Folic Acid Supplementation in Postpolypectomy Patients in a Randomized Controlled Trial Increases Tissue Folate Concentrations and Reduces Aberrant DNA Biomarkers in Colonic Tissues Adjacent to the Former Polyp Site.

Background: Low folate status is associated with an increased risk of colorectal carcinogenesis. Optimal folate status may be genoprotective by preventing uracil misincorporation into DNA and DNA hypomethylation. Adenomatous polyps have low folate status compared with normal colonic mucosa, and they are surrounded by histologically normal mucosa that also is of low folate status.

FISH comets show that the salvage enzyme TK1 contributes to gene-specific DNA repair.

Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is a salvage enzyme that phosphorylates thymidine, imported from surrounding fluids, to create dTMP, which is further phosphorylated to the DNA precursor dTTP. TK1 deficiency has for a long time been known to cause increased cellular sensitivity to DNA damage. We have examined preferential strand break repair of DNA domains in TK1(+) and TK1(-) clones of the Raji cell line, by the Comet-FISH technique, in bulk DNA and in the actively transcribed tumor suppressor (TP53) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene regions, over 1 h after 5Gy γ-irradiation.

From single cells to tissues: interactions between the matrix and human breast cells in real time.

Background: Mammary gland morphogenesis involves ductal elongation, branching, and budding. All of these processes are mediated by stroma--epithelium interactions. Biomechanical factors, such as matrix stiffness, have been established as important factors in these interactions.

Low colonocyte folate is associated with uracil misincorporation and global DNA hypomethylation in human colorectum.

Low folate status is a risk factor for colon carcinogenesis; mechanisms proposed to account for this relationship include uracil misincorporation into DNA and global DNA hypomethylation. We investigated whether such biomarkers are related to folate status in isolated colonocytes from colonoscopy patients. In cases with adenomatous polyps (n = 40) or hyperplastic polyps (n = 16), colonocytes were isolated from biopsies from the polyp, from a site adjacent to the polyp, and from normal mucosa 10-15 cm distal to the polyp.

Inducing hysteretic spin crossover in solution.

A hysteretic spin transition is induced in a solution assembly of a mononuclear Fe(III) amphiphilic complex which exhibits only gradual spin crossover in the solid state. The hysteretic behavior is dependent on dynamic solution assembly and removal of solvent causes reversion to the original bulk solid magnetic response.