Polyphosphate (polyP), a biopolymer composed of phosphates, impacts a wide range of biological functions and pathological conditions in all organisms. However, polyP's intricate physiology and structure in human cells have remained elusive, largely due to the lack of a reliable quantification method including its extraction. In this study, we assess critical points in the whole process: extraction, purification, and quantification polyP from human cell lines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe introduce two water-soluble excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) based fluorescent turn-on probes responding to inorganic polyphosphates. These ESIPT probes enable specific detection of short-chain inorganic polyphosphates over a range of different condensed phosphates. The probes are weakly emissive in their off-state due to the blocking of ESIPT by Cu coordination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFused deposition modeling (FDM) is well suited for microfluidic prototyping due to its low investment cost and a wide range of accessible materials. Nevertheless, most commercial FDM materials exhibit low chemical and thermal stability. This reduces the scope of applications and limits their use in research and development, especially for on-chip chemical synthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs) are nutrient messengers whose cellular levels are precisely regulated. Diphosphoinositol pentakisphosphate kinases (PPIP5Ks) generate the active signaling molecule 1,5-InsP8. PPIP5Ks harbor phosphatase domains that hydrolyze PP-InsPs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBoth deficiency and toxicity of the micronutrient boron lead to severe reductions in crop yield. Despite this agricultural importance, the molecular basis underlying boron homeostasis in plants remains unclear. To identify molecular players involved in boron homeostasis in maize (Zea mays L.
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