NXP800 activates the unfolded protein response, altering AR and E2F function to impact castration-resistant prostate cancer growth.

Purpose: Advanced prostate cancer (PCa) is invariably fatal with the androgen receptor (AR) being a major therapeutic target. AR signaling inhibitors have improved overall survival for men with advanced PCa, but treatment resistance is inevitable and includes reactivation of AR signaling. Novel therapeutic approaches targeting these mechanisms to block tumor growth is an urgent unmet clinical need.

DMSO and Its Role in Differentiation Impact Efficacy of Human Adenovirus (HAdV) Infection in HepaRG Cells.

Differentiated HepaRG cells are popular in vitro cell models for hepatotoxicity studies. Their differentiation is usually supported by the addition of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an amphipathic solvent widely used in biomedicine, for example, in potential novel therapeutic drugs and cryopreservation of oocytes. Recent studies have demonstrated drastic effects, especially on epigenetics and extracellular matrix composition, induced by DMSO, making its postulated inert character doubtful.

A hyperelastic model for simulating cells in flow.

In the emerging field of 3D bioprinting, cell damage due to large deformations is considered a main cause for cell death and loss of functionality inside the printed construct. Those deformations, in turn, strongly depend on the mechano-elastic response of the cell to the hydrodynamic stresses experienced during printing. In this work, we present a numerical model to simulate the deformation of biological cells in arbitrary three-dimensional flows.

Sequencing of the complex CTRB1-CTRB2 locus in chronic pancreatitis.

Background: /Objectives: A recent Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) in alcoholic chronic pancreatitis (ACP) identified a novel association with the CTRB1-CTRB2 (chymotrypsinogen B1, B2) locus, linked to a 16.6 kb inversion that was confirmed in non-alcoholic chronic pancreatitis (NACP). Moreover, recent findings on the function of CTRB1 and CTRB2 suggest a protective role in pancreatitis development.

Formation of iron oxide nanoparticles for the photooxidation of water: Alteration of finite size effects from ferrihydrite to hematite.

Iron oxide nanoparticles represent a promising low-cost environmentally-friendly material for multiple applications. Especially hematite (α-FeO) nanoparticles demonstrate great possibilities in energy storage and photoelectrochemistry. A hydrothermal one-pot synthesis can be used to synthesise hematite nanoparticles.

Controlling the interparticle spacing of Au-salt loaded micelles and Au nanoparticles on flat surfaces.

The self-organization of diblock copolymers into micellar structures in an appropriate solvent allows the deposition of well ordered arrays of pure metal and alloy nanoparticles on flat surfaces with narrow distributions in particle size and interparticle spacing. Here we investigated the influence of the materials (substrate and polymer) and deposition parameters (temperature and emersion velocity) on the deposition of metal salt loaded micelles by dip-coating from solution and on the order and inter-particle spacing of the micellar deposits and thus of the metal nanoparticle arrays resulting after plasma removal of the polymer shell. For identical substrate and polymer, variation of the process parameters temperature and emersion velocity enables the controlled modification of the interparticle distance within a certain length regime.

On the morphology and stability of Au nanoparticles on TiO2(110) prepared from micelle-stabilized precursors.

The morphology and stability of well-ordered, nanostructured Au/TiO2(110) surfaces, prepared by deposition of Au loaded micelles on TiO2(110) substrates and subsequent oxidative removal of the polymer shell in an oxygen plasma, was investigated by noncontact AFM, SEM and XPS. The resulting arrays of Au nanoparticles (particle sizes 1-5 nm) form a nearly hexagonal pattern with well-defined interparticle distances and a narrow particle size distribution. Particle size and particle separation can be controlled independently by varying the Au loading and the block-copolymers in the micelle shell.

From colloidal Co/CoO core/shell nanoparticles to arrays of metallic nanomagnets: surface modification and magnetic properties.

The magnetic properties of nanoparticles can be subject to strong variations as the chemical composition of the particle surface is modified. To study this interrelation of surface chemistry and magnetism, self-assembled layers of colloidal 9.5 nm Co/CoO core/shell nanoparticles were exposed to mild reactive hydrogen and oxygen plasmas.

Alloy formation of supported gold nanoparticles at their transition from clusters to solids: does size matter?

Gold nanoclusters of a size approaching the molecular limit (<3 nm) were prepared on Si substrates in order to study alloy formation on the nanometer scale. For this purpose, indium atoms are deposited on top of the gold particles at room temperature and the formation of AuIn(2) is studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in situ. It is observed that the alloy formation takes place independent of whether the particles electronically are in an insulating molecular or in a metallic state.

Oxidation-resistant gold-55 clusters.

Gold nanoparticles ranging in diameter from 1 to 8 nanometers were prepared on top of silicon wafers in order to study the size dependence of their oxidation behavior when exposed to atomic oxygen. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed a maximum oxidation resistance for "magic-number" clusters containing 55 gold atoms. This inertness is not related to electron confinement leading to a size-induced metal-to-insulator transition, but rather seems to be linked to the closed-shell structure of such magic clusters.

Chemically induced metal-to-insulator transition in Au55 clusters: effect of stabilizing ligands on the electronic properties of nanoparticles.

The cluster compound Au55(PPh3)12Cl6 has been reanalyzed by photoelectron spectroscopy giving direct evidence for a nonmetallic behavior of the individual Au clusters as long as their ligand shell remains intact. The exposure to x-rays during the measurements is found to partly decompose the shell by removal of the chlorine atoms, resulting in a metallic behavior of the clusters as demonstrated by a steplike intensity at the Fermi energy. These observations resolve a long-standing controversy about the metallic behavior of ligated Au clusters emphasizing, in addition, the influence of the local environment on the electronic properties of nanoscaled materials.

Two-wavelength holographic interferometry for transparent media using a diffraction grating.

A new technique of two-wavelength nondiffuse holographic interferometry is demonstrated that is capable of producing interferograms of transparent media with high or low sensitivity. Incorporating an arrangement similar to Bryngdahl's longitudinally reversed shearing interferometer, the technique works by superposing the reconstructed true and/or conjugate images of two transmission image holograms of the test medium recorded at different wavelengths. Extensions of the technique allow one to record interferograms sensitive only to the optical dispersion of the test medium and to generate light beams with phase distributions equal to the sum or difference of the phases of the original object beams.

A generalized technique of two-wavelength, nondiffuse holographic interferometry.

A generalized technique of two-wavelength, nondiffuse holographic interferometry is developed for use with transparent experimental media. It is shown that a single pair of nondiffuse transmission holograms recorded simultaneously at different wavelengths can be reconstructed so as to produce a large number of interferograms with widely varying sensitivities. For ease in interpretation, these interferograms can have either an infinite-fringe background or a multiple-fringe background with any desired fringe orientation and spacing.