Assessment of prenatal cerebral and cardiac metabolic changes in a rabbit model of fetal growth restriction based on 13C-labelled substrate infusions and ex vivo multinuclear HRMAS.

Background: We have used a previously reported rabbit model of fetal growth restriction (FGR), reproducing perinatal neurodevelopmental and cardiovascular impairments, to investigate the main relative changes in cerebral and cardiac metabolism of term FGR fetuses during nutrient infusion.

Methods: FGR was induced in 9 pregnant New Zealand rabbits at 25 days of gestation: one horn used as FGR, by partial ligation of uteroplacental vessels, and the contralateral as control (appropriate for gestation age, AGA). At 30 days of gestation, fasted mothers under anesthesia were infused i.

Assessment of a 1H high-resolution magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy procedure for free sugars quantification in intact plant tissue.

In most plants, sucrose is the primary product of photosynthesis, the transport form of assimilated carbon, and also one of the main factors determining sweetness in fresh fruits. Traditional methods for sugar quantification (mainly sucrose, glucose and fructose) require obtaining crude plant extracts, which sometimes involve substantial sample manipulation, making the process time-consuming and increasing the risk of sample degradation. Here, we describe and validate a fast method to determine sugar content in intact plant tissue by using high-resolution magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (HR-MAS NMR).

Influence of the spinning rate in the HR-MAS pattern of mobile lipids in C6 glioma cells and in artificial oil bodies.

Object: To evaluate how spinning rate affects mobile lipid (ML) resonances visibility in HR-MAS spectra of C6 glioma cells and artificial oil bodies (AOB), as models of cytosolic lipid droplets.

Materials And Methods: Using C6 cells and AOB of two different sizes, 780 ± 580 and 240 ± 293 nm, as models, we acquired HR-MAS pulse and acquire spectra at different spinning rates between 500 and 15,000 Hz, all at 37 °C.

Results: Sample spinning at 15,000 Hz increased by 2.

13C-labelling studies indicate compartmentalized synthesis of triacylglycerols in C6 rat glioma cells.

NMR-visible mobile lipid (ML) signals have been detected in (1)H-NMR spectra of tissues in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro, and have been shown to change in apparent intensity in association with pathology (necrosis in brain tumours) and normal processes (cell differentiation, cell growth arrest and apoptosis). Although it is widely accepted that ML signals originate mainly from fatty-acyl chains in triacylglycerols (TAG) contained in cytosolic lipid droplets (LD), the dynamics of TAG in LD is not yet fully understood. In order to better understand the synthesis of cellular TAG and its relationship to ML dynamics we carried out a set of labelling experiments with C6 rat glioma cells in culture.

Calcium-induced formation of subdomains in phosphatidylethanolamine-phosphatidylglycerol bilayers: a combined DSC, 31P NMR, and AFM study.

We study the effect of Ca(2+) on the lateral segregation of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE) and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (POPG) (3:1, mol/mol). Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Since SLBs are formed from liposomes of POPE:POPG, we examined the effect of calcium on these suspensions by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((31)P NMR).

Thermal response of domains in cardiolipin content bilayers.

In the study described here, supported planar bilayers (SPBs) of 1-palmitoy-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE):cardiolipin (CL) (0.8:0.2, mol/mol) were examined using atomic force microscopy (AFM).

In vivo quantification of response to treatment in patients with multiple myeloma by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy of bone marrow.

Object: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard non-invasive technique to detect malignant disease in the bone marrow. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can be performed as a quick adjunct to routine spinal MRI. We performed proton MRS to patients with multiple myeloma (MM) at diagnosis and after treatment to investigate the possible correlation of MRS data with response to therapy.

An iron-based T1 contrast agent made of iron-phosphate complexes: in vitro and in vivo studies.

A new iron-based T1 contrast agent consisting of a complex of iron ions coordinated to phosphate and amine ligands (Fe(phos) in short) has been characterized by spectroscopic and magnetic measurements. NMR relaxation studies showed r1 values to be dependent on the phosphate salt concentration, K2HPO4, present in the medium. r1 reaches a maximum value of 2.

A possible cellular explanation for the NMR-visible mobile lipid (ML) changes in cultured C6 glioma cells with growth.

The NMR-visible mobile lipid (ML) signals of C6 glioma cells have been monitored at 9.4 and 11.7 T (single pulse and 136 ms echo time) from cell pellets by (1)H NMR spectroscopy.

Supported planar bilayers from hexagonal phases.

In this work the presence of inverted hexagonal phases H(II) of 1-palmitoy-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE) and cardiolipin (CL) (0.8:0.2, mol/mol) in the presence of Ca(2+) were observed via (31)P-NMR spectroscopy.

Development of a decision support system for diagnosis and grading of brain tumours using in vivo magnetic resonance single voxel spectra.

A computer-based decision support system to assist radiologists in diagnosing and grading brain tumours has been developed by the multi-centre INTERPRET project. Spectra from a database of 1H single-voxel spectra of different types of brain tumours, acquired in vivo from 334 patients at four different centres, are clustered according to their pathology, using automated pattern recognition techniques and the results are presented as a two-dimensional scatterplot using an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). Formal quality control procedures were performed to standardize the performance of the instruments and check each spectrum, and teams of expert neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, neurologists and neuropathologists clinically validated each case.

In vitro characterization of an Fe(8) cluster as potential MRI contrast agent.

The complex [(tacn)(6)Fe(8)(micro(3)-O)(2)(micro(2)-OH)(12)]Br(8).9H(2)O (Fe(8)) was evaluated in vitro as a new kind of possible MRI contrast agent. Relaxivities were measured at 1.

Measurement by nuclear magnetic resonance diffusion of the dimensions of the mobile lipid compartment in C6 cells.

The (1)H spectrum of certain tumor cells, in vivo tumors, and their biopsies in vitro shows a narrow and intense resonance at 1.26 ppm, which has been assigned to the fatty acyl chain of triglycerides [nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) visible mobile lipids, MLs]. We have used diffusion-weighted NMR spectroscopy to directly address the subcellular origin of MLs in the case of C6 cells in which lactate accumulation had been inhibited by prior iodoacetamide incubation.