A new easy method for determination of surface adhesion of phototrophic biofilms.

Terrestrial cyanobacteria grow as phototrophic biofilms and offer a wide spectrum of interesting products. For cultivation of phototrophic biofilms different reactor concepts have been developed in the last years. One of the main influencing factors is the surface material and the adhesion strength of the chosen production strain.

Influence of wettability and surface design on the adhesion of terrestrial cyanobacteria to additive manufactured biocarriers.

Productive biofilms are gaining growing interest in research due to their potential of producing valuable compounds and bioactive substances such as antibiotics. This is supported by recent developments in biofilm photobioreactors that established the controlled phototrophic cultivation of algae and cyanobacteria. Cultivation of biofilms can be challenging due to the need of surfaces for biofilm adhesion.

Insights into the Development of Phototrophic Biofilms in a Bioreactor by a Combination of X-ray Microtomography and Optical Coherence Tomography.

As productive biofilms are increasingly gaining interest in research, the quantitative monitoring of biofilm formation on- or offline for the process remains a challenge. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a fast and often used method for scanning biofilms, but it has difficulty scanning through more dense optical materials. X-ray microtomography (μCT) can measure biofilms in most geometries but is very time-consuming.

Reproducibility and accuracy of microscale thermophoresis in the NanoTemper Monolith: a multi laboratory benchmark study.

Microscale thermophoresis (MST), and the closely related Temperature Related Intensity Change (TRIC), are synonyms for a recently developed measurement technique in the field of biophysics to quantify biomolecular interactions, using the (capillary-based) NanoTemper Monolith and (multiwell plate-based) Dianthus instruments. Although this technique has been extensively used within the scientific community due to its low sample consumption, ease of use, and ubiquitous applicability, MST/TRIC has not enjoyed the unambiguous acceptance from biophysicists afforded to other biophysical techniques like isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) or surface plasmon resonance (SPR). This might be attributed to several facts, e.

Down-regulation of CK2α correlates with decreased expression levels of DNA replication minichromosome maintenance protein complex (MCM) genes.

Protein kinase CK2 is a serine/threonine kinase composed of two catalytic subunits (CK2α and/or CK2α') and two regulatory subunits (CK2β). It is implicated in every stage of the cell cycle and in the regulation of various intracellular pathways associated with health and disease states. The catalytic subunits have similar biochemical activity, however, their functions may differ significantly in cells and in vivo.

Clinical courses and complications of young adults with Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD).

Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is a severe pediatric hepatorenal disorder with pronounced phenotypic variability. A substantial number of patients with early diagnosis reaches adulthood and some patients are not diagnosed until adulthood. Yet, clinical knowledge about adult ARPKD patients is scarce.

A semiquantitative MRI-Score can predict loss of lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis: Preliminary results.

Objectives: To evaluate the applicability of a semiquantitative MRI scoring system (MR-CF-S) as a prognostic marker for clinical course of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease.

Methods: This observational study of a single-centre CF cohort included a group of 61 patients (mean age 12.9 ± 4.

Protein kinase CK2 regulates redox homeostasis through NF-κB and Bcl-xL in cardiomyoblasts.

Oxygen consumption is particularly elevated in cardiac cells as they are equipped with a large number of mitochondria and high levels of respiratory chain components. Consequently, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is tightly controlled as an imbalance in redox reactions can lead to irreversible cellular damage. siRNA-mediated down-regulation of protein kinase CK2 has been implicated in the accumulation of ROS in cells.

The small-molecule kinase inhibitor D11 counteracts 17-AAG-mediated up-regulation of HSP70 in brain cancer cells.

Many types of cancer express high levels of heat shock proteins (HSPs) that are molecular chaperones regulating protein folding and stability ensuring protection of cells from potentially lethal stress. HSPs in cancer cells promote survival, growth and spreading even in situations of growth factors deprivation by associating with oncogenic proteins responsible for cell transformation. Hence, it is not surprising that the identification of potent inhibitors of HSPs, notably HSP90, has been the primary research focus, in recent years.

D11-Mediated Inhibition of Protein Kinase CK2 Impairs HIF-1α-Mediated Signaling in Human Glioblastoma Cells.

Compelling evidence indicates that protein kinase CK2 plays an important role in many steps of cancer initiation and progression, therefore, the development of effective and cell-permeable inhibitors targeting this kinase has become an important objective for the treatment of a variety of cancer types including glioblastoma. We have recently identified 1,3-dichloro-6-[()-((4-methoxyphenyl)imino)methyl]dibenzo(b,d)furan-2,7-diol (D11) as a potent and selective inhibitor of protein kinase CK2. In this study, we have further characterized this compound and demonstrated that it suppresses CK2 kinase activity by mixed type inhibition (K 7.

The kinase inhibitor D11 induces caspase-mediated cell death in cancer cells resistant to chemotherapeutic treatment.

Background: Multi-drug resistance and predisposition to metastasize are major clinical problems in cancer treatment. Malignant primary brain tumor and pancreatic cancer are two well-known examples of malignant tumors resistant to conventional therapies where aberrant EGFR-mediated and NF-κB signal transduction pathways are likely to play an important role. We have recently identified 1,3-Dichloro-6-[(E)-((4-methoxyphenyl)imino)methyl] diben-zo(b,d) furan-2,7-diol (D11) as a potent and selective inhibitor of CK2 a serine/threonine protein kinase that modulates the aforementioned signaling cascades.

Cytotoxic effects exerted by pentachlorophenol by targeting nodal pro-survival signaling pathways in human pancreatic cancer cells.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the deadliest human solid tumors in the developed countries characterized by high resistance toward chemotherapeutic treatment. We have previously shown that silencing of the pro-survival protein kinase CK2 by RNA interference contributes to enhance the cytotoxicity of the chemotherapeutic agent 2',2'-difluoro 2'-deoxycytidine (gemcitabine). Initial experiments showed that pentachlorophenol (PCP) inhibits CK2 and induces cell death in human pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Safety and efficacy of tandem hemodialysis and plasma exchange in children.

Background And Objectives: Patients with immune-mediated kidney disease and liver failure often require plasma exchange (PE) and hemodialysis (HD). Combining both methods (i.e.

Structures of human sirtuin 3 complexes with ADP-ribose and with carba-NAD+ and SRT1720: binding details and inhibition mechanism.

Sirtuins are NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylases that regulate metabolism and aging processes and are considered to be attractive therapeutic targets. Most available sirtuin modulators are little understood mechanistically, hindering their improvement. SRT1720 was initially described as an activator of human Sirt1, but it also potently inhibits human Sirt3.

The molecular basis of iron-induced oligomerization of frataxin and the role of the ferroxidation reaction in oligomerization.

The role of the mitochondrial protein frataxin in iron storage and detoxification, iron delivery to iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis, heme biosynthesis, and aconitase repair has been extensively studied during the last decade. However, still no general consensus exists on the details of the mechanism of frataxin function and oligomerization. Here, using small-angle x-ray scattering and x-ray crystallography, we describe the solution structure of the oligomers formed during the iron-dependent assembly of yeast (Yfh1) and Escherichia coli (CyaY) frataxin.

Magnetic resonance imaging of lung tissue: influence of body positioning, breathing and oxygen inhalation on signal decay using multi-echo gradient-echo sequences.

Purpose: To assess susceptibility related signal decay in lung tissue and to measure the influence of body positioning, together with inspiration and expiration, as well as oxygen inhalation. T2* maps and line shape maps of lung parenchyma were derived from datasets acquired at 0.2 T and compared with findings at 1.