Chemiluminescent plate assay of microRNA-155 coupled with catalytic hairpin assembly with oligonucleotide release (CHAOR).

A heterogeneous sensitive microRNA-155 assay based on a new isothermal amplification method, called catalytic hairpin assembly with oligonucleotide release (CHAOR), was developed. The principle of CHAOR was studied by non-denaturing electrophoresis. To detect the amplification product, a polyperoxidase-streptavidin conjugate (molar ratio 1:80) and an enhanced chemiluminescence reaction were used, which made it possible to increase assay sensitivity.

Study of Brewer's Spent Grain Environmentally Friendly Processing Ways.

Background: This article is devoted to the study of the effect of electrochemically activated water (catholyte with pH 9.3) on organic compounds of the plant matrix of brewer's spent grain in order to extract various compounds from it.

Methods: Brewer's spent grain was obtained from barley malt at a pilot plant by mashing the malt followed by filtration and washing of the grain in water and storing it at (0 ± 2) °C in craft bags.

Heparin-coated iron oxide nanoparticles: application as a liver contrast agent, toxicity and pharmacokinetics.

The prepared heparin-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (Hep-IONPs) contrasted cholangioma tumors in the liver in MRI. The NPs were not toxic to rats and rabbits after 14 days of consecutive IV injections as observed from the monitoring of the body weight and biochemical and hematological parameters. No embryotoxic or immunotoxic side effects of the material were detected.

A flax mutant with impaired intrusive growth of phloem and xylem fibres demonstrates constitutive gravitropic response.

Intrusive growth is a type of growth in which a cell exceeds the growth rate of its neighbours and intrudes between them, reaching a much greater length. This process provides plant fibres with their exceptional length. Fibres are the most abundant cell type in the mechanical tissues of plants.

The Influence of Hop Phenolic Compounds on Dry Hopping Beer Quality.

Background: The article considers the phenolic hop compounds' effect on the quality indicators of finished beer. The topic under consideration is relevant since it touches on the beer matrix colloidal stability when compounds with potential destabilizing activity are introduced into it from the outside.

Methods: The industrial beer samples' quality was assessed by industry-accepted methods and using instrumental analysis methods (high-performance liquid chromatography methods-HPLC).

The Influence of Biomolecule Composition on Colloidal Beer Structure.

Recent studies have revealed an interest in the composition of beer biomolecules as a colloidal system and their influence on the formation of beer taste. The purpose of this research was to establish biochemical interactions between the biomolecules of plant-based raw materials of beer in order to understand the overall structure of beer as a complex system of bound biomolecules. Generally accepted methods of analytical research in the field of brewing, biochemistry and proteomics were used to solve the research objectives.

[Sudden death in school-aged children at physical exercise: forensic diagnosis].

Acomprehensive forensic study of cases of sudden death of school-age children during physical exertion and sports. Investigated 9 cases of sudden death of children aged 8 to 17 years that occurred during exercise. It was studied anthropometric indicators, histological and biochemical studies to identify changes in internal organs and the cardiovascular system.

Atomistic modeling of tribological properties of Pd and Al nanoparticles on a graphene surface.

The frictional properties of nanoparticles have been studied to gain insight into the fundamental origin of sliding friction. Using molecular dynamics we investigate frictional properties of aluminum and palladium nanoparticles deposited on a graphene layer. We study the time evolution of the total momentum of the system, the total and potential energies, the temperature, the velocity and position of the center of mass, the dimensions of the nanoparticle, and the friction and substrate forces acting on the particle.

[The efficacy of remaxol addition in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome].

Objective: To study the efficacy of remaxol addition in the treatment scheme of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Material And Methods: Eighty patients with alcohol dependence and physical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome were enrolled. All patients received basic therapy in accordance to the applicable standards of treatment.

Solutions of complex copper salts in low-transition-temperature mixture (LTTM).

The structure and properties of diethanolamine complexes of copper(ii) triflates dissolved in an excess of diethanolamine (DH2) were studied. The copper containing substance was found to be a solution of copper(ii) complex salt [Cu(2+)DH2(DH(-))]OTf(-) in LTTM composition [(DH2)4H(+)](OTf(-)), where LTTM = low-transition-temperature mixture, OTf(-) = triflate anion. According to the EXAFS data, the coordination number of copper(ii) atoms in solution does not exceed four.

A multi-step, dynamic allosteric model of testosterone's binding to sex hormone binding globulin.

Purpose: Circulating free testosterone (FT) levels have been used widely in the diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism in men. Due to experimental complexities in FT measurements, the Endocrine Society has recommended the use of calculated FT (cFT) as an appropriate approach for estimating FT. We show here that the prevailing model of testosterone's binding to SHBG, which assumes that each SHBG dimer binds two testosterone molecules and that the two binding sites on SHBG have similar binding affinity is erroneous and provides FT values that differ substantially from those obtained using equilibrium dialysis.

Research resource: EPSLiM: ensemble predictor for short linear motifs in nuclear hormone receptors.

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are a superfamily of transcription factors central to regulating many biological processes, including cell growth, death, metabolism, and immune responses. NR-mediated gene expression can be modulated by coactivators and corepressors through direct physical interaction or protein complexes with functional domains in NRs. One class of these domains includes short linear motifs (SLiMs), which facilitate protein-protein interactions, phosphorylation, and ligand binding primarily in the intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of proteins.

Multifunctional magnetic rotator for micro and nanorheological studies.

We report on the development of a multifunctional magnetic rotator that has been built and used during the last five years by two groups from Clemson and Drexel Universities studying the rheological properties of microdroplets. This magnetic rotator allows one to generate rotating magnetic fields in a broad frequency band, from hertz to tens kilohertz. We illustrate its flexibility and robustness by conducting the rheological studies of simple and polymeric fluids at the nano and microscale.

Numerical framework to model temporally resolved multi-stage dynamic systems.

Numerical modeling of steroid hormone signaling presents an exciting challenge involving spatiotemporal coordination of multiple events. Ligand binding in cytoplasm triggers dissociation and/or association of coregulators which subsequently regulate DNA binding and transcriptional activity in nucleus. In order to develop a comprehensive multi-stage model, it is imperative to follow not only the transcriptional outcomes but also the intermediate protein complexes.

The dynamic structure of the estrogen receptor.

The estrogen receptor (ER) mediates most of the biological effects of estrogens at the level of gene regulation by interacting through its site-specific DNA and with other coregulatory proteins. In recent years, new information regarding the dynamic structural nature of ER has emerged. The physiological effects of estrogen are manifested through ER's two isoforms, ER(α) and ER(β).

Dynamics of coregulator-induced conformational perturbations in androgen receptor ligand binding domain.

Androgen receptor (AR) coregulators modulate ligand-induced gene expression in a tissue specific manner. The molecular events that follow coactivator binding to AR and the mechanisms that govern the sequence-specific effects of AR coregulators are poorly understood. Using consensus coactivator sequence D11-FxxLF and biophysical techniques, we show that coactivator association is followed by conformational rearrangement in AR ligand binding domain (AR-LBD) that is enthalpically and entropically favorable with activation energy of 29.

Guanidinium chloride-induced spectral perturbations of 4,4'-dianilino-1,1'-binaphthyl-5,5'-disulfonic acid confound interpretation of data on molten globule states.

We describe limitations in the use of 4,4'-dianilino-1,1'-binaphthyl-5,5'-disulfonic acid (bis-ANS) to examine unfolding intermediates associated with guanidinium chloride (GuHCl)-induced protein denaturation. Several studies have used alterations in fluorescence emission of bis-ANS to quantify the population of "molten globule" states. Our findings indicate that the observed changes in bis-ANS spectroscopic properties could originate from the interactions of bis-ANS and GuHCl and the aggregation of the dye at higher GuHCl concentrations.

Pressure perturbation calorimetry of lipoproteins reveals an endothermic transition without detectable volume changes. Implications for adsorption of apolipoprotein to a phospholipid surface.

Plasma lipoproteins are assemblies of lipids and apolipoproteins that mediate lipid transport and metabolism. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) remove excess cell cholesterol and provide protection against atherosclerosis. Important aspects of metabolic HDL remodeling, including apolipoprotein dissociation and lipoprotein fusion, are mimicked in thermal denaturation.

Role of the androgen receptor CAG repeat polymorphism in prostate cancer, and spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.

Androgens are involved in the development of several tissues, including prostate, skeletal muscle, bone marrow, hair follicles, and brain. Most of the biological effects of the androgens are mediated through an intracellular transcription factor, the androgen receptor (AR) at the level of gene regulation. Several types of mutations in the AR gene have been linked to endocrine dysfunctions.

The microrheology of sickle hemoglobin gels.

Sickle cell disease is a rheological disease, yet no quantitative rheological data exist on microscopic samples at physiological concentrations. We have developed a novel method for measuring the microrheology of sickle hemoglobin gels, based on magnetically driven compression of 5- to 8-microm-thick emulsions containing hemoglobin droplets approximately 80 microm in diameter. Using our method, by observing the expansion of the droplet area as the emulsion is compressed, we were able to resolve changes in thickness of a few nanometers with temporal resolution of milliseconds.

Specific microsolvation triggers dissociation-mediated anomalous red-shifted fluorescence in the gas phase.

Ion-depletion IR spectroscopy has revealed that at least two water molecules are required in complexes with 4-(dimethylamino)benzoic acid methyl ester (DMABME) for anomalous red-shifted fluorescence to occur in the gas phase. Through the use of high-level quantum-chemical calculations, two experimentally observed isoenergetic isomers are assigned to complexes in which a water dimer is hydrogen-bonded either to the carbonyl oxygen of the ester function or to the amino nitrogen. Surprisingly, computed IR spectra reveal that the N-bonded isomer is responsible for the observed red-shifted fluorescence.

Catalytic role of calix[4]hydroquinone in acetone-water proton exchange: a quantum chemical study of proton transfer via keto-enol tautomerism.

Calix[4]hydroquinone has recently attracted considerable interest since it forms stable tubular aggregates mediated solely by hydrogen bonding and pi-pi-stacking interactions. These aggregates trap specifically various small organic molecules and, in particular, catalyze the proton exchange of water with acetone. Using correlated quantum chemical methods, the mechanism of the observed proton exchange mediated by keto-enol tautomerism of acetone is investigated in detail.

Tris(ethane-1,2-diamine)copper(II) bis-(trifluoro-acetate).

In the title complex, [Cu(H(2)NCH(2)CH(2)NH(2))(3)](CF(3)COO)(2), the environment of the Cu atom is distorted octa-hedral, formed by six N atoms from three chelating ethane-1,2-diamine ligands. The Cu-N distances range from 2.050 (2) to 2.

Metastable polymerization of sickle hemoglobin in droplets.

Sickle cell disease arises from a genetic mutation of one amino acid in each of the two hemoglobin beta chains, leading to the polymerization of hemoglobin in the red cell upon deoxygenation, and is characterized by vascular crises and tissue damage due to the obstruction of small vessels by sickled cells. It has been an untested assumption that, in red cells that sickle, the growing polymer mass would consume monomers until the thermodynamically well-described monomer solubility was reached. By photolysing droplets of sickle hemoglobin suspended in oil we find that polymerization does not exhaust the available store of monomers, but stops prematurely, leaving the solutions in a supersaturated, metastable state typically 20% above solubility at 37 degrees C, though the particular values depend on the details of the experiment.