ATF3 expression in cardiomyocytes preserves homeostasis in the heart and controls peripheral glucose tolerance.

Aims: Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) trigger a harmful stress-induced cardiac remodeling process known as cardiomyopathy. These diseases represent a serious and widespread health problem in the Western world; however the underlying molecular basis is not clear. ATF3 is an 'immediate early' gene whose expression is highly and transiently induced in response to multiple stressors such as metabolic, oxidative, endoplasmic reticulum and inflammation, stressors that are involved in T2D cardiomyopathy.

Focused upon hybridization: rapid and high sensitivity detection of DNA using isotachophoresis and peptide nucleic acid probes.

We present a novel assay for rapid and high sensitivity detection of nucleic acids without amplification. Utilizing the neutral backbone of peptide nucleic acids (PNA), our method is based on the design of low electrophoretic mobility PNA probes, which do not focus under isotachophoresis (ITP) unless bound to their target sequence. Thus, background noise associated with free probes is entirely eliminated, significantly improving the signal-to-noise ratio while maintaining a simple single-step assay requiring no amplification steps.

Microfluidic assay for continuous bacteria detection using antimicrobial peptides and isotachophoresis.

We present a novel microfluidic assay for continuous and quantitative detection of bacteria in water. We leverage isotachophoresis (ITP), an electrophoretic focusing technique, to create a stationary high concentration zone of fluorescently labeled antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in a microfluidic channel. The tested water sample flows continuously through this high concentration AMPs reaction zone; any bacteria present in the sample is simultaneously labeled by, and separated from, the high concentration AMPs.