PDMS as a Substrate for Lipid Bilayers.

PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) is a cheap, optically clear polymer that is elastic and can be easily and quickly fabricated into a wide array of microscale and nanoscale architectures, making it a versatile substrate for biophysical experiments on cell membranes. It is easy to imagine many new experiments will be devised that require a bilayer to be placed upon a substrate that is flexible or easily cast into a desired geometry, such as in lab-on-a-chip, organ-on-chip, and microfluidic applications, or for building accurate membrane models that replicate the surface structure and elasticity of the cytoskeleton. However, PDMS has its limitations, and the extent to which the behavior of membranes is affected on PDMS has not been fully explored.

The mode of action of isocycloseram: A novel isoxazoline insecticide.

Isocycloseram is a novel isoxazoline insecticide and acaricide with activity against lepidopteran, hemipteran, coleopteran, thysanopteran and dipteran pest species. Isocycloseram selectively targets the invertebrate Rdl GABA receptor at a site that is distinct to fiproles and organochlorines. The widely distributed cyclodiene resistance mutation, A301S, does not affect sensitivity to isocycloseram, either in vitro or in vivo, demonstrating the suitability of isocylsoseram to control pest infestations with this resistance mechanism.

Nanoscale Substrate Roughness Hinders Domain Formation in Supported Lipid Bilayers.

Supported lipid bilayers are model membranes formed at solid substrate surfaces. This architecture renders the membrane experimentally accessible to surface-sensitive techniques used to study their properties, including atomic force microscopy, optical fluorescence microscopy, quartz crystal microbalance, and X-ray/neutron reflectometry, and allows integration with technology for potential biotechnological applications such as drug screening devices. The experimental technique often dictates substrate choice or treatment, and it is anecdotally recognized that certain substrates are suitable for a particular experiment, but the exact influence of the substrate has not been comprehensively investigated.

Insecticidal spider toxins are high affinity positive allosteric modulators of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The insecticidal effects of ω-hexatoxin-Hv1a, κ-hexatoxin-Hv1c and ω/κ-hexatoxin-Hv1h are currently attributed to action at calcium and potassium channels. By characterizing the binding of these toxins to neuronal membranes, we show that they have more potent effects as positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), consistent with their neuroexcitatory toxicology. Alanine scanning analysis of ω-hexatoxin-Hv1a reveals a structure-activity relationship for binding that mirrors that for insecticidal activity.

Quantitative Analysis of Structure and Dynamics in AFM Images of Lipid Membranes.

AFM is now established as a powerful and direct technique for studying lipid membranes, and is highly complementary with other techniques. It is the only method for direct imaging and mechanical probing of lipid phase structure in a liquid environment down to the nanometer level. In order to understand the structure, function, and interactions of membranes at this level, we must be able to reliably and quantitatively measure the AFM images.

Spontaneous electrical activity recorded from the aphid central nervous system.

Whilst many classes of insecticides target the insect central nervous system (CNS), their effects in the CNS of pest aphids have not been demonstrated. In this report, we describe an electrophysiological method for recording spontaneous neuronal activity from the giant willow aphid (Tuberolachnus salignus). Using extracellular recording electrodes and two analysis methods (threshold and template search), spontaneous spike activity was shown to exhibit sensitivity to the neuroexcitatory insecticide imidacloprid.