Phototrophic aggregates containing filamentous cyanobacteria occur naturally, for example, as cryoconite on glaciers and microbialites in fresh or marine waters, but their formation is not fully understood. Laboratory models are now available to reproduce aggregation, that is, the formation of different morphotypes like hemispheroids, microbial mats or sphere-like aggregates we call photogranules. In the model, activated sludge as starting matrix is transformed into aggregates enclosed by a phototrophic layer of growing cyanobacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxygenic photogranules (OPGs) are dense, three-dimensional aggregates containing a syntrophic, light-driven microbial community. Their temporal and spatial development interests microbial ecologists working at the bioprocess engineering interface, as this knowledge can be used to optimize biotechnological applications, such as wastewater treatment and biomass valorization. The method presented here enables the high-throughput quantification of photogranulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor responses to cancer therapeutics are generally monitored every 2-3 months based on changes in tumor size. Dynamic biomarkers that reflect effective engagement of targeted therapeutics to the targeted pathway, so-called "effect sensors", would fulfill a need for non-invasive, drug-specific indicators of early treatment effect. Using a proteomics approach to identify effect sensors, we demonstrated MUC1 upregulation in response to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting treatments in breast and lung cancer models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring central nervous system (CNS) development, proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) have to be regulated in a spatio-temporal fashion. Here, we report different branches of the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling pathway to be required for the brain area-specific control of NSCs. In the midbrain, canonical TGFβ signaling via Smad4 regulates the balance between proliferation and differentiation of NSCs.
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