Accelerating the Discovery of Abiotic Vesicles with AI-Guided Automated Experimentation.

The first protocells are speculated to have arisen from the self-assembly of simple abiotic carboxylic acids, alcohols, and other amphiphiles into vesicles. To study the complex process of vesicle formation, we combined laboratory automation with AI-guided experimentation to accelerate the discovery of specific compositions and underlying principles governing vesicle formation. Using a low-cost commercial liquid handling robot, we automated experimental procedures, enabling high-throughput testing of various reaction conditions for mixtures of seven (7) amphiphiles.

Prenatal stress alters mouse offspring dorsal striatal development and placental function in sex-specific ways.

Prenatal stress is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, how early stress modification of brain development contributes to this pathophysiology is poorly understood. Ventral forebrain regions such as dorsal striatum are of particular interest: dorsal striatum modulates movement and cognition, is altered in NDDs, and has a primarily GABAergic population.

Long-term, cell type-specific effects of prenatal stress on dorsal striatum and relevant behaviors in mice.

Maternal stress during pregnancy, or prenatal stress, is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In ASD, dorsal striatum displays abnormalities correlating with symptom severity, but there is a gap in knowledge about dorsal striatal cellular and molecular mechanisms that may contribute. Using a mouse model, we investigated how prenatal stress impacted striatal-dependent behavior in adult offspring.

Mass-Guided Single-Cell MALDI Imaging of Low-Mass Metabolites Reveals Cellular Activation Markers.

Single-cell MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of lipids and metabolites >200 Da has recently come to the forefront of biomedical research and chemical biology. However, cell-targeting and metabolome-preserving methods for analysis of low mass, hydrophilic metabolites (<200 Da) in large cell populations are lacking. Here, the PRISM-MS (PRescan Imaging for Small Molecule - Mass Spectrometry) mass-guided MSI workflow is presented, which enables space-efficient single cell lipid and metabolite analysis.

Glutathione has cell protective and anti-catabolic effects in articular cartilage without impairing the chondroanabolic phenotype.

Joint injuries and consequent oxidative stress is a high-risk factor for developing post-traumatic osteoarthritis (OA). While antioxidative therapy using N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has cell- and chondroprotective effects following cartilage injury, it strongly impairs matrix synthesis. Consequently, direct application of Glutathione (GSH) was tested as an alternative therapeutic approach using an cartilage trauma model and isolated chondrocytes, with comparison to NAC.