Ligand Shell Thickness of PEGylated Gold Nanoparticles Controls Cellular Uptake and Radiation Enhancement.

The drive to improve the safety and efficacy of radiotherapies for cancers has prompted the development of nanomaterials that can locally amplify the radiation dose at a tumor without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), in particular, exhibit promising radiosensitizing properties under kilovolt X-ray exposure, although the precise mechanism behind this enhancement is not fully understood. While most studies recognize the involvement of factors such as core composition, size, shape, and ligand chemistry in the effectiveness of Au NPs for radiation-induced cancer treatment, there is a scarcity of direct assessments that connect the photophysical properties of the nanomaterial with the observed cellular or biological outcomes.

Rapid spectrophotometric detection for optimized production of landomycins and characterization of their therapeutic potential.

Microbial-derived natural products remain a major source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds and chemical scaffolds that have the potential as new therapeutics to target drug-resistant pathogens and cancers. In particular, genome mining has revealed the vast number of cryptic or low-yield biosynthetic gene clusters in the genus Streptomyces. However, low natural product yields-improvements to which have been hindered by the lack of high throughput methods-have slowed the discovery and development of many potential therapeutics.

Hematocrit-Independent Sampling Enables White Blood Cell Counts from Patterned Dried Blood Spot Cards.

The accurate and efficient measurement of white blood cell (WBC) counts is vital for monitoring general patient health and can aid in the diagnosis of a range of possible infections or diseases. Even with their importance universally acknowledged, access to WBC counts is largely limited to those with access to phlebotomists and centralized clinical laboratories, which house the instruments that perform the tests. As a result, large populations of people (e.

Rapid spectrophotometric detection for optimized production of landomycins and characterization of their therapeutic potential.

Microbial derived natural products remain a major source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds and chemical scaffolds that have potential as new therapeutics to target drug resistant pathogens and cancers. In particular, genome mining has revealed the vast number of cryptic or low yield biosynthetic gene clusters in the genus . Here, we describe our efforts to improve yields of landomycins - angucycline family polyketides under investigation as cancer therapeutics - by a genetically modified 136.

Effect of Loading Method on a Peptide Substrate Reporter in Intact Cells.

Studies of live cells often require loading of exogenous molecules through the cell membrane; however, effects of loading method on experimental results are poorly understood. Therefore, in this work, we compared three methods for loading a fluorescently labeled peptide into cells of the model organism Dictyostelium discoideum. We optimized loading by pinocytosis, electroporation, and myristoylation to maximize cell viability and characterized loading efficiency, localization, and uniformity.

Interspecies comparison of peptide substrate reporter metabolism using compartment-based modeling.

Peptide substrate reporters are fluorescently labeled peptides that can be acted upon by one or more enzymes of interest. Peptide substrates are readily synthesized and more easily separated than full-length protein substrates; however, they are often more rapidly degraded by peptidases. As a result, peptide reporters must be made resistant to proteolysis in order to study enzymes in intact cells and lysates.