Effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration on the maintenance and differentiation of cultured skeletal muscle cells.

We have studied the effects of hydrogen peroxide (HO) on the differentiation and maintenance of C2C12 myoblasts. The effects of HO were evaluated by cell viability, total protein concentration, the relative amount of muscle-related proteins, sarcomere structure, and active tension generation. Oxidative stress is one of the major causes of myopathy after exercise and thus establishing the method to evaluate the effects on muscle function is essential.

Self-Organized Micro-Spiral of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are reported to spontaneously align in a rotational pattern by drying a liquid droplet of toluene containing polyfluorene as a dispersant. By situating a droplet of an SWCNT solution around a glass bead, spiral patterns are generated. The parallel alignment of SWCNTs along one stripe of such a pattern is confirmed using scanning electron microscopy and polarized optical microscopy.