Stereoselective Interactions of Chiral Polyurea Nanocapsules with Albumins.

Exploiting the chirality of nanometric structures to modulate biological systems is an emerging and compelling area of research. In this study, we reveal that chiral polyurea nanocapsules exhibit significant stereoselective interactions with albumins from various sources despite their nearly neutral surface potential. Moreover, these interactions can be modulated by altering the nanocapsule surface composition, offering new opportunities to impact their distribution and, if used as a drug delivery system, the pharmacokinetics of the drug.

Traditional versus virtual interviews: A perspective of paediatric dentistry program directors and residents.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic restrictions necessitated changes in conduct of the interview process for the selection of candidates in paediatric dentistry residency programs.

Aims: To examine the experiences and attitudes of paediatric dentistry program directors and residents regarding the virtual interview process during the 2020/2021 application cycle.

Design: A survey was sent to 82 directors and 416 postdoctoral members of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry with data collected from individuals interviewed during the 2020/2021 cycle.

Evaluation of nasal delivery systems of olanzapine by desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging.

Nose-to-brain delivery presents an attractive administration route for neuroactive drugs that suffer from compromised bioavailability or fail to pass the blood-brain barrier. However, the conventional gauge of effectiveness for intranasal delivery platforms primarily involves detecting the presence of the administered drug within the brain, with little insight into its precise localization within brain structures. This may undermine the therapeutic efficacy of drugs and hinder the design of systems that target specific brain regions.

Adipose tissue composition determines its computed tomography radiodensity.

Objectives: Adipose tissue radiodensity in computed tomography (CT) performed before surgeries can predict surgical difficulty. Despite its clinical importance, little is known about what influences radiodensity. This study combines desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) with machine learning to unveil how chemical composition of adipose tissue determines its radiodensity.

Azapodophyllotoxin Causes Lymphoma and Kidney Cancer Regression by Disrupting Tubulin and Monoglycerols.

A natural compound screen identified several anticancer compounds, among which azapodophyllotoxin (AZP) was found to be the most potent. AZP caused decreased viability of both mouse and human lymphoma and renal cell cancer (RCC) tumor-derived cell lines. Novel AZP derivatives were synthesized and screened identifying compound NSC750212 to inhibit the growth of both lymphoma and RCC both in vitro and in vivo.

SDHB knockout and succinate accumulation are insufficient for tumorigenesis but dual SDHB/NF1 loss yields SDHx-like pheochromocytomas.

Inherited pathogenic succinate dehydrogenase (SDHx) gene mutations cause the hereditary pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma tumor syndrome. Syndromic tumors exhibit elevated succinate, an oncometabolite that is proposed to drive tumorigenesis via DNA and histone hypermethylation, mitochondrial expansion, and pseudohypoxia-related gene expression. To interrogate this prevailing model, we disrupt mouse adrenal medulla SDHB expression, which recapitulates several key molecular features of human SDHx tumors, including succinate accumulation but not 5hmC loss, HIF accumulation, or tumorigenesis.

Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging in discovery and development of novel therapies.

Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) is one of the least specimen destructive ambient ionization mass spectrometry tissue imaging methods. It enables rapid simultaneous mapping, measurement, and identification of hundreds of molecules from an unmodified tissue sample. Over the years, since its first introduction as an imaging technique in 2005, DESI-MSI has been extensively developed as a tool for separating tissue regions of various histopathologic classes for diagnostic applications.

Adipocytes Provide Fatty Acids to Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells.

Background: There is increasing evidence that adipocytes play an active role in the cancer microenvironment. We have previously reported that adipocytes interact with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells, contributing to chemotherapy resistance and treatment failure. In the present study, we investigated whether part of this resistance is due to adipocyte provision of lipids to ALL cells.

Association of Diabetes and Dental Caries Among U.S. Adolescents in the NHANES Dataset.

To investigate the association of diabetes and dental caries in U.S. adolescents in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Differential Interactions of Chiral Nanocapsules with DNA.

(1) Background: Chiral nanoparticular systems have recently emerged as a compelling platform for investigating stereospecific behavior at the nanoscopic level. We describe chiroselective supramolecular interactions that occur between DNA oligonucleotides and chiral polyurea nanocapsules. (2) Methods: We employ interfacial polyaddition reactions between toluene 2,4-diisocyanate and lysine enantiomers that occur in volatile oil-in-water nanoemulsions to synthesize hollow, solvent-free capsules with average sizes of approximately 300 nm and neutral surface potential.

Over Expression of the Cyanobacterial Pgr5-Homologue Leads to Pseudoreversion in a Gene Coding for a Putative Esterase in Synechocystis 6803.

Pgr5 proteins play a major direct role in cyclic electron flow paths in plants and eukaryotic phytoplankton. The genomes of many cyanobacterial species code for Pgr5-like proteins but their function is still uncertain. Here, we present evidence that supports a link between the Synechocystis sp.

Automated Phenotyping Tool for Identifying Developmental Language Disorder Cases in Health Systems Data (APT-DLD): A New Research Algorithm for Deployment in Large-Scale Electronic Health Record Systems.

Purpose Data mining algorithms using electronic health records (EHRs) are useful in large-scale population-wide studies to classify etiology and comorbidities (Casey et al., 2016). Here, we apply this approach to developmental language disorder (DLD), a prevalent communication disorder whose risk factors and epidemiology remain largely undiscovered.

Nanoparticles decorated with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor for targeting myeloid cells.

Dysregulated myeloid cell activity underlies a variety of pathologies, including immunosuppression in malignant cancers. Current treatments to alter myeloid cell behavior also alter other immune cell subpopulations and nonimmune cell types with deleterious side effects. Therefore, improved selectivity of myeloid treatment is an urgent need.

The MYC Oncogene Cooperates with Sterol-Regulated Element-Binding Protein to Regulate Lipogenesis Essential for Neoplastic Growth.

Lipid metabolism is frequently perturbed in cancers, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. We present comprehensive evidence that oncogene MYC, in collaboration with transcription factor sterol-regulated element-binding protein (SREBP1), regulates lipogenesis to promote tumorigenesis. We used human and mouse tumor-derived cell lines, tumor xenografts, and four conditional transgenic mouse models of MYC-induced tumors to show that MYC regulates lipogenesis genes, enzymes, and metabolites.

Attitude and willingness of pediatric dentists regarding dental care for children with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Aim: Children with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities (DD/ID) are considered to be at greater risk of developing dental disease and are more likely to have unmet dental needs than other children. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitude and willingness of pediatric dentists and residents to provide dental care for children with DD/ID.

Methods: Two surveys were created and emailed via SurveyMonkey to pediatric dentists and post-doctoral student members of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

Combining Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging and Machine Learning for Molecular Recognition of Myocardial Infarction.

Lipid profile changes in heart muscle have been previously linked to cardiac ischemia and myocardial infarction, but the spatial distribution of lipids and metabolites in ischemic heart remains to be fully investigated. We performed desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging of hearts from in vivo myocardial infarction mouse models. In these mice, myocardial ischemia was induced by blood supply restriction via a permanent ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery.

Distinguishing malignant from benign microscopic skin lesions using desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging.

Detection of microscopic skin lesions presents a considerable challenge in diagnosing early-stage malignancies as well as in residual tumor interrogation after surgical intervention. In this study, we established the capability of desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) to distinguish between micrometer-sized tumor aggregates of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a common skin cancer, and normal human skin. We analyzed 86 human specimens collected during Mohs micrographic surgery for BCC to cross-examine spatial distributions of numerous lipids and metabolites in BCC aggregates versus adjacent skin.

What Makes a Great Resident: A Perspective of Pediatric Dentistry Program Directors and Residents.

Purpose: To obtain information regarding attitudes and perspectives of pediatric dentistry residency program directors (PD) and pediatric dentistry residents (PDR) about what makes a great resident.

Methods: Surveys for PDs (36 questions), and PDRs (31 questions) were created and emailed via SurveyMonkey® to the 88 PDs and 906 residents of United States programs in 2015. Desirable characteristics identified during selection and attendance in the residency program were compared.

Diagnosis of Hypofibrinogenemia After Dental Treatment Under General Anesthesia.

Congenital hypofibrinogenemia is a rare coagulation disorder characterized by a deficiency in fibrinogen protein, which is critical to the normal coagulation process. This hematological disorder can go undiagnosed until an event leads to prolonged bleeding. The purposes of this report were to describe an incidental diagnosis of congenital hypofibrinogenemia after a dental procedure, discuss the importance of recognizing coagulopathies on the delivery of dental care, examine the multi-disciplinary clinical management of prolonged bleeding after a dental procedure, and evaluate the challenges health care practitioners may encounter when obtaining a thorough medical history.

Charting the development of cognitive mapping.

Developmental research beginning in the 1970s has suggested that children's ability to form cognitive maps reaches adult levels during early adolescence. However, this research has used a variety of testing procedures, often in real-world environments, which have been difficult to share widely across labs and to use to probe components of mapping, individual differences in success, and possible mechanisms of development and reasons for individual variation. In this study, we charted the development of cognitive mapping using a virtual navigation paradigm, Silcton, that allows for testing samples of substantial size in a uniform way and in which adults show marked individual differences in the formation of accurate route representations and/or in route integration.

Resequencing of a mutant bearing an iron starvation recovery phenotype defines Slr1658 as a new player in the regulatory network of a model cyanobacterium.

Photosynthetic microorganisms encounter an erratic nutrient environment characterized by periods of iron limitation and sufficiency. Surviving in such an environment requires mechanisms for handling these transitions. Our study identified a regulatory system involved in the process of recovery from iron limitation in cyanobacteria.

Formation of Polymeric Nanocubes by Self-Assembly and Crystallization of Dithiolane-Containing Triblock Copolymers.

Template-free fabrication of non-spherical polymeric nanoparticles is desirable for various applications, but has had limited success owing to thermodynamic favorability of sphere formation. Herein we present a simple way to prepare cubic nanoparticles of block copolymers by self-assembly from aqueous solutions at room temperature. Nanocubes with edges of 40-200 nm are formed spontaneously on different surfaces upon water evaporation from micellar solutions of triblock copolymers containing a central poly(ethylene oxide) block and terminal trimethylene carbonate/dithiolane blocks.

On-demand electrically controlled drug release from resorbable nanocomposite films.

Electroresponsive materials are promising carriers for developing drug delivery systems (DDSs) with excellent spatial, temporal, and dosage control over drug release. Current electroresponsive systems use high voltages (2-25 V), are not bioresorbable, or use materials with unknown long-term biocompatibility. We report here a nanocomposite film that is resorbable, electroresponsive at low voltages (<-2 V), and composed of entirely FDA-approved materials.

Oncogene KRAS activates fatty acid synthase, resulting in specific ERK and lipid signatures associated with lung adenocarcinoma.

KRAS gene mutation causes lung adenocarcinoma. KRAS activation has been associated with altered glucose and glutamine metabolism. Here, we show that KRAS activates lipogenesis, and this activation results in distinct proteomic and lipid signatures.

Stability of nano-sized permethrin in its colloidal state and its effect on the physiological and biochemical profile of Culex tritaeniorhynchus larvae.

The occurrence of pesticidal pollution in the environment and the resistance in the mosquito species makes an urge for the safer and an effective pesticide. Permethrin, a poorly water-soluble pyrethroid pesticide, was formulated into a hydrodispersible nanopowder through rapid solvent evaporation of pesticide-loaded oil in water microemulsion. Stability studies confirmed that the nanopermethrin dispersion was stable in paddy field water for 5 days with the mean particle sizes of 175.