and after BSA… More >

MIROSLAV VAŘECHA^1*, DANIELA PÁCLOVÁ², JIŘINA PROCHÁZKOVÁ², PAVEL MATULA¹, DUŠAN CMARKO³, AND MICHAL KOZUBEK¹

BIOCELL, Vol.36, No.3, pp. 121-126, 2012, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2012.36.121

Abstract Recent findings suggest that apoptotic protein apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) may also play an important non-apoptotic function inside mitochondria. AIF was proposed to be an important component of respiratory chain complex I that is the major producer of superoxide radical. The possible role of AIF is still controversial. Superoxide production could be used as a valuable measure of complex I function, because the majority of superoxide is produced there. Therefore, we employed superoxide-specific mitochondrial fluorescence dye for detection of superoxide production. We studied an impact of AIF knockdown on function of mitochondrial complex I by analyzing superoxide production in selected cell… More >

Hajiboland R^1,2, C Poschenrieder³

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.84, No.1, pp. 86-100, 2015, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2015.84.086

Abstract Under acid soil conditions, solubility of aluminum (Al) increases leading to toxicity for plants. Al accumulator species such as tea, however, accumulate high levels of Al in tissues without toxicity symptoms. In this work, Al localization and compartmentation were studied in tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze] grown hydroponically at 0 or 100 µM Al for eight weeks. Plant dry matter production was significantly higher in the presence of Al and accumulated up to 1.21 and 6.18 mg Al/g DW in the leaves and roots, respectively. About 40-50% of Al was partitioned into cell wall (CW)-bound fraction without any difference… More >

Yongliang Wang¹, Dana N LeVine², Xuefeng Wang^1,3,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 105-105, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07872

Abstract Platelets are important blood cells mediating hemostasis and thrombosis. Integrin tension plays a critical role in most platelet functions, such as adhesion, activation, aggregation and contraction. Visualizing and measuring single platelet forces are desired in both research and diagnosis of platelet functions. Here we developed integrative tension sensor (ITS) which converts integrin molecular tension to fluorescent signal, therefore enabling cellular force mapping directly by fluorescence imaging. With the ITS, we mapped integrin-transmitted platelet force at 0.4 µm resolution during platelet adhesion and contraction. We found that platelet force distribution has strong polarization which is sensitive to treatment with anti-platelet drugs,… More >

Atif Kamil¹, Mubarak Ali Khan¹, Muhammad AAsim², Nadir Zaman Khan², Raham Sher Khan¹, Muhsin Jamal³, Waqar Ahmad⁴, Mir Azam Khan⁴, Fazal Jalil⁴

BIOCELL, Vol.43, No.3, pp. 167-174, 2019, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2019.06729

Abstract Several toxic compounds are known to induce apoptosis in mammalian cell lines. The human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) were exposed to the phosphatase inhibiting toxin okadaic acid (OA) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to induce apoptosis as well as generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Mitoxantrone (MXT) was used as a positive control for apoptosis. The SH-SY5Y cells were transfected with eukaryotic expression plasmid pHyPer-dMito encoding mitochondrial-targeted fluorescent or pHyPer-dCito encoding cytoplasmic-targeted fluorescent sensor for hydrogen peroxide (HyPer). The ERp57, also called GRP58 (Glucose-regulated protein 58), is a stress protein induced in conditions like glucose starvation and viral infection. Recently ERp57 was shown… More >

Dhouha Belhaj Sghaier¹, Insaf Bankaji¹, Sylvia Pedro², Isabel Caçador², Noomene Sleimi^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.88, No.3, pp. 239-252, 2019, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2019.06887

Abstract The lack of knowledge of plant tolerance and differential response to aluminum (Al) encouraged many researchers, in the last decade, to elucidate Al toxicity and tolerance mechanisms. The current study reported the impact of Al, a toxic element with negative effects on plant growth and development, in halophytic plant Tamarix gallica. Plants were subjected to different Al concentrations (0, 200, 500 and 800 μM) with or without NaCl (200 mM) supplementation. Growth, photosynthesis and mineral content were assessed. Al stress had a significant decrease on shoots’ biomass production between 19 to 41%, and a little variation on chlorophyll content and… More >

Weeradech Kiratitanavit¹, Ferdinando F. Bruno^2,*, Zhiyu Xia¹, Shiran Yu¹, Jayant Kumar^3,4, Ramaswamy Nagarajan^1,3,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 205-214, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00031

Abstract Polyserotonin was enzymatically synthesized using Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as the catalyst. This novel conjugated polymer exhibited good fluorescent properties with significantly higher Stokes shift than its monomer. The enzymatic polymerization eliminated the need for extensive purification of the product (typically necessary for the removal of residual metal catalyst) allowing the product to be naturally fluorescent as synthesized. The reaction was monitored using UV-Vis spectrophotometry and the polymers were characterized using Fluorescence, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thermogravimetry. The possibility of using polyserotonin for the detection of nitro-aromatic compounds, including 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) and trinitrotoluene (TNT), through fluorescence quenching at parts… More >

Ruikai Chen¹, Delphine Dean^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.14, No.3, pp. 153-169, 2017, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2017.014.153

Abstract Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play an important role in regulating blood flow and pressure by contracting and relaxing in response to a variety of mechanical stimuli. A fully differentiated and functional VSMC should have both the ability to contract and relax in response to environmental stimuli. In addition, it should have the proper mechanical properties to sustain the mechanically active vascular environment. Stem cells can differentiate towards VSMC lineages and so could be used as a potential treatment for vascular repair. However, few studies have assessed the time it takes for stems cells to acquire similar mechanical property to… More >

Ajith Rajapaksha^1,2, Michael Fink¹, Brian A. Todd¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 215-230, 2015, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2015.012.215

Abstract Delivery of therapeutic agents to the eye requires efficient transport through cellular and extracellular barriers. We evaluated the rate of diffusive transport in excised porcine corneal stroma using fluorescently labeled dextran molecules with hydrodynamic radii ranging from 1.3 to 34 nm. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) was used to measure diffusion coefficients of dextran molecules in the excised porcine corneal stroma. The preferential sensitivity of FCS to diffusion along two dimensions was used to differentially probe diffusion along the directions parallel to and perpendicular to the collagen lamellae of the corneal stroma. In order to develop an understanding of how size… More >

N. Osawa¹, K. Hashimoto¹, J. Sawamura¹, J. Kikuchi², Y. Deguchi², T. Yamaura²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 43-54, 2007, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2007.020.043

Abstract A new hypothesis regarding heat transmission during line heating is proposed. It states that the distribution of the temperature of the gas adjacent to the plate, T_G, and the overall local heat transfer coefficient, α, depend only on the distance from the torch. An identification technique for T_G and α is developed. The validity of the employed hypothesis and the proposed technique is demonstrated by comparing the measured and identified T_G during a spot heating test. The plate temperature calculated by direct heat conduction analysis closely approximates the one measured for the spot and line heating tests, when T_G and… More >