Absence of ethanol-induced interdigitation in supported phospholipid bilayers on silica surfaces.

Membranes prepared by the adsorption of phospholipid vesicles on solid supports are much-used model systems in biomedical research. However, there is accumulating evidence that such membranes may not always be equivalent to the free-standing cellular membranes that they are modeling. In the present study, sonicated DOPC/DOPS (80/20 mol %) vesicles were adsorbed on hydrophilic silica surfaces, a system that has been demonstrated to produce confluent bilayers.

Combination of ellipsometry, laser scanning microscopy and Z-scan fluorescence correlation spectroscopy elucidating interaction of cryptdin-4 with supported phospholipid bilayers.

The present study has two main objectives. The first is to characterize antimicrobial peptide (AMP) cryptdin-4 (Crp-4) interactions with biological membranes and to compare those interactions with those of magainin 2. The second is to combine the complementary experimental approaches of laser scanning microscopy (LSM), ellipsometry, and Z-scan fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to acquire comprehensive information on mechanisms of AMP interactions with supported phospholipid bilayers (SPBs)-a popular model of biological membranes.

Plasma markers of activated hemostasis in the early diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Because acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are caused by intracoronary thrombosis, plasma markers of coagulation have relevance for early diagnosis.

Aims And Objectives: To provide a critical review of these studies and specific attempts to close the diagnostic time gap left by traditional plasma markers of heart injury.

Methods: Studies of ACS patients, with at least one control group, were included when blood samples were taken within 24 h after first symptoms prior to medication or intervention.

High-affinity antibodies in a new immunoassay for plasma tissue factor: reduction in apparent intra-individual variation.

Tissue factor, the main initiator of blood coagulation, is shed into plasma by blood cells and endothelium. While studying such circulating plasma tissue factor with a commercially available immunoassay, we found unsatisfactory results and therefore developed a new and highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). High-affinity monoclonal antibodies raised against recombinant soluble tissue factor were used and the new assay had a detection limit of 40 fmol/L, approximately six-fold lower than existing assays.

Surface-dependent transitions during self-assembly of phospholipid membranes on mica, silica, and glass.

Formation of supported membranes by exposure of solid surfaces to phospholipid vesicles is a much-used technique in membrane research. Freshly cleaved mica, because of its superior flatness, is a preferred support, and we used ellipsometry to study membrane formation kinetics on mica. Neutral dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and negatively charged dioleoyl-phosphatidylserine/dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (20% DOPS/80% DOPC) vesicles were prepared by sonication.

Effects of flow on solute exchange between fluids and supported biosurfaces.

Uptake of nutrients by cultured cells on solid supports, conversion of substrates by surface-bound catalysts and binding of antibodies to microtitre plates are examples of transport processes that are strongly influenced by the flow conditions in the surrounding fluid. The literature on this subject is scattered over widely different research fields and is often found in dated, and not generally available, treatises. Also, the subject is inherently complicated from a mathematical viewpoint, because even the simplest experimental configurations will usually not allow analytical solutions for the diffusion-convection equations describing the solute mass transport in the system.

Prevention of cardiac cell injury during acute myocardial infarction: possible role for complement inhibition.

The purpose of this article is to describe mechanisms of cell death in patients with acute myocardial infarction, particularly the activation of the complement system. Various pro-inflammatory cytokines, released by the inflamed tissue, play a role in the activation of the complement system. Several complement inhibitors have been developed to reduce tissue damage following ischemia.

Pharmacokinetics of C1-inhibitor protein in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Objectives: C1-inhibitor protein (C1-INH) purified from pooled human plasma is used for the treatment of patients with hereditary angioedema. Recently, the beneficial effects of high-dose C1-INH treatment on myocardial ischemia or reperfusion injury have been reported in various animal models and in humans. We investigated the pharmacokinetic behavior of C1-INH in patients with acute myocardial infarction to calculate the amount of C1-INH required for optimal efficacy.

Evaluation of "new" cardiac markers for ruling out myocardial infarction after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Study Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the value of serum troponin T, myoglobin, and creatine kinase (CK)-MB mass concentrations for ruling out perioperative myocardial infarction (poMI) early after cardiac surgery.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Cardiothoracic surgery department in a university hospital.

Secretory type II phospholipase A(2) binds to ischemic myocardium during myocardial infarction in humans.

Objective: An increase of circulating secretory Phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)) is a risk factor for coronary artery disease. We hypothesized that this reflects participation of sPLA(2) in local inflammatory reactions ensuing in ischemic myocardium. Therefore, we studied the course of circulating sPLA(2), in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or unstable angina pectoris (UAP), and investigated the presence of sPLA(2) in infarcted myocardial tissue.