Enzyme cascades for in vitro and in vivo FMN prenylation and UbiD (de)carboxylase activation under aerobic conditions.

Microbial carboxylases and decarboxylases play important roles in the global carbon cycle and have many potential applications in biocatalysis and synthetic biology. The widespread family of reversible UbiD-like (de)carboxylases are of particular interest because these enzymes are active against a diverse range of substrates. Several characterized UbiD enzymes have been shown to catalyze reversible (de)carboxylation of aromatic and aliphatic substrates using the recently discovered prenylated FMN (prFMN) cofactor, which is produced by the associated family of UbiX FMN prenyltransferases.

Comparing Transcriptomic Points of Departure to Apical Effect Concentrations For Larval Fathead Minnow Exposed to Chemicals with Four Different Modes Of Action.

It is postulated that below a transcriptomic-based point of departure, adverse effects are unlikely to occur, thereby providing a chemical concentration to use in screening level hazard assessment. The present study extends previous work describing a high-throughput fathead minnow assay that can provide full transcriptomic data after exposure to a test chemical. One-day post-hatch fathead minnows were exposed to ten concentrations of three representatives of four chemical modes of action: organophosphates, ecdysone receptor agonists, plant photosystem II inhibitors, and estrogen receptor agonists for 24 h.

Interrogating Matrix Stiffness and Metabolomics in Pancreatic Ductal Carcinoma Using an Openable Microfluidic Tumor-on-a-Chip.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a dense fibrotic stroma that contributes to aggressive tumor biology and therapeutic resistance. Current in vitro PDAC models lack sufficient optical and physical access for fibrous network visualization, in situ mechanical stiffness measurement, and metabolomic profiling. Here, we describe an openable multilayer microfluidic PDAC-on-a-chip platform that consists of pancreatic tumor cells (PTCs) and pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) embedded in a 3D collagen matrix that mimics the stroma.