Ultrastructural alterations and mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle of peripheral artery disease patients: implications for early therapeutic interventions.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic condition that impairs blood flow to the lower extremities, resulting in myopathy in affected skeletal muscles. Improving our understanding of PAD and developing novel treatment strategies necessitates a comprehensive examination of cellular structural alterations that occur in the muscles with disease progression. Here we aimed to employ electron microscopy to quantify skeletal muscle ultrastructural alterations responsible for the myopathy of PAD.

Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy of Biofilms.

Understanding the dynamics of biofilm formation and its elemental composition is crucial for developing effective strategies against biofilm-associated infections. In this study, we employed scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to investigate the morphological changes and elemental compositions of biofilms. SEM images revealed distinct stages of biofilm development, from initial aggregation to the formation of mature and aged biofilms.

Low-dose ionizing radiation generates a hormetic response to modify lipid metabolism in Chlorella sorokiniana.

Algal biomass is a viable source of chemicals and metabolites for various energy, nutritional, medicinal and agricultural uses. While stresses have commonly been used to induce metabolite accumulation in microalgae in attempts to enhance high-value product yields, this is often very detrimental to growth. Therefore, understanding how to modify metabolism without deleterious consequences is highly beneficial.

Universal pictures: A lithophane codex helps teenagers with blindness visualize nanoscopic systems.

People with blindness have limited access to the high-resolution graphical data and imagery of science. Here, a lithophane codex is reported. Its pages display tactile and optical readouts for universal visualization of data by persons with or without eyesight.

Thylakoid Rhodanese-like Protein-Ferredoxin:NADP Oxidoreductase Interaction Is Integrated into Plant Redox Homeostasis System.

In vascular plants, the final photosynthetic electron transfer from ferredoxin (Fd) to NADP is catalyzed by the flavoenzyme ferredoxin:NADP oxidoreductase (FNR). FNR is recruited to thylakoid membranes via an integral membrane protein TROL (thylakoid rhodanese-like protein) and the membrane associated protein Tic62. We have previously demonstrated that the absence of TROL triggers a very efficient superoxide (O) removal mechanism.

Enhanced Resistance to Viruses in 'Columbia' Is Dependent on Salicylic Acid, Correlates with High Glutathione Levels, and Extends to Plant-Pathogenic Bacteria and Abiotic Stress.

Our earlier research showed that an interspecific tobacco hybrid ( 'Columbia' [NEC]) displays elevated levels of salicylic acid (SA) and enhanced resistance to localized necrotic symptoms (hypersensitive response [HR]) caused by tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and tobacco necrosis virus (TNV), as compared with another interspecific hybrid ( [NE]) derived from the same parents. In the present study, we investigated whether symptomatic resistance in NEC is indeed associated with the inhibition of TMV and TNV and whether SA plays a role in this process. We demonstrated that enhanced viral resistance in NEC is manifested as both milder local necrotic (HR) symptoms and reduced levels of TMV and TNV.

A preparation of bacterial outer membrane with osmium tetroxide and uranyl acetate co-stain enables improved structural determination by transmission electron microscopy.

Biological nanoparticles, such as bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), are routinely characterized through transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In this study, we report a novel method to prepare OMVs for TEM imaging. To preserve vesicular shape and structure, we developed a dual fixation protocol involving osmium tetroxide incubation prior to negative staining with uranyl acetate.

A three-step process of manganese acquisition and storage in the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana.

Metabolism of metals in microalgae and adaptation to metal excess are of significant environmental importance. We report a three-step mechanism that the green microalga Chlorella sorokiniana activates during the acquisition of and adaptation to manganese (Mn), which is both an essential trace metal and a pollutant of waters. In the early stage, Mn2+ was mainly bound to membrane phospholipids and phosphates in released mucilage.

Chemical and cryo-collection of muscle samples for transmission electron microscopy using Methacarn and dimethyl sulfoxide.

Muscle samples are commonly chemically fixed or frozen immediately upon collection for biochemical and morphological analysis. Certain fixatives such as glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide are widely used for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and lead to adequate preservation of muscle ultrastructure, but do not preserve the molecular features of samples. Methacarn is suggested to be a preferable chemical fixative for light microscopy because it maintains immunohistological features of samples.

Data for all: Tactile graphics that light up with picture-perfect resolution.

People who are blind do not have access to graphical data and imagery produced by science. This exclusion complicates learning and data sharing between sighted and blind persons. Because blind people use tactile senses to visualize data (and sighted people use eyesight), a single data format that can be easily visualized by both is needed.

Conserved secreted effectors contribute to endophytic growth and multihost plant compatibility in a vascular wilt fungus.

Fungal interactions with plant roots, either beneficial or detrimental, have a crucial impact on agriculture and ecosystems. The cosmopolitan plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum (Fo) provokes vascular wilts in more than a hundred different crops. Isolates of this fungus exhibit host-specific pathogenicity, which is conferred by lineage-specific Secreted In Xylem (SIX) effectors encoded on accessory genomic regions.

Volumetric 3D reconstruction of plant leaf cells using SEM, ion milling, TEM, and serial sectioning.

Focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy is well suited for volumetric extractions and 3D reconstructions of plant cells and its organelles. The three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of individual plant cells is an important tool to extract volumetric data of organelles and is necessary to fully understand ultrastructural changes and adaptations of plants to their environment. Methods such as the 3D reconstruction of cells based on light microscopical images often lack the resolution necessary to clearly reconstruct all cell compartments within a cell.

Engineered aluminum nanoparticle induces mitochondrial deformation and is predicated on cell phenotype.

The main role of mitochondria is to generate the energy necessary for the cell to survive and adapt to different environmental stresses. Energy demand varies depending on the phenotype of the cell. To efficiently meet metabolic demands, mitochondria require a specific proton homeostasis and defined membrane structures to facilitate adenosine triphosphate production.

Marchantia polymorpha model reveals conserved infection mechanisms in the vascular wilt fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum.

Root-infecting vascular fungi cause wilt diseases and provoke devastating losses in hundreds of crops. It is currently unknown how these pathogens evolved and whether they can also infect nonvascular plants, which diverged from vascular plants over 450 million years ago. We established a pathosystem between the nonvascular plant Marchantia polymorpha (Mp) and the root-infecting vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum (Fo).

Quantifying the effect of shade on cuticle morphology and carbon isotopes of sycamores: present and past.

Premise: Reconstructing the light environment and architecture of the plant canopy from the fossil record requires the use of proxies, such as those derived from cell wall undulation, cell size, and carbon isotopes. All approaches assume that plant taxa will respond predictably to changes in light environments. However, most species-level studies looking at cell wall undulation only consider "sun" or "shade" leaves; therefore, we need a fully quantitative taxon-specific method.

Comparison of skeletal muscle ultrastructural changes between normal and blood flow-restricted resistance exercise: A case report.

New Findings: What is the main observation in this case? The main observation of this case report is that blood flow-restricted exercise can cause myofibrils to have an aberrant wave-like appearance that is accompanied by irregular pockets of sarcoplasm in the intermyofibrillar space, while traditional forms of damage to the Z-discs and contractile elements are not as apparent. What insights does it reveal? Our findings indicate that blood flow restriction-mediated fluid pooling might cause alterations in skeletal muscle ultrastructure after exercise that might be directly related to myofibre swelling.

Abstract: The acute effects of blood flow-restricted (BFR) exercise training on skeletal muscle ultrastructure are poorly understood owing to inconsistent findings and the use of largely imprecise systemic markers for indications of muscle damage.

Cerebral Organoids Derived from a Parkinson's Patient Exhibit Unique Pathogenesis from Chikungunya Virus Infection When Compared to a Non-Parkinson's Patient.

(1) Background: Arboviruses of medical and veterinary significance have been identified on all seven continents, with every human and animal population at risk for exposure. Like arboviruses, chronic neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, are found wherever there are humans. Significant differences in baseline gene and protein expression have been determined between human-induced pluripotent stem cell lines derived from non-Parkinson's disease individuals and from individuals with Parkinson's disease.

Three-dimensional quantitative imaging of Tobacco mosaic virus and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus induced ultrastructural changes.

Two-dimensional ultrastructural changes of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) in tobacco and pumpkin plants, respectively, are well studied. To provide 3D data, representative control and infected cells were reconstructed using serial sectioning and transmission electron microscopy. Quantitative data of 3D ultrastructural changes were then extracted from the cytosol and organelles by image analysis.

Mechanisms of detoxification of high copper concentrations by the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana.

Microalgae have evolved mechanisms to respond to changes in copper ion availability, which are very important for normal cellular function, to tolerate metal pollution of aquatic ecosystems, and for modulation of copper bioavailability and toxicity to other organisms. Knowledge and application of these mechanisms will benefit the use of microalgae in wastewater processing and biomass production, and the use of copper compounds in the suppression of harmful algal blooms. Here, using electron microscopy, synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, we show that the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana responds promptly to Cu2+ at high non-toxic concentration, by mucilage release, alterations in the architecture of the outer cell wall layer and lipid structures, and polyphosphate accumulation within mucilage matrix.

Indoor Finish Material Influence on Contamination, Transmission, and Eradication of Methicillin-Resistant (MRSA).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate environmental surface materials used in healthcare environments for material composition, methicillin-resistant (MRSA) viability, and a comparison of two disinfectants, a bleach germicidal cleaner and Decon7, a novel disinfectant.

Background: Contaminated environmental surfaces have been associated with outbreaks of healthcare-associated illness (HAIs). One in every 20 patients in U.

Subcellular Roles of Glutathione in Mediating Plant Defense during Biotic Stress.

Glutathione and reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles, within different cell compartments, in activating plant defense and the development of resistance. In mitochondria, the accumulation of ROS and the change of glutathione towards its oxidized state leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, activates cell death, and triggers resistance. The accumulation of glutathione in chloroplasts and peroxisomes at the early stages of plant pathogen interactions is related to increased tolerance and resistance.

The effects of ionizing radiation on the structure and antioxidative and metal-binding capacity of the cell wall of microalga Chlorella sorokiniana.

The impact of ionizing radiation on microorganisms such as microalgae is a topic of increasing importance for understanding the dynamics of aquatic ecosystems in response to environmental radiation, and for the development of efficient approaches for bioremediation of mining and nuclear power plants wastewaters. Currently, nothing is known about the effects of ionizing radiation on the microalgal cell wall, which represents the first line of defence against chemical and physical environmental stresses. Using various microscopy, spectroscopy and biochemical techniques we show that the unicellular alga Chlorella sorokiniana elicits a fast response to ionizing radiation.

Sample preparation utilizing sputter coating increases contrast of cellulose nanocrystals in the transmission electron microscope.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are prepared for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using positive or negative stains in an effort to increase the contrast between the specimen and background. When imaging CNCs, conventional stains have been shown to induce particle aggregation and produce artifacts. In this study, we report on methods used to image CNCs.