Large area CMOS bio-pixel array for compact high sensitive multiplex biosensing.

A novel CMOS bio-pixel array which integrates assay substrate and assay readout is demonstrated for multiplex and multireplicate detection of a triplicate of cytokines with single digit pg ml(-1) sensitivities. Uniquely designed large area bio-pixels enable individual assays to be dedicated to and addressed by single pixels. A capability to simultaneously measure a large number of targets is provided by the 128 available pixels.

Increased expression and serum levels of the stromal cell-secreted protein periostin in breast cancer bone metastases.

Periostin, a matricellular protein, is overexpressed in the stroma of several cancers. The aim of our study was to investigate more specifically whether periostin expression is associated with bone metastases from breast cancer and to determine its source in the affected bone. Nude mice were inoculated with human MDA-B02 breast cancer cells.

Development of a new ELISA for serum periostin: evaluation of growth-related changes and bisphosphonate treatment in mice.

Periostin is a gamma-carboxyglutamic acid protein preferentially expressed in periosteum and bone mesenchymal stem cells. Lack of a precise assay for measuring circulating levels impairs the investigation of its biological significance. We developed a new ELISA and studied changes of periostin levels both locally at the bone site and systemically in circulating blood during growth and after bisphosphonate-induced inhibition of bone remodeling in the mouse.

Fasting enhances the response of arcuate neuropeptide Y-glucose-inhibited neurons to decreased extracellular glucose.

Fasting increases neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression, peptide levels, and the excitability of NPY-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate (ARC) nucleus. A subpopulation of ARC-NPY neurons ( approximately 40%) are glucose-inhibited (GI)-type glucose-sensing neurons. Hence, they depolarize in response to decreased glucose.

Characterization of glucosensing neuron subpopulations in the arcuate nucleus: integration in neuropeptide Y and pro-opio melanocortin networks?

Four types of responses to glucose changes have been described in the arcuate nucleus (ARC): excitation or inhibition by low glucose concentrations <5 mmol/l (glucose-excited and -inhibited neurons) and by high glucose concentrations >5 mmol/l (high glucose-excited and -inhibited neurons). However, the ability of the same ARC neuron to detect low and high glucose concentrations has never been investigated. Moreover, the mechanism involved in mediating glucose sensitivity in glucose-inhibited neurons and the neurotransmitter identity (neuropeptide Y [NPY] or pro-opio melanocortin [POMC]) of glucosensing neurons has remained controversial.