Prevention of uropathogenic biofilm formation by hydrophobic nanoparticle coatings on polymeric substrates.

Biofilms in infections are a major health-care challenge and strategies to reduce their formation on medical devices are crucial. Fabrication of superhydrophobic coatings based on hydrocarbon adsorption on rare-earth oxides constitutes an attractive strategy, but their capacity to prevent biofilm formation has not been studied. Here, we explore a scalable and reproducible nanofabrication process for the manufacture of such superhydrophobic coatings and study their antibiofilm activity against clinically-relevant uropathogenic .

Customizable Fabrication of Photothermal Microneedles with Plasmonic Nanoparticles Using Low-Cost Stereolithography Three-Dimensional Printing.

Photothermal microneedle (MN) arrays have the potential to improve the treatment of various skin conditions such as bacterial skin infections. However, the fabrication of photothermal MN arrays relies on time-consuming and potentially expensive microfabrication and molding techniques, which limits their size and translation to clinical application. Furthermore, the traditional mold-and-casting method is often limited in terms of the size customizability of the photothermal array.

Paper-based colorimetric hyperammonemia sensing by controlled oxidation of plasmonic silver nanoparticles.

High concentrations of ammonia in the human body can occur due to a wide variety of underlying causes such as liver cirrhosis and the symptoms of high ammonia concentrations are diffuse and hard to diagnose. The measurement of blood ammonia levels is an important diagnostic tool but is challenging to perform at the patient's bedside. Here, we present a plasmonic Ag nanoparticle-based ammonia sensor which provides a colorimetric optical readout and does not require specialised equipment.

STAT3 Deficiency Alters the Macrophage Activation Pattern and Enhances Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 Expression during Staphylococcal Pneumonia.

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in pulmonary infections. Patients with autosomal-dominant hyper-IgE syndrome due to STAT3 deficiency are particularly susceptible to acquiring staphylococcal pneumonia associated with lung tissue destruction. Because macrophages are involved in both pathogen defense and inflammation, we investigated the impact of murine myeloid STAT3 deficiency on the macrophage phenotype in vitro and on pathogen clearance and inflammation during murine staphylococcal pneumonia.

Specialization of RNA Polymerase I in Comparison to Other Nuclear RNA Polymerases of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In archaea and bacteria the major classes of RNAs are synthesized by one DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RNAP). In contrast, most eukaryotes have three highly specialized RNAPs to transcribe the nuclear genome. RNAP I synthesizes almost exclusively ribosomal (r)RNA, RNAP II synthesizes mRNA as well as many noncoding RNAs involved in RNA processing or RNA silencing pathways and RNAP III synthesizes mainly tRNA and 5S rRNA.