A Three Stage Integrative Pathway Search (TIPS) framework to identify toxicity relevant genes and pathways.

Background: The ability to obtain profiles of gene expressions, proteins and metabolites with the advent of high throughput technologies has advanced the study of pathway and network reconstruction. Genome-wide network reconstruction requires either interaction measurements or large amount of perturbation data, often not available for mammalian cell systems. To overcome these shortcomings, we developed a Three Stage Integrative Pathway Search (TIPS(c)) approach to reconstruct context-specific active pathways involved in conferring a specific phenotype, from limited amount of perturbation data.

Patterned co-culture of primary hepatocytes and fibroblasts using polyelectrolyte multilayer templates.

This paper describes the formation of patterned cell co-cultures using the layer-by-layer deposition of synthetic ionic polymers and without the aid of adhesive proteins/ligands such as collagen or fibronectin. In this study, we used synthetic polymers, namely poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDAC) and sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) as the polycation and polyanion, respectively, to build the multilayer films. We formed SPS patterns on polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) surfaces either by microcontact printing PDAC onto SPS surfaces or vice-versa.

Palmitic acid-treated astrocytes induce BACE1 upregulation and accumulation of C-terminal fragment of APP in primary cortical neurons.

High-fat diet is a significant risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition, the AD brain is characterized by elevated levels of fatty acids as compared to that of healthy controls. Despite this, it is unclear how elevated levels of fatty acids are related to the pathogenesis of AD.