The development of single-domain VHH nanobodies that target the cell surface.

causes life-threatening invasive infections that are hard to diagnose and treat, with drug resistance leading to treatment failure. The goal of this study was to develop VHH (single variable domain on a heavy chain) nanobodies to detect drug-resistant infections. Llamas were immunized with a mixture of heat killed and fixed cells of different morphologies.

Sensitivity of magnetic resonance elastography to extracellular matrix and cell motility in human prostate cancer cell line-derived xenograft models.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a significant health problem in the male population of the Western world. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), an emerging medical imaging technique sensitive to mechanical properties of biological tissues, detects PCa based on abnormally high stiffness and viscosity values. Yet, the origin of these changes in tissue properties and how they correlate with histopathological markers and tumor aggressiveness are largely unknown, hindering the use of tumor biomechanical properties for establishing a noninvasive PCa staging system.

Different contractility modes control cell escape from multicellular spheroids and tumor explants.

Cells can adapt their active contractile properties to switch between dynamical migratory states and static homeostasis. Collective tissue surface tension, generated among others by the cortical contractility of single cells, can keep cell clusters compact, while a more bipolar, anisotropic contractility is predominantly used by mesenchymal cells to pull themselves into the extracellular matrix (ECM). Here, we investigate how these two contractility modes relate to cancer cell escape into the ECM.

[Effects of a Motivational Intervention on the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Sports and Exercise Therapy in Inpatient Psychiatric Care].

Objective: Reinforcement and sustainability of sports and exercise therapy in inpatient depression treatment.

Methods: Randomized controlled study with 3 measurement times: t admission to the study, t after four weeks, t two months after discharge. 96 inpatients with depressive disorders (ICD-10 F32, F33) were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG) or a control group (KG).

Effect of non-linear strain stiffening in eDAH and unjamming.

In cell clusters, the prominent factors at play encompass contractility-based enhanced tissue surface tension and cell unjamming transition. The former effect pertains to the boundary effect, while the latter constitutes a bulk effect. Both effects share outcomes of inducing significant elongation in cells.

Whole tissue and single cell mechanics are correlated in human brain tumors.

Biomechanical changes are critical for cancer progression. However, the relationship between the rheology of single cells measured ex-vivo and the living tumor is not yet understood. Here, we combined single-cell rheology of cells isolated from primary tumors with bulk tumor rheology in patients with brain tumors.

Candidalysin delivery to the invasion pocket is critical for host epithelial damage induced by Candida albicans.

The human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans is a frequent cause of mucosal infections. Although the ability to transition from the yeast to the hypha morphology is essential for virulence, hypha formation and host cell invasion per se are not sufficient for the induction of epithelial damage. Rather, the hypha-associated peptide toxin, candidalysin, a product of the Ece1 polyprotein, is the critical damaging factor.

Collagen networks determine viscoelastic properties of connective tissues yet do not hinder diffusion of the aqueous solvent.

Collagen accounts for the major extracellular matrix (ECM) component in many tissues and provides mechanical support for cells. Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging, MR based diffusion measurements and MR Elastography (MRE) are considered sensitive to the microstructure of tissues including collagen networks of the ECM. However, little is known whether water diffusion interacts with viscoelastic properties of tissues.

The two faces of enhanced stroma: Stroma acts as a tumor promoter and a steric obstacle.

In addition to genetic, morphological and biochemical alterations in cells, a key feature of the malignant progression of cancer is the stroma, including cancer cell motility as well as the emergence of metastases. Our current knowledge with regard to the biophysically driven experimental approaches of cancer progression indicates that mechanical aberrations are major contributors to the malignant progression of cancer. In particular, the mechanical probing of the stroma is of great interest.

Optochemokine Tandem for Light-Control of Intracellular Ca2.

An optochemokine tandem was developed to control the release of calcium from endosomes into the cytosol by light and to analyze the internalization kinetics of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) by electrophysiology. A previously constructed rhodopsin tandem was re-engineered to combine the light-gated Ca2+-permeable cation channel Channelrhodopsin-2(L132C), CatCh, with the chemokine receptor CXCR4 in a functional tandem protein tCXCR4/CatCh. The GPCR was used as a shuttle protein to displace CatCh from the plasma membrane into intracellular areas.

Temperature dependence of the Cl atom reaction with deuterated methanes.

Kinetic isotope effect (KIE) and reaction rate coefficients, k1-k4, for the gas-phase reaction of Cl atoms with (12)CH3D (k1), (12)CH2D2 (k2), (12)CHD3 (k3), and (12)CD4 (k4) over the temperature range 223-343 K in 630 Torr of synthetic air are reported. Rate coefficients were measured using a relative rate technique with (12)CH4 as the primary reference compound. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor the methane isotopologue loss.

Vitamin B6-dependent enzymes in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum: a druggable target?

Malaria is a deadly infectious disease which affects millions of people each year in tropical regions. There is no effective vaccine available and the treatment is based on drugs which are currently facing an emergence of drug resistance and in this sense the search for new drug targets is indispensable. It is well established that vitamin biosynthetic pathways, such as the vitamin B6 de novo synthesis present in Plasmodium, are excellent drug targets.

The noncoding RNA Mistral activates Hoxa6 and Hoxa7 expression and stem cell differentiation by recruiting MLL1 to chromatin.

The epigenetic activator Mixed lineage leukemia 1 (MLL1) is paramount for embryonic development and hematopoiesis. Here, we demonstrate that the long, noncoding RNA (lncRNA) Mistral (Mira) activates transcription of the homeotic genes Hoxa6 and Hoxa7 in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) by recruiting MLL1 to chromatin. The Mira gene is located in the spacer DNA region (SDR) separating Hoxa6 and Hoxa7, transcriptionally silent in mESCs, and activated by retinoic acid.

Image-based respiratory motion compensation for fluoroscopic coronary roadmapping.

We present a new image-based respiratory motion compensation method for coronary roadmapping in fluoroscopic images. A temporal analysis scheme is proposed to identify static structures in the image gradient domain. An extended Lucas-Kanade algorithm involving a weighted sum-of-squared-difference (WSSD) measure is proposed to estimate the soft tissue motion in the presence of static structures.

SETDB1 is involved in postembryonic DNA methylation and gene silencing in Drosophila.

DNA methylation is fundamental for the stability and activity of genomes. Drosophila melanogaster and vertebrates establish a global DNA methylation pattern of their genome during early embryogenesis. Large-scale analyses of DNA methylation patterns have uncovered revealed that DNA methylation patterns are dynamic rather than static and change in a gene-specific fashion during development and in diseased cells.

Chromatin immunoprecipitation from human embryonic stem cells.

The functional and structural complexity of the myriad of cells in metazoan organisms arises from a small number of stem cells. Stem cells are characterized by two fundamental properties: self-renewal and multipotency that allows a stem cell to differentiate into virtually any cell type. The progression stem cell to differentiated cell is characterized by loss of multipotency, structural and morphological changes and the hierarchic activity of transcription factors and signaling molecules, whose activities establish and maintain cell-type specific gene expression patterns.

Image guidance of intracardiac ultrasound with fusion of pre-operative images.

This paper presents a method for registering 3D intracardiac echo (ICE) to pre-operative images. A magnetic tracking sensor is integrated on the ICE catheter tip to provide the 3D location and orientation. The user guides the catheter into the patient heart to acquire a series of ultrasound images covering the anatomy of the heart chambers.

Standardized platform for coregistration of nonconcurrent diffuse optical and magnetic resonance breast images obtained in different geometries.

We present a novel methodology for combining breast image data obtained at different times, in different geometries, and by different techniques. We combine data based on diffuse optical tomography (DOT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The software platform integrates advanced multimodal registration and segmentation algorithms, requires minimal user experience, and employs computationally efficient techniques.

Reconfigurable microfluidic integration of a dual-beam laser trap with biomedical applications.

A dual-beam fiber laser trap, termed the optical stretcher when used to deform objects, has been combined with a capillary-based microfluidic system in order to serially trap and deform biological cells. The design allows for control over the size and position of the trap relative to the flow channel. Data is recorded using video phase contrast microscopy and is subsequently analyzed using a custom edge fitting routine.

Image registration: enabling technology for image guided surgery and therapy.

Imaging looks inside the patient's body, exposing the patient's anatomy beyond what is visible on the surface. Medical imaging has a very successful history for medical diagnosis. It also plays an increasingly important role as enabling technology for minimally invasive procedures.

Augmented reality visualization for CT-guided interventions: system description, feasibility, and initial evaluation in an abdominal phantom.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and performance of an augmented reality (AR) visualization prototype for virtual computed tomography (CT)-guided interventional procedures in a multimodality abdominal phantom. With the aid of AR guidance, three radiologists performed 30 attempts at targeting simulated liver lesions of different sizes (range, 5-15 mm) with a biopsy needle. The position of the needle tip relative to the lesion was verified by using ultrasonography and CT.

Characterizing single suspended cells by optorheology.

The measurement of the mechanical properties of individual cells has received much attention in recent years. In this paper we describe the application of optically induced forces with an optical stretcher to perform step-stress experiments on individual suspended fibroblasts. The conversion from creep-compliance to frequency-dependent complex shear modulus reveals characteristic viscoelastic signatures of the underlying cytoskeleton and its dynamic molecular properties.

Learning based non-rigid multi-modal image registration using Kullback-Leibler divergence.

The need for non-rigid multi-modal registration is becoming increasingly common for many clinical applications. To date, however, existing proposed techniques remain as largely academic research effort with very few methods being validated for clinical product use. It has been suggested by Crum et al.