Normal cellular prion protein protects against manganese-induced oxidative stress and apoptotic cell death.

The normal prion protein is abundantly expressed in the central nervous system, but its biological function remains unclear. The prion protein has octapeptide repeat regions that bind to several divalent metals, suggesting that the prion proteins may alter the toxic effect of environmental neurotoxic metals. In the present study, we systematically examined whether prion protein modifies the neurotoxicity of manganese (Mn) by comparing the effect of Mn on mouse neural cells expressing prion protein (PrP(C)-cells) and prion-knockout (PrP(KO)-cells).

Analysis of glass fragments by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and principal component analysis.

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is used to differentiate glass samples with similar optical and physical properties based on trace elemental composition. Laser ablation increases the number of elements that can be used for differentiation by eliminating problems commonly associated with dissolution and contamination. In this study, standard residential window and tempered glass samples that could not be differentiated by refractive index or density were successfully differentiated by LA-ICP-MS.