Development of an Effective Functional Lipid Anchor for Membranes (FLAME) for the Bioorthogonal Modification of the Lipid Bilayer of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.

The glycosylation of cellular membranes is crucial for the survival and communication of cells. As our target is the engineering of the glycocalyx, we designed a functionalized lipid anchor for the introduction into cellular membranes called Functional Lipid Anchor for MEmbranes (FLAME). Since cholesterol incorporates very effectively into membranes, we developed a twice cholesterol-substituted anchor in a total synthesis by applying protecting group chemistry.

Pharmacological characterization of 5-iodo-A-85380, a β2-selective nicotinic receptor agonist, in mice.

Background: Because of their implications in several pathological conditions, α4β2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are potential targets for the treatment of nicotine dependence, pain, and many psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. However, they exist in various subtypes, and finding selective tools to investigate them has proved challenging. The nicotinic receptor agonist, 5-iodo-A-85380 (5IA), has helped in delineating the function of β2-containing subtypes in vitro; however, much is still unknown about its behavioral effects.

Enzymatic incorporation of an isotope-labeled adenine into RNA for the study of conformational dynamics by NMR.

Solution NMR spectroscopy is a well-established tool with unique advantages for structural studies of RNA molecules. However, for large RNA sequences, the NMR resonances often overlap severely. A reliable way to perform resonance assignment and allow further analysis despite spectral crowding is the use of site-specific isotope labeling in sample preparation.

How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity?

Although liquid-liquid phase separation of cytoplasmic or nuclear components in cells has been a major focus in cell biology, it is only recently that the principle of phase separation has been a long-standing concept and extensively studied in biomembranes. Membrane phase separation has been reconstituted in simplified model systems, and its detailed physicochemical principles, including essential phase diagrams, have been extensively explored. These model membrane systems have proven very useful to study the heterogeneity in cellular membranes, however, concerns have been raised about how reliably they can represent native membranes.

Neuropathic insult increases the responsiveness to acetic acid in mice.

Chronic neuropathic pain is a burden to millions of patients every day. Patients with neuropathic pain will also experience acute pain throughout their everyday lives adding to their nociceptive burden. Using nociceptive models in mice this study aimed to investigate the relationship between acute visceral pain and chronic neuropathic pain in spontaneous and affective behaviors.