Tuning stiffness of hyaluronan-cholesterol nanogels by mussel-inspired dopamine-Fe coordination: Preparation and properties evaluation.

In the evolving field of nanomedicine, tailoring the mechanical properties of nanogels to fine-tune their biological performance is a compelling avenue of research. This work investigates an innovative method for modulating the stiffness of hyaluronan-cholesterol (HACH) nanogels, an area that remains challenging. By grafting dopamine (DOPA) onto the HA backbone, characterized through UV, H NMR, and FT-IR analyses, we synthesized a novel polymer that spontaneously forms nanogels in aqueous environments.

Autophagy Promotes Enrichment of Raft Components within Extracellular Vesicles Secreted by Human 2FTGH Cells.

Autophagy plays a key role in removing protein aggregates and damaged organelles. In addition to its conventional degradative functions, autophagy machinery contributes to the release of cytosolic proteins through an unconventional secretion pathway. In this research, we analyzed autophagy-induced extracellular vesicles (EVs) in HT1080-derived human fibrosarcoma 2FTGH cells using transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Correlating nanoscale motion and ATP production in healthy and favism erythrocytes: a real-time nanomotion sensor study.

Introduction: Red blood cells (RBCs) are among the simplest, yet physiologically relevant biological specimens, due to their peculiarities, such as their lack of nucleus and simplified metabolism. Indeed, erythrocytes can be seen as biochemical machines, capable of performing a limited number of metabolic pathways. Along the aging path, the cells' characteristics change as they accumulate oxidative and non-oxidative damages, and their structural and functional properties degrade.

Surprising Structural and Functional Properties of Favism Erythrocytes Are Linked to Special Metabolic Regulation: A Cell Aging Study.

Favism uniquely arises from a genetic defect of the Glucose-6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) enzyme and results in a severe reduction of erythrocytes' (RBCs) reducing power that impairs the cells' ability to respond to oxidative stresses. After exposure to fava beans or a few other drugs, the patients experience acute hemolytic anemia due to RBCs' lysis both intra and extra-vascularly. In the present paper, we compared selected biochemical, biophysical, and ultra-morphological properties of normal RBCs and cells from favism patients measured along cellular aging.

High-resolution atomic force microscopy as a tool for topographical mapping of surface budding.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membranous nanoparticles secreted by almost all cell types. Reflecting the physiopathological state of the parental cell, EVs circulate in all body fluids, reaching distant cell targets and delivering different bioactive cargoes. As biological carriers, EVs influence their microenvironment altering cellular responses, being considered promising biomarkers for both physiological and pathological conditions.

Mechano-Transduction Boosts the Aging Effects in Human Erythrocytes Submitted to Mechanical Stimulation.

Erythrocytes' aging and mechano-transduction are fundamental cellular pathways that determine the red blood cells' (RBCs) behavior and function. The aging pattern can be influenced, in morphological, biochemical, and metabolic terms by the environmental conditions. In this paper, we studied the effect of a moderate mechanical stimulation applied through external shaking during the RBCs aging and revealed a strong acceleration of the aging pattern induced by such stimulation.

Environmental assessment and eco-design of a surgical face mask.

After more than one year form the first cases of Sars-Cov-2 infection, it is now clear that the most effective mean to prevent the diffusion of the pandemic is the use of face masks, that however are based on fossil materials and could potentially generate an environmental problem. This study wants to quantitatively investigate the environmental impacts related to the life cycle of a single use surgical mask through the use of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. Results highlight significant impacts due to the material supply and transport, as well as product packaging and distribution.

Multivariate analysis of mean Raman spectra of erythrocytes for a fast analysis of the biochemical signature of ageing.

Ageing of red blood cells (RBC) is a physiological process, fundamental to ensure a proper blood homeostasis that, in vivo, balances the production of new cells and the removal of senescent erythrocytes. A detailed characterization at the cellular level of the progression of the ageing phenomenon can reveal biological, biophysical and biochemical fingerprints for diseases related to misbalances of the cell turnover and for blood pathologies. We applied Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to mean Raman spectra of single cells at different ageing times to rapidly highlight subtle spectral differences associated with conformational and biochemical modifications.

Metal-based micro and nanosized pollutant in marine organisms: What can we learn from a combined atomic force microscopy-scanning electron microscopy study.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a consolidated technique for the study of biological systems, usually ex vivo or in culture, under different experimental conditions. Yet, the diffusion of the technique in the scientific context of histology is still rather slow and limited. In the present work, we demonstrate the potential of AFM, in terms of morphological and nanomechanical imaging, to study the effects of nano- and micro-sized metallic pollutants in living biological systems.

A perspective view on the nanomotion detection of living organisms and its features.

The insurgence of newly arising, rapidly developing health threats, such as drug-resistant bacteria and cancers, is one of the most urgent public-health issues of modern times. This menace calls for the development of sensitive and reliable diagnostic tools to monitor the response of single cells to chemical or pharmaceutical stimuli. Recently, it has been demonstrated that all living organisms oscillate at a nanometric scale and that these oscillations stop as soon as the organisms die.

One- and Two-Electron Oxidations of β-Amyloid by Carbonate Radical Anion (CO) and Peroxymonocarbonate (HCO): Role of Sulfur in Radical Reactions and Peptide Aggregation.

The β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide plays a key role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. The methionine (Met) residue at position 35 in Aβ C-terminal domain is critical for neurotoxicity, aggregation, and free radical formation initiated by the peptide. The role of Met in modulating toxicological properties of Aβ most likely involves an oxidative event at the sulfur atom.

A new tool to determine the cellular metabolic landscape: nanotechnology to the study of Friedreich's ataxia.

Understanding the cell response to oxidative stress in disease is an important but difficult task. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of using a nanomotion sensor to study the cellular metabolic landscape. This nanosensor permits the non-invasive real-time detection at the single-cell level and offers high sensitivity and time resolution.

Amyloid β peptide affects erythrocyte morphology: Role of intracellular signaling pathways.

Background: Circulating red blood cells (RBCs) undergo aging, a fundamental physiological phenomenon that regulates their turnover.

Objective: Understanding the role of Aβ in the cross talk between cell signalling pathways and modulation of the cell structural and biomechanical properties occurring in RBCs during aging.

Methods: The morphological pattern has been monitored using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging and measuring the RBCs' plasma membrane roughness employed as a morphological parameter capable to provide information on the structure and integrity of the membrane-skeleton.

A Rapid Unraveling of the Activity and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Mycobacteria.

The development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a worldwide health-related emergency that calls for new tools to study the bacterial metabolism and to obtain fast diagnoses. Indeed, the conventional analysis time scale is too long and affects our ability to fight infections. Slowly growing bacteria represent a bigger challenge, since their analysis may require up to months.

Movement of giant lipid vesicles induced by millimeter wave radiation change when they contain magnetic nanoparticles.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are used in a rapidly expanding number of research and practical applications in biotechnology and biomedicine. Recent developments in iron oxide nanoparticle design and understanding of nanoparticle membrane interactions have led to applications in magnetically triggered, liposome delivery vehicles with controlled structure. Here we study the effect of external physical stimuli-such as millimeter wave radiation-on the induced movement of giant lipid vesicles in suspension containing or not containing iron oxide maghemite (γ-FeO) nanoparticles (MNPs).

Identification of Oxidative Stress in Red Blood Cells with Nanoscale Chemical Resolution by Infrared Nanospectroscopy.

During their lifespan, Red blood cells (RBC), due to their inability to self-replicate, undergo an ageing degradation phenomenon. This pathway, both in vitro and in vivo, consists of a series of chemical and morphological modifications, which include deviation from the biconcave cellular shape, oxidative stress, membrane peroxidation, lipid content decrease and uncoupling of the membrane-skeleton from the lipid bilayer. Here, we use the capabilities of atomic force microscopy based infrared nanospectroscopy (AFM-IR) to study and correlate, with nanoscale resolution, the morphological and chemical modifications that occur during the natural degradation of RBCs at the subcellular level.

Morphological changes induced in erythrocyte by amyloid beta peptide and glucose depletion: A combined atomic force microscopy and biochemical study.

Circulating red blood cells (RBCs) undergo aging, a fundamental physiological phenomenon that regulates their turnover. We show that treatment with beta amyloid peptide 1-42 (Aβ) accelerates the occurrence of morphological and biochemical aging markers in human RBCs and influences the cell metabolism leading to intracellular ATP depletion. The morphological pattern has been monitored using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging and measuring the RBCs' plasma membrane roughness employed as a morphological parameter capable to provide information on the structure and integrity of the membrane-skeleton.

FC_analysis: a tool for investigating atomic force microscopy maps of force curves.

Background: The collection and analysis of Atomic Force Microscopy force curves is a well-established procedure to obtain high-resolution information of non-topographic data from any kind of sample, including biological specimens. In particular, these analyses are commonly employed to study elasticity, stiffness or adhesion properties of the samples. Furthermore, the collection of several force curves over an extended area of the specimens allows reconstructing maps, called force volume maps, of the spatial distribution of the mechanical properties.

Methods for Atomic Force Microscopy of Biological and Living Specimens.

Two main precautions must be taken into account to obtain high-resolution morphological and nanomechanical characterization of biological specimens with an atomic force microscope: the tip-sample interaction and the sample-substrate adhesion. In this chapter we discuss the necessary steps for a correct preparation of three types of biological samples: erythrocytes, bacteria, and osteoblasts. The main goal is to deliver reproducible protocols to produce good cellular adhesion and minimizing the morphological alterations of the specimens.

Insights into the morphological pattern of erythrocytes' aging: Coupling quantitative AFM data to microcalorimetry and Raman spectroscopy.

Erythrocytes (RBCs) constitute a very interesting class of cells both for their physiological function and for a variety of peculiarities. Due to their exceptionally strong relationship with the environment, the morphology and nanoscale characteristics of these cells can reveal their biochemical status and structural integrity. Among the possible subjects of investigations, the RBCs' ageing is of the utmost importance.

Erythrocyte's aging in microgravity highlights how environmental stimuli shape metabolism and morphology.

The determination of the function of cells in zero-gravity conditions is a subject of interest in many different research fields. Due to their metabolic unicity, the characterization of the behaviour of erythrocytes maintained in prolonged microgravity conditions is of particular importance. Here, we used a 3D-clinostat to assess the microgravity-induced modifications of the structure and function of these cells, by investigating how they translate these peculiar mechanical stimuli into modifications, with potential clinical interest, of the biochemical pathways and the aging processes.